Stories are not my forte. But speaking of what it meant to me, just a wonderful trip for a lifelong fan, I cannot remember my first game at U- Hall, but was once member of a cub scout team sent out at half-time. Watched Ralph score 50 points (I have always wondered if it was the most points he ever scored in a game) at WAHS 1979, coach Bob McKeag predicted that Ralph would have to score at least that much for the Blue Streaks to succeed (pregame fluff piece Daily Progress). I watched the games by myself and enjoyed the roller coaster, though admittedly the Auburn strain was to much , I watched the following morning news broadcast stunned to see my Hoos had indeed advanced.
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Quick Update on the Pre-ordered shirts can be found here: All other non-preorders have shipped. Please check your emails for tracking numbers.
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I’ve been going to UVA games since I was a kid, mainly football, even though my parents were always bigger basketball fans. Basketball moved “too fast” for me to pick up and figure out and if I don’t understand something I’m not interested. That changed when Coach Bennett came to UVA. With a slower, defense heavy style of play, I was finally able to see the beauty in basketball.
After last season I knew that this season was gonna be special. I went to the open practice, with my dad and sister. My sister and I are both UVA alums. Then I went to the home opener with my dad, and took my mom to senior day (her Christmas present from me)! I wasn’t devastated at the loss in the ACC tournament because I knew it wasn’t over.
This is the first and only year I’ve ever done a bracket, as we had a competition at work. I was the only one who had the Hoos winning the whole thing. I was on our school’s senior trip the first weekend of March Madness, and the heckling from the students during the first half of the UVA game was something to be seen. (One of the most annoying things is to be made fun of by a bunch of high school seniors!) I just told them they better change their tune, because a loss wouldn’t be pretty for them! 
I had faith though. I knew this year was different. Each game found me on the edge of my seat, screaming, laughing, and crying. I watched the Purdue game on my phone during a Bachelorette weekend, and scared the rest of the girls when I was screaming and losing my voice at the same time. (I feel a bit bad for that paint night lady, who witnessed my craziness in the first half!)
When the final game started, I was nervous, but peaceful. The naysayers had been silenced. UVA had played through the end of March, it was April. The greatest sports comeback story of all time was about to be realized. There were lots of tears and happiness. I watched the game alone, and immediately texted my mom and my dad after we won. My birthday in May was all championship gear from my parents. Oh, I also won my bracket. #wahoowa #redemption
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I’ve grown up a UVA fan, as my dad, two uncles, aunt, and grandpa went there. Attending UVA games was how I bonded and spent time with my grandparents and other family. It’s a huge part of our lives, and I love it.
I was so incredibly hype for this years’ tournament, and I was very mad that the Gardner-Webb game was during school. Lucky me, we had a sub in my last class and I may or may not have been watching the game on my phone (I’ll never tell). I was updating my friend on the score, and by the time we were down 10, we were both shocked. “Not again” was said many times that class.
I watched the Purdue game in my uncle’s basement with some family, a few of which would be coming to Minneapolis with us. That game was very stressful- my cousin and I were doing pushups during timeouts and commercial breaks to get our mind off of it (it wasn’t very effective). When Mamadi hit that shot, we all went crazy. But we new that we would have to endure 5 more minutes of stress. Carsen Edwards worried me. A lot. But we were able to pull through, and watching them cut down the net was one of the best feelings.
I was beyond excited to get the opportunity to travel to Minneapolis to watch the Hoos play. I was even more excited that we were staying in the team hotel! I made a little painting thing, that had all the players and Tony’s quote about adversity: “If you use it right, it will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone any other way.” I’ve used that quote a lot, and it’s very inspiring and amazingly applicable to many situations. I ended up getting a ton of autographs; some required a few miracles, like seeing Kyle’s grandma (who we had met at Battle 4 Atlantis) who texted my mom to tell us to come to the 3rd floor to see Kyle (that was amazing, Bobbie you’re a legend). I’m only missing Jack, Francisco, Kody, and Mamadi (who my mom was in an elevator with), so if any of them are reading this, hit me up!
Now on to the games. We had really good seats- close but not too close. When we got to our seats, we all looked super nervous. Throughout the game, we weren’t that stressed- until the final minute, of course. When it came down to that final play, I remember seeing Kyle go up for that shot-and miss. The Auburn fans went crazy, we couldn’t hear a whistle. We were at just the right angle where the ref was behind the basket, so we didn’t see him call a foul. But when we saw Mamadi clapping his hands, I knew it wasn’t over.
I remember turning to my uncle and saying “Kev, it’s 3, right?” and he looked at me and gave me a very strong “yes”. And then I knew it was over. I had so much confidence in Kyle that I knew we had won.
He hit those shots, and we all went crazy. My grandpa was so happy, he had been waiting years and years for this moment. I was happy for him, as he had been through a lot recently.
We felt really good about the final. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we felt good. When Dre hit that three to tie it, we went crazy (again). Then Braxton blocked Culver’s shot, and we again had to endure another 5 minutes of stress. We started to pull away, and I can’t tell you how happy we were when the final buzzer sounded. There were tears in everyone’s eyes, but they were far different from the ones a year before. Seeing them lift the trophy was when it finally set in. We were national champions.
I grabbed a few pieces of confetti before we left, where we stood in the lobby for about an hour waiting for the team to come back. I can’t tell you how many times the U-V-A, Go hoos go! song played. They came back, all of them with food in their hands (I don’t blame them!), and Mamadi was nodding his head the whole time with a huge smile on his face. I can still hear the “one more year! one more year!” chants from when Ty walked through, and how everyone was singing We Are The Champions at the top of their lungs. We stayed in the lobby for another hour, but I had to go to bed as my phone was dying and we had to be in the lobby at 6 for our flight. My uncle didn’t sleep.
The championship meant so much to my family, I can’t even imagine what it meant for the players and the coaches. I hope that we have many more of these stories to come, and hopefully I can experience them. WAHOOWA!!
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Best day of my life. April 8th was a day to remember. I loved when Mamadi hit the game winner against Purdue though I live in Richmond VA but I was on vacation in Nags Head and my family rented a condo me and my brother like I was about to be sick and I was fighting back tears when Ty missed the free throw I froze Kihei got the ball faster than Usain Bolt can run and threw it Mamadi and he got the shot off and me and my brother screamed and jumped up and down we woke up our mom who got mad at us even though she loves UVA and I think we also woke up everybody in the condo complex but I didn’t care because I was happy as I have ever been. Then the auburn game I was back home and that was just an emotional roller coaster and still whenever I bring up UVA: everybody that’s not a UVA fan: TY JEROME DOUBLE DRIBBLED IN THE AUBURN GAME
me: IT WAS AN INTENTIONAL FOUL BY BRYCE BROWN THE REFS DIDNT CALL EITHER
But the Natty game I was sitting on the ground in my living room feeling worse than I ever have the later the game got the more nervous I felt but when Hunter hit the corner 3 a tiny bit of excitement filled my body by the end regulation I was okay and felt better but still nervous and when the final buzzer sounded I lost everything I couldn’t stop screaming I had no voice for the next couple of days and walked around with a huge smile on my face every where I went. The best day of my life. I love this team and always will!
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I was born into being a Virginia fan. My grandpa, who happened to be an alumni, would be the responsible for planting the seed of wahoo fever in the family! Ever since I turned on the tv and saw any Virginia sports team play, I was inevitably intrigued. Although we only attended football games, we made sure to tune into about any sport that Virginia televised. Eventually we were blessed with the opportunity to attend an NCAA March Madness round of 64 game. The game was… UMBC versus Virginia. We all know the tragic ending, but what mattered to me was seeing Virginia basketball play live right in front of my eyes with my dad and my brother to both sides! We witnessed history regardless of our desired outcome, but we knew for a fact Tony had a plan. The next year we went to a couple of regular season basketball games and I could see it in every players eyes that this was their season. Not much longer passes and here comes the tournament. The next thing I know Virginia is in the finals. I couldn’t be more grateful to see what the team had accomplished! The team put their blood, sweat, and tears all on the court and that’s what I admire most about the teams dedication to the sport. I look forward to next season! #WahooWa
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It just went past midnight…I spoke with Justin and Ty…the winner has the longest read time, and has given the most likes on the site. We really appreciate the video and format of her post, that is @shaza_od. Please DM me or send an email to Merch@lockerroomaccess.com.
You have a few options to choose from. You can take the soldout shirt, or you can have the unreleased sample.
Anyone else who entered our content…Please DM me if you would like to purchase the UMBC shirt Ty wore or the unreleased stamp.
We have a few extra left, so please send me that request asap. Requests will be filled based on time stamp of request.
Thank you and Go hoos!
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Thanks @wahoops! I love your Instagram account and all the work you do for that btw 
And thanks again @Merch! With all of the great stories being shared, it really was an unexpected surprise. It was just fun to be a part of all that!
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Thanks again for sharing your story and thank you for the words! DM a picture to wahoops IG and I will share the picture! Go Hoos!
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Well, now I see I am not the only one who cries at so many memories in both unforgettable NCAA tournaments. Tony is right, this is the best sports story ever - well second to the US hockey team beating USSR in the Olympics. Nah, never mind - they don’t make me cry every day like watching One Shining Moment does.
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When Bryant got fouled in Syracuse game at the end and was no call.
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This is tremendous and I know am late to the party. Aside from 1000 memories in Minny was when I was walking back to the team hotel after the Championship was won. I was somehow by myself on a mission; some dude came running past me solo as well… Harold Deane. More excited than as if he was on the court! We had huge Wahoo hug and proudly walked back to the party as Champions! Harold kept saying “we gotta hurry before it closes”. Harold, I think you good with Uva hoops!
Great great stories everyone
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