December 23, 1982, 40 years ago: The biggest upset in the history of college basketball occurs.
In the 1981-82 season, the University of Virginia went 30-4, and finished the regular season ranked Number 3 in the country, led by 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson and future NBA coach Rick Carlisle. But they only split their regular-season games against the University of North Carolina, and lost by 1 point in overtime to the University of Maryland on the last day of the season, so they had to share the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They lost to Carolina in the ACC Tournament Championship Game. And they only got to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, losing to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Nevertheless, Sampson would return, and they entered the 1982-83 season ranked Number 1. They played in a tournament in Tokyo, Japan, where they beat the University of Houston, led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler; and the University of Utah. Before making the trip, they had hoped to schedule a game against the University of Hawaii for their return trip, but couldn't. Another Hawaii school stepped in. And so, the Virginia Cavaliers went into that game 8-0, and still Number 1.
The Hawaii school in question was Chaminade University of Honolulu. It was (and remains) a Catholic school, run by the Society of Mary, founded by Father William Joseph Chaminade, a priest who barely survived persecution during the French Revolution. The school competed in the NAIA, roughly equivalent to NCAA Division IV. Their teams are known as the Silverswords, not for actual swords, but for a plant that thrives in Hawaii's tropical climate.
This was only their 8th season of varsity basketball. They had previously played Virginia 3 times, including the season before, losing all 3 games by wide margins. Despite now having the home-court advantage, there was no reason to expect them to give the Cavs much of a challenge.
The game was played at the Honolulu International Center, which opened in 1964, and is best known as the location of Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite concert of January 14, 1973. The building still stands, named the Neal S. Blaisdell Center for the Mayor who got it built, and a statue of Elvis stands outside.
But on this night, reflecting the fact that hosts Chaminade seemed to be terribly overmatched, only 3,383 of the arena's 8,800 seats were filled. Tipoff was 7:40 PM Hawaii time -- 1:40 AM Eastern Time. The game was not broadcast on ESPN.
And the only non-Hawaii, non-Virginia sportswriter covering the game was Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post. He was in Honolulu to cover the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day, since one of the Post's local teams, the University of Maryland, was in it. (Maryland lost, 21-20 to the University of Washington.) Fans of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, which Wilbon co-hosts with fellow former Post columnist Tony Kornheiser, know that he will watch any basketball game, anywhere, anytime. Aas an ACC team and a rival of Maryland, he had some knowledge of the Virginia team. He probably decided, "What the heck." His instinct served him well.
On defense, Chaminade double-teamed Sampson, sometimes triple-teaming him. On offense, they tried to fast-break their way to jump shots. They jumped out to leads of 6-2, 15-10 and 19-12. Virginia caught up, but were unlucky, as it seemed like their shots just would not go in. At the half, it was tied, 43-43.
Virginia jumped out to a lead in the 2nd half, but Chaminade scored 7 straight points to tie it, 56-56. Right after this, Sampson made a turnaround jump shot to put Virginia back on top. But this was followed by Mark Rodrigues sending an alley-oop pass to Tim Dunham (not Tim Duncan), who dunked over Sampson. Chaminade's Richard Haenisch said, "After that play, I think we all got the feeling we could actually win."
With just under 6 minutes to go, Chaminade took a 64-62 lead. With 35 seconds to go, Chaminade led 74-72. Virginia missed 3 shots, and a foul sent Chaminade to the free throw line. Sampson only scored 12 points, although he added 17 rebounds. It wasn't enough: Chaminade won, 77-72. An NAIA team had beaten the Number 1 team in the country.
The game ended after 3:00 AM on the East Coast. At ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, Chris Berman and Tom Mees were anchoring SportsCenter, and the machine on their desk that showed scores showed "VIRGINIA 72 CHAMINADE 77." Berman, not having footage to show, said, "We can't tell you what happened, but the Number 1 team in college basketball has lost to... " He paused, and said, "We don't even know who they are."
Now, everybody knew who Chaminade were. That was almost not the case: Their board of trustees was considering changing the school's name to the University of Honolulu. They couldn't change it now. (There was precedent: After shocking the basketball world by winning the 1966 NCAA Tournament, Texas Western University changed its name to the University of Texas at El Paso a year later.)
Virginia finished the regular season 29-5, again sharing the regular-season ACC title with North Carolina, losing the ACC Tournament Final to North Carolina State, and losing to N.C. State again in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, as Jim Valvano's Wolfpack won the National Championship.
Chaminade finished the season 34-5, ranked Number 1 in NAIA, and got to the Semifinals of the NAIA Tournament. They were no fluke: They beat Louisville in 1983 (a year in which Louisville made the NCAA Final Four) and 1984. Also in 1984, they beat Southern Methodist University, then ranked Number 3.
In honor of their legendary upset of Virginia, the Maui Invitational was created in 1984, in which Chaminade compete with 7 major college teams. They now compete in NCAA Division II.
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