1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University. The head coach was Rollie Massimino. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference. The team is famous for one of the biggest upsets in sports history – a 66–64 win over #1 Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament final on April 1, 1985. They remain the lowest-seeded team in history to win the NCAA Tournament.

1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
National Championship Game, W 66–64 vs. Georgetown
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	25–10 (9–7 Big East)
Head coach	Rollie Massimino (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Mitch Buonaguro Marty Marbach Steve Lappas
Home arena	Villanova Field House
Seasons ← 1983–84 1985–86 →

1984–85 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 St. John's	15	–	1		.938			31	–	4		.886
No. 1 Georgetown†	14	–	2		.875			35	–	3		.921
No. 15 Syracuse	9	–	7		.563			22	–	9		.710
Villanova	9	–	7		.563			25	–	10		.714
Pittsburgh	8	–	8		.500			17	–	12		.586
Boston College	7	–	9		.438			20	–	11		.645
Connecticut	6	–	10		.375			13	–	15		.464
Providence	3	–	13		.188			11	–	20		.355
Seton Hall	1	–	15		.063			10	–	18		.357
† 1985 Big East tournament winner As of April 1, 1985[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 50 Connally Brown 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Orange, Texas G 10 Veltra Dawson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Highland Park, Illinois C 41 Chuck Everson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Jr Brentwood, New York G 20 Brian Harrington 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Pound Ridge, New York G 32 Harold Jensen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Trumbull, Connecticut C 43 Wyatt Maker 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) So Salinas, California G 13 Roland Massimino 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Villanova, Pennsylvania G/F 33 Dwayne McClain 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Worcester, Massachusetts G 22 Gary McLain 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Hempstead, New York F/C 54 Ed Pinckney 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Bronx, New York F 25 Steve Pinone 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Wethersfield, Connecticut F 31 Mark Plansky 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Wakefield, Massachusetts F 21 Harold Pressley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Mystic, Connecticut G 4 Dwight Wilbur 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Paterson, New Jersey	Head coach Rollie Massimino (Vermont) Assistant coach(es) Mitch Buonaguro (Boston College) Marty Marbach (Saint Francis (PA)) Steve Lappas (CCNY) Harry Booth (Saint Joseph's) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

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Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference Regular Season
November 24* 7:30 pm		at Vermont	W 80–56	1–0	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
November 28* 8 pm		at Marist	W 56–51	2–0	McCann Field House  Poughkeepsie, New York
December 1* 2:30 pm, PRISM		vs. Temple Big 5	W 68–65	3–0	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 7* 9 pm		Monmouth	W 77–62	4–0	Villanova Field House  Villanova, Pennsylvania
December 15 7 pm		at Penn Big 5	W 80–67	5–0	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 22* 2:30 pm, PRISM		at La Salle Big 5	W 80–63	6–0	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 28* 9:30 pm		vs. BYU Cotton State-Kiwanis Classic Semifinal	W 91–61	7-0	The Omni  Atlanta, Georgia
December 29* 9:30 pm		vs. Georgia Cotton State-Kiwanis Classic Championship	L 68–75	7–1	The Omni  Atlanta, Georgia
Big East Conference Regular Season
January 2 8 pm, USA		No. 5 Syracuse	W 82–70	8–1 (1–0)	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 5 8 pm		Connecticut	W 70–59	9–1 (2–0)	Villanova Field House  Villanova, Pennsylvania
January 7 8 pm, ESPN TCS Metrosports		at No. 4 St. John's	L 71–76	9–2 (2–1)	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
January 12 2:30 pm, NBC	No. 16	No. 1 Georgetown	L 50–52	9–3 (2–2)	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 15 8 pm, ESPN	No. 18	Boston College	W 85–66	10–3 (3–2)	Villanova Field House  Villanova, Pennsylvania
January 19 3 pm	No. 18	at Seton Hall	W 86–74	11–3 (4–2)	Meadowlands Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Non-Conference Regular Season
January 21* 9:30 pm	No. 18	at Drexel City 6	W 63–55	12–3	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Big East Conference Regular Season
January 23 8 pm	No. 14	Providence	W 65–57	13–3 (5–2)	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Non-Conference Regular Season
January 27* 12:30 pm, NBC	No. 14	at Maryland	L 74–77	13–4	Cole Field House  College Park, Maryland
Big East Conference Regular Season
January 29 7 pm, ESPN	No. 18	Pittsburgh	W 70–63	14–4 (6–2)	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 1 8 pm, ESPN	No. 18	at No. 9 Syracuse	L 79–92	14–5 (6–3)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
February 5 8 pm	No. 19	at Connecticut	W 79–71	15–5 (7–3)	Hugh S. Greer Field House  Storrs, Connecticut
February 9 2 pm, CBS	No. 19	No. 1 St. John's	L 68–70	15–6 (7–4)	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 11 8 pm, ESPN	No. 19	at No. 2 Georgetown	L 50–57	15–7 (7–5)	Capital Centre  Landover, Maryland
February 16 12 pm, TCS MetroSports	No. 16	at Boston College	L 61–62	15–8 (7–6)	Roberts Center  Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Non-Conference Regular Season
February 19* 9 pm		vs. St. Joseph's Big 5	W 47–44	16–8	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Big East Conference Regular Season
February 23 8 pm		at Providence	W 88–82	17–8 (8–6)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
February 27 8 pm		Seton Hall	W 80–75	18–8 (9–6)	Villanova Field House  Villanova, Pennsylvania
March 2 2 pm, CBS		at Pittsburgh	L 62–85	18–9 (9–7)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Big East tournament
March 7* 9:30 pm, TCS MetroSports	(4)	vs. (5) Pittsburgh Big East tournament quarterfinal	W 69–61	19–9	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
March 8* 9:30 pm, TCS MetroSports	(4)	vs. (1) No. 2 St. John's Big East tournament semifinal	L 74–89	19–10	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
NCAA Tournament
March 15* 9:37 pm, ESPN NCAA Productions	(8 SE)	vs. (9 SE) Dayton NCAA Southeast first round	W 51–49	20–10	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
March 17* 12:20 pm, CBS	(8 SE)	vs. (1 SE) No. 2 Michigan NCAA Southeast Second Round	W 59–55	21–10	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
March 22* 8:07 pm, ESPN NCAA Productions	(8 SE)	vs. (5 SE) Maryland NCAA Southeast Regional semifinal	W 46–43	22–10	BJCC Coliseum  Birmingham, Alabama
March 24* 1:58 pm, CBS	(8 SE)	vs. (2 SE) No. 7 North Carolina NCAA Southeast Regional Final	W 56–44	23–10	BJCC Coliseum  Birmingham, Alabama
March 30* 3:42 pm, CBS	(8 SE)	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Memphis State NCAA National semifinal	W 52–45	24–10	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
April 1* 9:12 pm, CBS	(8 SE)	vs. (1 E) No. 1 Georgetown NCAA national championship	W 66–64	25–10	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

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Awards and honors

• Ed Pinckney, Final Four Most Outstanding Player
• Ed Pinckney, Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Year
• Ed Pinckney, 1st Team All-Big East
• Ed Pinckney, Big East All-Tournament Team
• Dwayne McClain, 3rd Team All-Big East
• Dwayne McClain, All-Big 5
• Dwayne McClain, Final Four All-Tournament Team
• Gary McLain, Final Four All-Tournament Team
• Harold Jensen, Final Four All-Tournament Team

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1985	1	10	Ed Pinckney	Phoenix Suns[6]
1985	2	27	Dwayne McClain	Indiana Pacers[6]
1985	7	144	Gary McLain	New Jersey Nets[6]
1986	1	17	Harold Pressley	Sacramento Kings[7]
1986	6	130	Chuck Everson	Utah Jazz[7]
1987	6	122	Harold Jensen	Cleveland Cavaliers[8]

Legacy

In 2013, author Frank Fitzpatrick released his book The Perfect Game: How Villanova’s Shocking 1985 Upset of Mighty Georgetown Changed the Landscape of College Hoops Forever focusing on the team's victorious season.^[9] The team is an inductee into the 2025 class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.