It's wonderful to see Virginia basketball meaningful again

In the 16 years I spent as a sportswriter, one of the most fascinating moments came in March 1984 about 40 miles from where I live now.

It was at The Omni, an arena that no longer exists in Atlanta, and it was the East Region semifinals of the NCAA basketball tournament. Virginia was seventh-seeded in the region, and had slipped through the first two rounds with a 58-57 win over Iona and a 53-51 upset of second-seeded Arkansas.

For the previous four seasons, the Cavaliers had been a powerhouse with 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson. Except for a victory in the National Invitation Tournament in 1980, the other three seasons had ended disappointingly. Virginia had made it to the Final Four only once, and there had been no NCAA titles.

In 1984, not much was expected. The other three teams in the regional were unbeaten and top-ranked North Carolina, third-seeded Syracuse and fourth-seeded Indiana. In the first of the two semifinals, Virginia had kept it going, beating Syracuse 63-55 to reach the final.

In the postgame press conference, a reporter asked Virginia Coach Terry Holland if his team's unexpected accomplishment was something of a vindication for the last three years.

Terry Holland, second from right

Holland smiled. "You know, I wasn't as bad a coach as you guys said I was the last three years, and I'm not as good a coach as you'll say I am now."

The best quote I ever heard from a coach.

Their run wasn't over. After the Hoosiers upset the Michael Jordan-led Tar Heels, Virginia beat Indiana 50-48 in the finals to earn a spot in the Final Four in Seattle.

The Cavaliers were a heavy underdog against a Houston team led by Akeem Olajuwon, but they gave Houston all it could handle before losing 49-47 in overtime.

They have never made it back to the Final Four, although they came within one victory in 1989 and 1995 and won another NIT title in 1992. They have had eight seasons since 1984 in which they were no better than .500, and they have been to the NCAA tournament only four times since 1995.

They're just not a team people think about when they think of college powerhouses, although Coach Tony Bennett has been working to change that since coming to Charlottesville five years ago.

Virginia was ranked near the bottom of the top 25 in preseason polls and was picked to finish in the top four in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They started slowly, though, and after a humiliating 87-52 loss at Tennessee in late December, the Cavs were just 9-4.

Virginia-Syracuse

But everything changed when the ACC season started. They won their next three games -- two on the road -- by an average of 22 points. They nearly upset Duke in Durham, and didn't lose again. They didn't just win, they dominated, and on Saturday, 12th-ranked Virginia played host to No. 4 Syracuse with the conference title on the line.

The Orangemen had been top-ranked nationally for much of the season, and they managed to lead 28-27 at halftime. But just as they have done all season, the Cavaliers dominated after halftime and went on to a stunning 75-56 victory.

So Virginia  is 25-5 and 16-1 in the ACC and almost certainly will be ranked in the top 10 nationally in the next poll. Regardless of what happens in the conference tournament in two weeks, a high seeding in the NCAA tournament should be theirs.

Bennett has them playing defense as well as anyone in the country. They lead the nation in scoring defense, and they have a surprisingly varied and effective offense.

I have been a fan of Virginia basketball for nearly 50 years. They're really just about the only sports team I care about no matter how good or bad they are. I didn't graduate from there, but it was the first college in my 14-year odyssey. I was excited when George Mason made its run to the Final Four in 2006, but the bad season they're having this year doesn't really bother me.

But all the years, all the memories of Barry Parkhill, Wally Walker, Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker, Sampson, Othell Wilson, Sean Singletary, Rick Carlisle, Jeff Jones, Bryant Stith and the others will stay with me forever.

Can the Cavaliers make a run deep into the tournament this year? Maybe so, although 50 years of hopes and dreams have made me a pessimist. But it is wonderful to see them good again, and Bennett at least provides hope that he can do for Virginia basketball what George Welsh did in his 19 seasons as football coach.

Welsh took a seriously downtrodden program and had a record of 134-86-3, with 12 bowl games and 14 consecutive seasons winning at least seven games. Wonder of wonders, Virginia was even ranked No. 1 nationally for four weeks in 1990.

We'll see what happens.