The 1985-86 Navy Midshipmen: "The Greatest Service Academy Basketball Team"
by
Justin Kischefsky
Chapter 1 / November 15 – Preseason Thoughts, First Games
Chapter 2 / November 16 – Navy Takes to the Road for Games in the Northeast, Far East and Southeast
Chapter 3 / November 17 – CAA Play Begins
Chapter 4 / November 18 – Mids Start to Roll After Loss
Chapter 5 / November 19 – Star Game Cliffhanger, Redemption vs. Spiders, CAA Tournament Champions
Chapter 6 / November 20 – March Madness, Epilogue
1985-86 Information Page
All this week, NavySports.com will relive the historic 1985-86 Navy men's basketball season that culminated in the team reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The third edition of the story examines the opening month of the Colonial Athletic Association's regular season.
January 4 * Wilmington, N.C. * CAA
Navy 76, UNCW 61 (click for box score)
The 1985-86 season marked the first year for the Colonial Athletic Association. Navy and fellow ECAC South Conference members American, East Carolina, George Mason, James Madison, Richmond, UNC Wilmington and William & Mary were part of the newly-named affiliation. Navy and Richmond shared the 1984-85 ECAC South regular season crown with identical 11-3 records, with each finishing one game ahead of third-place George Mason. The Mids defeated the Spiders in the 1985 conference tournament final to earn their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in a quarter century.
Navy traveled to UNCW for the first game of the calendar and conference year. The Mids took a 27-13 lead late in the first half, but went into halftime with a 39-34 lead. Vernon Butler accounted for six of Navy's first 10 points of the second stanza to increase the advantage out to 47-34. From there, the lead never dipped below seven points and grew to as many as 19.
"We were an improving team in the CAA," said UNCW player Greg Bender, "but we were fairly young with only one senior seeing much playing time and several first-year players (myself and a couple of junior college transfers) playing major roles. Navy's experience and discipline simply over-matched us at that point in the season. Navy played solid basketball and didn't beat itself, which is really all they had to do at that point in the year."
Butler (24 and 11) and David Robinson (21 and 14) both notched double-doubles –– with Robinson also adding a Navy-record 14 blocks for his first triple-double of the season –– as Navy shot 56 percent from the field for the game. Robinson accounted for nine blocks in his 11 minutes of playing time in the first half. That intimidation helped force his UNCW counterpart, Brian Rowsom, into a 3-23 shooting night after he entered the game averaging 20.4 points a game.
"Those numbers pretty much tell the story of the game," said Bender. "Once David started blocking everything that we put up in the paint, we got timid and it got us out of our offensive system."
January 6 * Greenville, N.C. * CAA
Navy 67, East Carolina 62
Navy started its northern trek home with a two-hour drive to the East Carolina campus. The Mids led for the last 32 minutes of the game, but were never able to comfortably put away the Pirates. Navy took a 10-point first-half lead only to see half of that erased by intermission. The Mids then held a double-digit lead –– including by as many as 18 –– for 10 minutes of the second half before ECU climbed back to within three points with 75 seconds left. Each team came away with back-to-back empty possessions before Cliff Rees scored on a layup with 21 seconds remaining to account for the final points of the decision.
Robinson tallied 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots, and Butler added 11 points and 10 caroms.
"Their guards were often overlooked, but they were all very good," said East Carolina player Keith Sledge. "Kylor (Whitaker) and Cliff could really shoot it and Dougie (Wojcik) was the energizer bunny who never got tired. Doug ran that team so efficiently and even when he was off offensively he had Vernon and David crashing the boards. Coach Paul Evans also was a very good coach. I loved competing against that team."
January 9 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 85, James Madison 54
Finally, after eight-straight games on the road that were played in three different states and on the other side of the world, the Mids were back home for what would be their first game on The Yard in 36 days when they welcomed James Madison to Halsey Field House.
It was a high-scoring first half for both teams as Navy shot a sizzling 58 percent from the floor to hold a 45-33 lead at the break. Whitaker was 7-9 from the floor to finish one-point shy of Robinson –– who also snared nine rebounds –– for the first-half scoring lead.
"Whitaker's been the big difference all year for us," said Evans after the game to the Baltimore Evening Sun. "Teams keep packing those zones inside to stop David and Vernon, and Whitaker keeps killing them from the outside."
Navy began the second half on a 27-2 run to quickly leave no doubt as to the outcome.
Robinson ended the game with 26 points, 18 rebounds, 12 blocked shots and four steals.
"We just didn't have anybody to stop him," said James Madison head coach John Thurston in the Sun. "He must have set an NCAA record for blocks in a week, and we contributed a lot to it tonight."
January 11 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 88, George Mason 74
Navy lost just six games in all and three to ECAC South foes during the 1984-85 season, with two of those defeats coming to George Mason. Rob Rose and Ricky Wilson, both future NBA players, returned from the GMU team that handed Navy 78-74 and 93-77 losses.
On this night, the Mids slowly built up a 34-18 lead late in the first half, with the Patriots slightly narrowing it down to a 39-29 game at halftime. Robinson picked up two fouls in the first half, which resulted in him going just 2-4 from the field and without a free throw attempt. Whitaker and Butler combined for 25 first-half points to pace the Mids.
Robinson opened the second half by scoring after he grabbed an offensive rebound to start a 5-0 run for the Mids. The lead grew to 18-points early in the frame and never dwindled below 14 points over the remainder of the contest.
Whitaker ended the game with a career-best 26 points, an effort that made him the first Mid besides Robinson and Butler to lead Navy in scoring in a game on the year and raise his career scoring tally to 999.
"Kylor just took over for us," said Butler afterward to the Baltimore Evening Sun. "They were concentrating on David so much inside that it left Kylor free."
"When the shots were there, I took them," said Whitaker to the Annapolis Capital.
Rose totaled 20 second-half points and 32 for the game, but he was the lone visiting player to score in double figures.
The outcome gave Evans his 100th win as the mentor of the program.
January 16 * Annapolis, Md.
Navy 71, Lafayette 56
Navy took a break from its CAA slate to play host to Lafayette. Two of the previous three games in the series had been extended into overtime, a span that included the Mids edging the Leopards, 74-71 in double overtime, the year before.
There would be no extra periods in this game as Navy went on a 16-2 run to take a 21-6 lead less than 10 minutes after the game tipped. The five Navy starters were a combined 12-17 (70.6%) from the floor –– Lafayette as a team was 10-24 –– in boosting the Mids to a 39-22 lead midway through the game. However, the Leopards were able to close to within nine points at 45-36 in the early part of the second half.
"We came out pretty slowly in the second half," said Robinson to the Annapolis Capital. "We changed our defense a little and we didn't execute it very well. We let them come back on us."
An 8-2 Navy run gave the Mids the breathing room they needed to secure the victory.
"We were there, that's all," said Evans to the Washington Post. "No one was intense out there. Maybe it was because we had played four-straight tough games. But I guess if you have to have a bad game, this was it."
Butler made eight of his nine field goal attempts and seven of his nine free throw attempts to score a game-high 21 points.
"Everyone –– for good reason –– remembers David and as the cornerstone of that great run, but I was told recently that the true 'enforcer' of the group was Vernon Butler," said John Leone, who was an assistant coach at Lafayette that year and went on to become the program's head coach. "Navy would've been a very good team without David, but his presence –– in combination with Kyler Whitaker, Doug Wocik and Vernon –– got them to a national level.
"I always had a ton of respect for that group. They had tremendous chemistry and the pieces fit together so well. As (former Princeton head) coach Pete Carril likes to say, 'The smart take from the strong.' Those Navy teams had both."
January 18 * Arlington, Va. * CAA
Navy 97, American 68
Navy's three-game homestand was over, but the Mids only had to make a short drive to Arlington, Va., and the Fort Myer Ceremonial Hall for its next game against American.
The Mids scored 12 of the first 13 points of the game, saw their advantage grow to 15 points and hold a 39-30 lead at the break. Navy made only one more field goal than American in the opening half, but the Mids were 9-17 from the foul line in contrast to the 3-4 effort from the charity stripe by the Eagles.
"It was hard to sustain (their level of play)," said American head coach Ed Tapscott to the Washington Post. "They're (Navy) just very balanced. You shut down some of their guys, and pretty soon other ones come along."
"Coach Evans told us at halftime that if we didn't put it together we'd be practicing for three or four hours tomorrow morning," said Butler to the Baltimore Evening Sun. "If we would have had to practice that early, our night out in Washington with our girlfriends would have been taken away."
Navy quickly expanded its lead out to 20 points at 55-35 and led by at least 20 points for the final 13 minutes.
The entire starting five for the Mids scored in double figures, with no player tallying more than 17 points (Robinson). Butler also snared the 1,000th rebound of his career, making him the first 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound player in school history.
"David is going to come by and pass me with a bang," said Butler to the Sun. "But I'm glad God gave me the ability to be the first to accomplish the 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. It's always special to be the first."
On the other side of the court, Frank Ross needed 25 field goal attempts and a 7-8 effort from the foul line to score a game-best 25 points.
"It was such an uphill battle playing Navy," said American player Billy Stone. "David Robinson was fantastic, but they had a power forward in Vernon Butler who got every rebound and was as much of an issue for us as Robinson. Their guards would wait for those two to come down the court and then either dump it in or take very easy shots over our packed-in zone. Our coach, Ed Tapscott, did a great job of game planning, but he didn't have the chess pieces outside of Frank Ross, Eric White and Mike Sampson to compete with them. Frank was a great scorer, Mike was quicker than anyone they had, and Eric was really, really good, but Eric was 6-foot-6."
January 20 * Newark, Del
Navy 108, Delaware 63
A trip to Delaware and a non-conference game against the Blue Hens was next on the docket for the Mids. With the arena hosting its first sell-out crowd since Ralph Sampson and Virginia played there in 1981, excitement could be found everywhere. This was despite Navy defeating the Blue Hens by 34 points the year before.
"The Delaware players and fans were a little overconfident heading into the game because they had beaten us in football in the fall," said Ian Cassidy. "They all kept saying how they were going to do the same thing to us in basketball.
"Coach Evans told the guys in the locker room before the game to go out there and shut them up."
The crowd was quiet not long after the opening tip as the score was 20-2 in favor of Navy less than six minutes into the game and the Mids led by as many as 33 points in the first half.
"I thought those first six minutes were the best we've ever played," said Evans to the Delaware State News.
Robinson totaled 22 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks and five dunks in the first half alone.
"David seems to get fired up in front of a full house, whether it's hostile or friendly," said Evans to the Baltimore Evening Sun.
The crowd may have been hostile at the start of the night, but Robinson received a standing ovation from them when he left the court at the end of the game after posting 37 points (17-21 shooting with eight dunks), 14 rebounds and six blocks in 30 minutes of playing time.
"I was so glad we only had to play against him (Robinson) once!" recalled Steve Steinwedel, who was in his first season as the Delaware head coach that year. "I had been an assistant at South Carolina and Duke (we won two ACC Championships in my two years at Duke) and he was one of the best players I had ever faced or had the opportunity to coach, for sure."
"Well, the game against Navy was a test!" remembered Delaware's George Dragonetti. "I attempted to guard David in many plays of this game. My fellow teammates can attest to how difficult a task this was and just how many slam dunks Mr. Robinson performed on top of all us. The real problem guarding him, though, was that his back resembled the broad side of a barn. It was nearly impossible to stop ANY of his moves."
"I was 'Vernon Butler' on our scouting team," said Delaware's Philip Carr. "We had two very good practices leading into the game and were excited about our chances. I knew David Robinson was a special talent, but nothing compares to seeing him up close. He moved so well, even gracefully, for a 7-footer. So, alley-oop after alley-oop and rebound after rebound, we lost 108-63 and David had 37 points and 14 rebounds.
"To me that is the best thing about sports; no matter if the odds are stacked against you or if you are playing a future hall of famer, you always have a chance. Even if it is against the likes of David Robinson."
Additionally, Butler scored 26 points against the Blue Hens to become Navy's all-time leading scorer. He surpassed the total of 1,687 points attained by Kevin Sinnett.
January 23 * Richmond, Va. * CAA
Richmond 67, Navy 61
The Spiders defeated the Mids three times during the 1983-84 season before Navy returned the effort and beat Richmond three times during the 1984-85 season. This included a 67-63 win by Navy in its 1985 trip to Richmond.
Led by Johnny Newman, who would go on to play over 1,100 games during an 18-year NBA career, Richmond entered the game with a 14-1 record and victories over Providence, Wake Forest, Stanford and Virginia. The only loss to date for the Spiders was a 90-64 defeat at Georgia Tech.
How big of a game was it? Richmond students started lining up at 10 a.m. for the 8 p.m. game.
"Richmond was a huge bar for us," said Robinson. "They were a very, very good team, and not just in the CAA. (The game at Richmond) was one of the best tests for us all year. That was priceless in preparing us for what was to come."
The start of the game was close with five ties and multiple lead changes in early going. The Mids held a 25-23 lead with 6:35 left before halftime when Whitaker hit a jumper to spark a 10-0 run that made the score 35-23 with 3:40 remaining. The margin would be eight –– 37-29 –– at halftime as Robinson and Whitaker were each 5-6 from the field in the stanza.
"If I recall," said Richmond player Greg Beckwith, "we came out a little too hyped up for the game as the atmosphere was unbelievable. Our shots were not falling in the first half, so in the second we changed the tempo of the game with more full-court pressure and that seemed to work."
The second half saw Richmond answer with an 8-0 run to take a 45-44 lead. The lead kept changing hands and neither team held a cushion of more than three points for the next 10 minutes. Robinson tied the game at 61 when he made two free throws with 1:57 remaining. Peter Woolfolk broke the tie on a jumper for Richmond with 1:43 remaining, then Nathan Bailey missed two free throws on the next Navy possession. Rodney Rice made a long jumper just before the 45-second shot clock expired for Richmond to stretch the margin to 65-61 with 24 seconds left. A missed shot by the Mids was followed by a quick foul of Newman. He walked to the free throw line and made both shots to close out the decision.
"We just didn't play very well," said Evans in the Annapolis Capital. "We didn't get a good game from anyone."
Navy shot over 60 percent from the field in the first half, but connected on only 39 percent of its shots after halftime. Part of that was due to Richmond changing from a 2-3 zone in the first half to a box-and-one defense (Whitaker was played straight up) in the second. The Mids made just one field goal over the last 7:54 of the game. Conversely, Richmond went from a 45-percent shooting effort in the first half to a 60-percent success rate in the second. The Spiders also forced 10 second-half turnovers and committed just three turnovers of their own. Individually, Robinson accounted for 10 of Navy's 24 second-half points to finish with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
"Richmond was always a big game, so, yes, we knew it was big," said Wojcik. "I give Richmond credit as they won their home game after we swept them the year before. We went cold in the second half. The rivalry was established and we quickly realized how important our Richmond home game would be."
"Disappointment," was the word Carl Liebert used to describe the mood of the Mids after the game. "We knew between Johnny Newman and Pete Woolfolk, they had a really nice team. When you play them that many times you actually know them. We respected them. But we obviously were disappointed. I don't believe we approached it with the killer instinct that coach wanted us to have. In some ways, I think it was a sounding board for us for the rest of the year. We were not going to breeze through conference. We still felt we were going to go undefeated in conference. But now we knew we had to do more than just show up because everyone was going to bring it against us."
January 25 * Williamsburg, Va. * CAA
Navy 76, William & Mary 68
Navy didn't have much time to wallow over the defeat and the end of a seven-game winning streak as the Mids took to the court again two days later at William & Mary. The Tribe had just ended a seven-game losing streak by posting a victory over VMI in their last game.
Navy held a 13-point lead with four minutes left in the first half, but had to settle for a 35-28 lead at intermission.
"In the first half, we got off to a very slow start," said Derric Turner. "I remember Paul's reaction at halftime. He really got on us. I think his quote was something like, 'If we don't end up beating these guys by 14 or 15 points, I don't care whose parents are in the stands; we will practice here right after the game.'"
"We were dragging and didn't have that momentum that we should have had," said Liebert. "I think we still were in those doldrums of January. Coach Evans willed us through January. He said, 'I'm going to get you guys through this and help you navigate it.' But he had to be utterly personal and ruthless to us at times. We loved him; we loved playing for him. His game coaching situations were fabulous and his ability to get inside our head was really helpful. At times David hated him or Vernon hated him. I was a student of the game and overthought it and he used those type of tactics to get inside our head and get us turned around. I don't think, still, we had grasped just how good we could be. I think we thought we could be good, but I don't think we thought we could be great. Thanks to coach Evans, he didn't let us just ride on our laurels."
Similar to what Richmond had done 48 hours earlier, William & Mary made a run at the Mids in the early part of the second half. The Tribe rallied and closed to within three points at both 45-42 and 47-44. Navy answered by scoring each of the next 11 and 18 of the next 22 points to take a 65-48 lead with just under three minutes remaining. The triumvirate of Robinson (five), Rees (six) and Carl Liebert (seven) points accounted for the 18 points scored during that span.
Robinson never left the court during the 40-minute contest. He totaled 31 points, 10 blocked shots and eight rebounds. Rees made all but one of his 10 field goal attempts to end the game with 19 points in 28 minutes.
"Wojcik (5-7 shooting, 12 points, 12 assists) was definitely the key to the game tonight," said William & Mary head coach Barry Parkhill to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "He was the difference. He had 12 big points. His ability to hit the jumper from outside when he was open helped them."
"It was a huge win, but the good thing was that we had to move on," said Wojcik. "Back then we had travel partners and we played Saturday-Monday. We had to prepare but rest on a one-day prep. We were accustomed to it."
"It was good that we didn't have too much time to think about the Richmond loss and were able to play just a couple nights later," said Rees. "It's always good to get back on the court quickly and get the taste of winning again after a tough loss. We were confident going into the game we could win this one. It was a good boost for the team to go on the road and get the win."
