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. In this the sixth and final entry, we look back at the NCAA Tournament run made by the Mids that captured the attention of the country
March 14 * Syracuse, N.Y. * NCAA Tournament / First Round
(AP: 17 / Seed: 7) Navy 87, (Seed: 10) Tulsa 68 (click for box score)
Navy garnered the No. 7 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament and was slated to face the region's No. 10 team, Tulsa, in a first-round game at Syracuse.
Tulsa was in the tournament for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons. The 23-8 Golden Hurricanes tied for second place in the Missouri Valley Conference and earned their golden ticket by winning the conference tournament. They had won six games in a row, which included a 74-58 win over ninth-ranked Bradley in the championship game of the MVC Tournament. This would be the first and, to date, only time the two teams have squared off.
Navy was able to build an eight-point lead at 40-32, but went into halftime holding a 41-38 advantage. The tandem of David Robinson (17 points) and Vernon Butler (14) combined for all but 10 of Navy's first-half points. More balance was displayed on the Tulsa half of the box score as five players totaled between six and eight points. Each team utilized a sparse number of players as four from each squad played all 20 minutes of the first half.
Tulsa shot 58 percent from the floor in the first half, but quickly cooled off after halftime.
The second half began with a 7-0 Navy run that pushed the lead out to 48-38. After the teams traded the ensuing four baskets (50-42), Robinson and Carl Liebert scored for the Mids to start what was a run that increased the margin out to 60-44 with 11 minutes remaining. The advantage would grow to as many as 21 points over the rest of the contest.
"We've never been close to being humiliated like that," said Tulsa head coach J.D. Barnett to the Syracuse Herald-Journal. "And that's what it was –– humiliation."
"We know we have to come out and play with a lot of emotion in every game," said Robinson to The Washington Post. "In the second half when Vernon and I really got on the boards and we got our break going, we really picked it up emotionally."
"When we went into the Tulsa game, that's when we started to play angry and with some swagger," said Liebert. "They (Tulsa) had underrated us, the same way everybody had done. That game was so much fun. We didn't have to expend a ton of energy down the stretch. It was a great momentum builder."
Navy totaled 26 assists on its 32 made field goals in the game, which allowed the Mids to shoot 64 percent from the field in each half. Kylor Whitaker dished out 11 assists and Doug Wojcik accounted for eight helpers. Tulsa also made 32 field goals, but needed 17 more attempts than Navy to tally that total. The Mids also dominated at the free throw line as Navy was 23-36 from the line and Tulsa was 4-5. Robinson and Butler combined for 25 foul shots and ended the game with 30 and 25 points, respectively. The pair also recorded double-doubles with Robinson snaring 12 boards and Butler 11.
Tracy Moore, who would play in the NBA, scored 16 points for Tulsa but was just 8-20 from the field.
March 16 * Syracuse, N.Y. * NCAA Tournament / Second Round
(AP: 17 / Seed: 7) Navy 97, (AP: 9 / UPI: 9 / Seed: 2) Syracuse 85
The win over Tulsa sent Navy into a second-round game against weekend-host Syracuse. The Orangemen entered the game with a 22-9 record after it shared the regular season title in the Big East and advanced to the championship game of the conference tournament. Syracuse, seeded second in the region and ninth in the country, opened the NCAA Tournament with a convincing 101-52 win over Brown.
It was just under 100 days since Syracuse had defeated Navy in the same venue, a fact prominently noted to this day by everyone.
"To be honest, I was (not happy)," said The Washington Post's John Feinstein of Navy being sent to play at Syracuse. "In those days, teams were allowed to play on their home court. Navy had played up there in December and lost badly. Pearl Washington was Syracuse's star and you knew the crowd would be 99 percent for Syracuse."
"We were like, you have got to be kidding," said Derric Turner of being sent back to Syracuse. "I think Paul Evans sent a note to the NCAA about it."
"We felt we had reached our low point of the season about a week before when they (NCAA) seeded us seventh in the region, meaning we would have to play Syracuse up there in the second round," Wojcik was quoted in the team's 1986-87 media guide. "But after we beat Tulsa, we felt that we were playing very well and that the pressure was on Syracuse."
"At the time we felt like we were an afterthought," said Robinson. "Sometimes it is nice to go into a game with a chip on your shoulders, but we still had to go out and perform in a place we did not have success in the first time we were there."
If the perceived slight by the NCAA wasn't enough to fuel the Mids, comments in the local newspaper did the trick.
"A Syracuse writer called us a bunch of shorthairs –– ('Will the masses, 30,000 strong and in full battle array, descend, as previously advertised, upon the great bubble at $17 a pop to watch the Orangemen play a bunch of shorthairs they beat by 22 points 98 days ago?,' was the comment in an article written by Syracuse Herald-American executive sports editor Bud Poliquin) –– who had no chance at beating a team which had easily beat us a couple of months ago," said Cliff Rees in the same publication as Wojcik's comments.
''I took that clipping into the locker room,'' said Robinson, in postgame comments that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. ''I thought it was kind of funny. Coach (Evans) said we did pretty well for a bunch of shorthairs.
''I told all the people around the hotel we were going to win. But they didn't believe me. They believed the column.''
"The game was played on St. Patrick's Day Weekend," said Liebert. "My mom and dad and brother and grandmother had driven from Indiana to Syracuse. I went to see them after pregame meal. My mom said, 'We are so proud of you, we can't wait for your senior year, you guys have had such a wonderful year, it was so much fun watching you on television.' She was like, this is over. I said, 'Mom, I don't know what the heck you are talking about.' My dad is going, 'Peggy, they are going to win today,' and my mom is going, 'I know, I know,' and patting me on the back. They were already planning to drive back that night. I told them we are going to win this game and we are going to the Meadowlands."
"I also remember after coach Evans read some of that article, David said something like he would take it as a personal failure if Rony Seikaly scored more than four points in this game," said Rees. "David really wanted this one."
The first nine minutes of the March game were a continuation of the December game as Syracuse took a 17-8 lead. The official play-by-play from the game shows the Orangemen totaling five layups or dunks among their eight made baskets during that game-opening stretch. The Mids were still trailing by seven points at 21-14 when they started to make their move. Navy scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 24-23 on a Butler layup with just under five minutes left in the half. The lead changed hands eight times over the remainder of the stanza, which ended with the Mids leading by the score of 32-31.
Syracuse totaled more field goals in the half, 14-11, but Navy was 10-14 from the foul line while the Orangemen were just 3-3 from the charity stripe.
The lead was exchanged five times in the opening three minutes of the second half before a Butler layup tied the game at 39. Robinson accounted for each of the next seven Navy points –– two dunks, 3-3 from the foul line –– as the Mids took a 46-41 lead.
Syracuse may have had trouble in the frontcourt with Robinson, but Navy started to struggle to contain Pearl Washington in the backcourt. Limited to just four points in the first half, Washington began to heat up in the second and drew the Orangemen to within three points at 49-46. Undaunted, Navy scored the next six points to take a 57-46 advantage with over 10 minutes showing on the clock. Soon, an 8-0 Navy run gave it a 67-51 cushion with 7:11 still to play. The Mids led by at least 13 points the rest of the way.
"I think they (Navy) led by 20 at one point –– the final margin was 12 as I recall –– and it wasn't nearly that close," said Feinstein. "I vividly remember enjoying that afternoon as much as any I can remember. They shut the crowd down completely. I remember when the players shook hands afterwards some of the Syracuse fans were applauding –– how could they not respect a bunch of academy kids hammering their team like that?"
"We felt we made a statement," said Robinson. "I can't begin to tell you how incredibly good it felt. It is one thing to do that when you are playing LSU or Maryland in Dayton on a neutral court; it was a different level doing it with 33,000 people cheering against you."
"From my basketball memory, that's the best memory I have ever had," said Turner. "There was something like 30,000 people in the Carrier Dome. There was a lot of orange, and in the very top of the stands there were a bunch of mids in black SDB uniforms, just going crazy with about a minute in the game left. I will never forget that feeling."
"We handled Syracuse's press; that was the key," said Wojcik. "David was absolutely incredible. The combination of the two allowed us to win. I remember Kylor's poise and Vernon's toughness."
Statistically, the difference in the game was the foul line. Syracuse made 36 field goals to Navy's 28, but the Mids were 41-52 from the foul line and the Orangemen were 13-20. Navy's 41 made free throws tied an NCAA Tournament record (remains tied for second). Four Syracuse players fouled out –– including Seikaly after he went 2-8 from the floor and scored just the four points Robinson wanted to hold him to. Robinson was 21-27 from the charity stripe in totaling 35 points in 35 minutes before fouling out himself. The 27 attempts set an NCAA Tournament record for the most by an individual in a game (remains tied for the record). Additionally, Butler scored 23 points on 11-15 shooting from the field, Rees was 10-10 from the foul line and Wojcik was 6-6 from the free throw line as Navy won its 15th game in a row.
"Free throws were not a factor," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said to the media after the game. "We had to foul.
"The key to the game was Butler. We contained him earlier this season, but with Robinson going the way he was, we had to pay too much attention to him."
"This was one of the Navy's greatest victories since the Battle of Midway," wrote Bill Koenig in the (Albany) Times-Union.
But that was not the end of the Navy celebration.
"It was late at night when we returned and T Court was packed," said Whitaker. "We drove right up to it. It was really special for the Academy and Annapolis. The whole town got behind us."
"We arrived back in Annapolis at around 1:30 or 2 in the morning," said Turner. "The Mids had an impromptu pep rally. We pulled into gate three and they rocked the bus all of the way to T Court. They carried us off on the shoulders of the plebes, and we addressed everybody. It was unbelievable."
"We're flying back and all of us are in shock that we're going to the Sweet 16," said Liebert. "We show up and T Court is full. They pulled the bus right up to Tecumseh, and every Mid carried us all of the way to the steps. Nobody walked. It was a giant pep rally. It was a great night. That night with the Brigade, I will never forget it. And I can't tell you how many classmates, teammates or even other people who were there that night, when I run into them that's the one thing they talk about."
March 21 * East Rutherford, N.J. * NCAA Tournament / Regional Semifinal
(AP: 17 / Seed: 7) Navy 71, (Seed: 14) Cleveland State 70
The only other time a Navy team had won its first and second-round games in the NCAA Tournament was in 1954 when the Mids defeated Connecticut and Cornell to advance to the regional final of the 24-team tournament. This year, Navy would face upstart Cleveland State, a team that was in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, for the right to play in the regional final of the 64-team tournament.
The Vikings took a 14-game winning streak with them to Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey. Cleveland State had won the Association of Mid-Continent Universities regular season (13-1) and tournament titles and had compiled a 29-3 record on the season. The No. 14 seed had upended No. 3 Indiana, 83-79, in the first round and No. 6 Saint Joseph's, 60-59, in the second round. At the time, Cleveland State was the lowest-seeded team to reach the Sweet 16 since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1979. In the years following Cleveland State's run in 1986, only one other 14 seed (Chattanooga, 1997) and just one 15 seed (Florida Gulf Coast, 2013) has advanced to the regional semifinal.
"We knew Cleveland State was going to be tough for us because they were a tough, athletic, guard-oriented pressing team," said Liebert. "They were going to show us some looks we had not seen before. Coach had seven or eight guys up against the starting five at every practice leading up to the game. That's the kind of pressure we were going to be up against."
"Heading into the game," said Cleveland State player Clinton Ransey, "we had the sense to think it was David Robinson and others rather than them being a team. We felt if Navy was going to beat us, then somebody other than Robinson was going to do it and we felt that wasn't going to happen. As players, we looked more at players than coaches because the players are the ones who have to execute what is implemented by the coaches. Looking back now, the coaches had a great game plan against us."
The first possession of the contest took place on the Cleveland State end of the court. Robinson thwarted the first shot of the game by the Vikings with a block. Navy proceeded to score the first six points of the game, soon led 14-7, and opened up a 23-14 lead. That margin was pretty much maintained over the rest of the first half that ended with the Mids in front, 39-30.
Butler and Whitaker were a combined 11-20 from the floor and accounted for 26 points as Navy shot 50 percent from the field. Robinson picked up three first-half fouls and was limited to 14 minutes of playing time. He tallied seven rebounds, six blocks and five points during the opening half.
"In the first half," said Ransey, "we may have taken them for granted believing that if we could somehow contain the Admiral (Robinson), this game wouldn't be as hard as others believed it would be. Our mindset changed after halftime to we must defend everyone in order to gain momentum. We became more of ourselves in the second half in that we played our game like we were used to playing and let the other team adjust to us."
Cleveland State picked up the pace in the second half and sliced the deficit down to three points at 41-38. It soon became a one-point game at 49-48.
"We did a nice job in the first four minutes of the game when they started executing what we had practiced against," said Liebert. "The adjustment they made at halftime was pressuring the inbounds passer instead of the guards that were going to receive it. They put a long player on that person, who was me. If I got it into Doug, it was a jump trap right away so Doug would have to look up the court. Once they did that, it was a track meet. They made that one small adjustment and we had not practiced for it. That's when the turnovers started to get them back into the game."
"The idea was that we couldn't handle athletic, quick pressing teams," said Whitaker. "But we handled it well (against Cleveland State). However, they just kept grinding it down and to their credit they pulled even with us."
Navy took a modest 54-50 advantage, but the Vikings went on a 10-1 run that gave them a 60-55 lead with seven minutes remaining. The teams started alternating baskets until Cleveland State held a 68-65 lead with three minutes left. Robinson scored on a short jumper to pull Navy to within one point for the fifth time since the Vikings last took the lead. Each team committed a turnover, then Butler scored on a three-on-one fast break to give Navy a 69-68 lead with 75 seconds remaining.
A Cleveland State offensive foul gave the ball back to Navy, but a steal and layup by Ransey –– "I do remember my turnover at halfcourt," said Wojcik. "Thank goodness David bailed me out." –– gave the Vikings a 70-69 advantage with 27 seconds left. That led to a Navy timeout being called three seconds later. Just as toward the end of the Army game, pretty much everyone knew Robinson was going to be involved in the final play against the Vikings. The Mids tried to get the ball into him, but Paul Stewart intercepted it. Butler immediately tied up Stewart, and all eyes turned to the possession arrow. Just as in the Army game, it was in favor of the Mids.
With a scant eight seconds remaining, Cleveland State called timeout.
"We had an out of bounds play we ran called variation," said Liebert. "I am at the elbow, Doug sets a pick for me, I come around. Vernon posts strong. David, it looks like he is going up to the free throw line but then he turns around and it becomes like an alley-oop at that point. Kylor is the inbounds player. Coach draws that play in the timeout. I remember it vividly. I'm thinking, 'Oh my gosh, I could be open.' Then Kylor says, 'David, the ball is coming to you.' At that moment my mindset changed to I have to be ready to rebound."
"It was a Jimmy Chitwood moment from Hoosiers where the coach is drawing a play at the very end of the game and everyone in the huddle stands up (because they don't like the play). We didn't stand up, though."
"I remember during the timeout, coach was drawing up a play," said Turner. "Coach said, 'Kylor look for Dave on the cutback. Dave if you are not there, cutback again and do something else.' Kylor looks at Dave, grabs Dave by his jersey and says, 'The ball is coming to YOU.'"
"I remember this very well," said Rees. "Coach Evans drew up his play to get Dave the shot he took to win it, but in the huddle he told Kylor if he couldn't get the lob over the middle to Dave then he should look for me coming to the corner on the ball side as a secondary option. At that moment, Kylor looked at coach and told him basically that he didn't need a second option; he was throwing the ball to David. Classic Whit! And obviously he was right."
"When I stood up to leave the huddle with my teammates, I know I looked him in the eye and said it loudly enough for all to hear, 'Dave be ready; I am passing the ball to you. There are no options,'" recalled Whitaker. "It was not bravado; it was shear logic."
"I embraced it," said Robinson of being told he was getting the ball at the most important time of the game. "It is incredible confidence when your team trusts you like that."
When play resumed, Navy again tried to send the ball into Robinson off of Whitaker's inbounds pass from the baseline. It was a pass Whitaker estimated he had made "1,000" times in either practices or games as the team's designated inbounder throughout his four years. This time, the ball successfully reached Robinson who had started on the lower left block, before rolling back to the middle of lane. The leaning half-jumper, half-layup attempt he released as soon as he caught the lofted pass banked in to give Navy the lead with five second still to play.
"It was not an easy shot that David took," said Whitaker.
"I believe he (Robinson) got to the point in that he believed that, 'I can do what I want and no one was going to tell me different,'" said Ransey. "When you have the mind and the ability to carry out what your mind believes, you can impose your will upon anyone."
The Vikings immediately called their final timeout. Cleveland State would quickly advance the ball down the court. Clinton Smith, who would go on to play 46 games in the NBA, launched a desperation shot as the buzzer sounded. His 25-foot effort under pressure from the right side of the court hit the back of the rim and bounced off.
The foul line again proved to be a key difference in the game. Navy was 15-21 from the foul line (Robinson alone was 8-10) and Cleveland State was 6-12. That helped balance out the Vikings holding a 32-28 advantage over the Mids in made field goals.
Robinson was 5-6 from the floor and 7-8 from the foul line in the second half to total 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks for the game. He accounted for 12 of Navy's final 14 points. Whitaker paced the Mids with both 23 points and 10 assists.
"We did a good job on Robinson in the first half," said Cleveland State head coach Kevin Mackey to the assembled media after the game, "but Navy's not going to the final eight because of one great player. That Kylor Whitaker is a big-league shooter."
March 23 * East Rutherford, N.J. * NCAA Tournament / Regional Final
(AP: 1 / UPI: 1 / Seed: 1) Duke 71, (AP: 17 / Seed: 7) Navy 50
That left Navy to face Duke for the right to go to the Final Four.
"I remember there were people back in Annapolis trying to figure out how to get the entire Brigade to Dallas and the Final Four if we won," said Turner.
Duke had not yet turned into the juggernaut it is today when the teams met in 1986. Mike Krzyzewski was in his sixth season as the head coach in Durham, N.C., following a five-year stint as the head coach at his alma mater, Army. Duke had posted losing seasons in each of his first three years before it advanced to the NCAA Tournament and reached the second round in both 1984 and '85. This year's team was his first great one.
Duke entered the game as the consensus top-ranked team in the country, had won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season (12-2) and tournament titles, posted a 35-2 record and was on a 19-game winning streak. The roster featured six Parade High School All-Americans, five future NBA players in Mark Alarie, Tommy Amaker, Danny Ferry, Johnny Dawkins and Martin Nessley, plus recognizable players in (future ESPN analyst) Jay Bilas, (future NBA general manager) Billy King and (future NBA head coach) Quin Snyder.
"Navy had the most unique, dominant and classiest player in David Robinson," said Amaker. "We respected him and their team greatly."
"We had a great deal of respect for Navy," said Bilas. "They were a great basketball team. They were far more than David Robinson. He was one of the best big men in the country. I had to guard him, and that's beyond a challenge. I had watched a lot of film and the only things I tried to do were not let him dunk and not send him to the free throw line. He had torched Syracuse doing both."
"Remember, Krzyzewski hadn't been to a Final Four yet; he still wasn't 'COACH K," said Feinstein. "This is pretty close to exactly what he said in his pregame speech: 'I want to tell you guys something; you can't begin to understand what that team down the hall has accomplished to be here today. I DO understand it. They're amazing and I'd like to hug every one of them. There's no team in the country I respect more than I respect them.' A pause. 'But I want to tell you something; they're Navy. I'M ARMY. I don't lose to Navy (he was 3-0 in the Army-Navy series as a player and 4-1 as the head coach). So, let me put this simply … if you don't go out there and kick their butts, don't even bother coming back in here because I won't be speaking to any of you.'"
The Blue Devils took an early 10-5 lead, but the Mids answered and took a 20-16 advantage at the 8:11 mark. From there, Duke would score each of the next 12 points and end the half on an 18-2 run that gave it a 34-22 lead at the break.
Several things jump out when looking at the halftime box score: Duke held a 34-15 lead on the glass, many of which were gathered in on the offensive end for the Blue Devils. Of Duke's 16 made field goals in the first half, 11 came following offensive rebounds and the Blue Devils would accrue 21 more field goal attempts than Navy. Additionally, the Mids took only six free throw attempts.
Individually, Robinson was 7-10 from the floor and scored 15 of Navy's 22 points.
"Early on," said Liebert, "we matched up extraordinarily well. The first 14 minutes or so, we played very tough. They were really good. David was as sensational as ever. As we looked around with seven or eight minutes to go in the half, we were winning. It was one of those moments where we thought, 'Can we really do this?' And then of course Duke pulled away and went into the locker room with a pretty good lead."
Navy was able to make it a 10-point game at both 36-26 and 38-28 in the second half, but Duke extended its advantage out to as many as 23 points to make the program's first trip to the Final Four in eight years and an eventual appearance in the championship game (lost, 72-69 to Louisville).
Duke led Navy in rebounds (49-29), field goals made (31-19) and field goals attempted (71-48). Dawkins, who was later named the 1986 National Player of the Year, scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half. Alarie added 18 points and four steals and Bilas snared 10 rebounds.
For Navy, Robinson was 10-17 from the floor and 3-4 from the foul line, scored 23 points, grabbed 10 boards, recorded three steals and blocked two shots in 39 minutes of playing time. Butler ended his career with eight points, and Whitaker posted 10 points and seven assists in his last game as a Mid.
"It was a quick turnaround (from Cleveland State) with an amazing amount of attention," said Wojcik. "Duke was extremely talented. Most importantly, they were led by a West Point graduate in Coach K and they were not going to overlook us. I truly believe had we played anyone else, including Louisville, we would have advanced."
"Our balance was probably the difference for us," said Amaker.
"They were just so athletic and big and disciplined," said Rees. "Dawkins and Amaker were such spectacular guards and really controlled the game on both ends of the floor in this game. I'd like to blame it on fatigue for us, but the fact of the matter is they were just so good and their defense was stifling to us."
"The difference in the game was our guard play," said Bilas. "Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, David Henderson; teams may have matched up with us in the frontcourt, but we never went into a game in which our guards weren't better. Mark Alarie also did a really good job on Vernon Butler."
"Duke won easily, 71-50, but Krzyzewski DID hug every Navy player at game's end," said Feinstein.
"What those guys accomplished this season is incredible," said Krzyzewski of Navy in the Richmond News-Leader. "To have come this far and beaten the teams they beat is really hard to believe. I know they had David Robinson, and I know some of the other guys on that team are very good players, but there's no question they beat teams with more overall talent."
"The moment I remember most about the Duke game was Coach K coming into the locker room after the game," said Liebert. "He said, 'I know you are sad and I know you don't feel good now. But let me tell you, no service academy team will ever do what you did this year. I for one know. You will be the greatest team to ever play at not just the Naval Academy, but the greatest team to play at a service academy. You need to get your heads up and that you have a bright future ahead. I want you to know that.'"
Epilogue
Accolades rolled in for the Navy players in 1986. Robinson was named the Colonial Athletic Association's Player of the Year and the trio of Robinson (first team), Butler (first) and Whitaker (second) received All-CAA honors. Robinson (first) and Butler (second) also were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Team, and Robinson's name appeared on All-America Teams announced by the USBWA (second), NABC (second), AP (third) and UPI (third).
Statistically, Navy as a team ranked first in the country in blocked shots (233) and blocks per game (6.6 bpg), fifth in defensive field goal percentage (42.1%), sixth in scoring margin (+13.5 ppg), 15
th in rebound margin (+5.7 rpg), 16
th in offensive field goal percentage (52.3%) and 29
th in scoring offense (77.2 ppg).
Robinson led the nation with 207 blocks (only one TEAM, Louisville, the 1986 national champions, with 213, blocked more shots than Robinson did individually, and the second-place individual swatted 123 shots) and averages of 5.91 blocks and 13.0 rebounds a game. He also stood 14
th nationally in scoring (22.7 ppg) and 16
th in field goal percentage (60.7%). Robinson's blocked shot total and his 31 double-doubles on the year remain NCAA single-season records. Additionally, Wojcik ranked 21
st in the country with an average of 7.2 assists per game.
As a team, the 1985-86 season ended with the Mids one victory away from the Final Four and halfway to the six wins needed to accomplish the goal of the National Champions sign Paul Evans placed in the locker room before the start of the year. In terms of where to place the accomplishments of the 1986 squad among other Navy basketball teams, consider:
** The 30 victories on the year is a Navy and service academy record.
** Navy played 15 games against the 11 teams that would advance to the postseason, including 11 games against NCAA Tournament qualifiers. The Mids posted a record of 10-5 in those 15 games.
** Of the 23 teams Navy faced on the year, 13 of them had at least one player on their roster who would go on to play in the NBA. The Mids faced 31 different future NBA players on the season.
** In the now 39 seasons in which Navy has played in a conference, it was the first of only three times in which the Mids have won both an outright regular season title and the ensuing tournament (CAA: 1987, Patriot League: 1997).
** Navy has made 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament in program history to date and totaled eight wins in those appearances (one of which was a consolation bracket win in 1959). Three of the eight victories came during the 1986 team's run. That team also joined the 1954 squad as the lone ones to record multiple main draw victories in a single tournament.
** When comparing Navy's 1985-86 squad to the other two service academy programs, Army has never been to the NCAA Tournament and Air Force is winless in four trips (1960, 1962, 2004, 2006) to the event.
** Conference wise, Navy in 1986, Richmond in 1988 (Sweet 16), George Mason in 2006 (Final Four) and VCU in 2011 (Final Four) are the only Colonial Athletic Association teams to advance to at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Patriot League teams –– which Navy has competed in since the 1991-92 campaign –– have combined for three total wins in the tournament's 64-team field, with no squad tallying more than one victory in a single edition of March Madness.
"I'm not sure people appreciated how much Navy had accomplished," said Feinstein. "The tournament wasn't covered in those days the way it is now. The mid-majors who have made the Final Four this century –– George Mason, VCU, Butler (twice), Loyola-Chicago –– all became national heroes. If a military academy team did that, or came close in today's era, someone might build a statue to them. Throw in the fact that, basketball aside, they were about as appealing as any group of young men you'd ever want to meet and there would be an HBO documentary on them."
"We realize it has bonded us together in a real special way," said Robinson. "We all feel a real special connection."
"It was incredible to have a service academy team get to that level," said ESPN's Dick Vitale. "Number one, you had David Robinson. He was just another kid when he first arrived at the Naval Academy and turned into the best player in the country when he left. Then you had Wojcik, who was a savvy, heady, very cerebral player. Carl Liebert was a guy I call a blender in that he would do all of the hard work. And they were well coached."
As for the reasons behind the team's success, the logical answer is having the eventual number one draft pick in the NBA on its roster. But to a man, each member of the squad went beyond the obvious when explaining why team accomplished what it did.
"The biggest thing about this team was that they were very unselfish and everyone played within their role," said Evans. "It was not a one-man show as many remember it. Doug Wojcik was an excellent point guard who gave up many shots to distribute the ball to Vernon, David, and Kylor. David and Vernon made more foul shots than our opponents shot. We played a lot of zone defense! David blocked almost as many shots as Louisville, who was second in the NCAA in blocked shots. Kylor Whitaker was a great outside shooter and would have been unbelievable if the three-point line existed! Carl Liebert was a student of the game being from Kentucky and gave big efforts every night. Cliff Rees was a part-time starter and played both the two and the three (positions). Vernon and David were a great tandem inside. Vernon played the middle of our zone, which enabled David to come from off the ball to get so many blocks. We got a lot of minutes from Derric Turner, Tony Wells, Nate Baily and Neil Fenton.
"It was truly a great group of guys who to this day keep in touch and meet somewhere every couple of years."
"The coaches and team were close," said Whitaker. "There were no cliques. It was a TEAM. That's rare to find in college athletics and I realize it more so now. From the starters to the 12th man, we were a team. We didn't bicker off the court. I am still in touch with those guys 35 years later."
"Everyone on that team knew their roles and accepted them," said Al Konetzni. "There was no selfishness, they helped each other, they got the ball to David at the right time –– he was a great player and not a ball hog –– and worked together very well. Other than a couple of the guys coming back after break with permanent hairstyles and Ian Cassidy throwing a dirty jockstrap at the feet of the CNO –– 'I didn't hear that the CNO and the Secretary of the Navy were coming in the locker room after a game,' said Cassidy –– there never was a problem with the guys off the court."
"I think we knew even going into the Duke game that we had already accomplished something pretty special," said Rees. "A service academy team reaching the Elite Eight was something most would say could never happen. I also remember even after the Duke loss and getting back to the Academy very late at night, I think half the Brigade of Midshipmen and a ton of fans were out on campus to welcome us back and cheer for us when we got off the bus. That was such a cool experience. We were still down from losing but man, that was an amazing feeling to have so many people there for us when we arrived."
"I do not believe that I realized how special it was until I started coaching," said Wojcik. "Keep in mind, 1985 was the first year of a 64-team NCAA Tournament and we had won a game in '85, so we had personal expectations. A player must have confidence and swagger, but once I started to coach, I truly recognized the variables and the difficulty.
"The legacy of the accomplishment is very special. I just remember through Plebe Summer hearing all about Roger Staubach's football team as the greatest in school history. Little did I know that our basketball team led by David and Vernon would create our own legacy in our sport. Very cool!"
"It was a special team, that's for sure," said Turner. "David was the centerpiece of everything, but everyone knew their role. That's what made us so special.
"At the end of the season we had our final meeting of the year in our locker room and coach Evans said, 'You guys took a heck of a chunk out of that National Champions sign.'"
"It didn't hit me (the accomplishment of the team) until after I graduated, got to the fleet, (and hearing) people talk about that team, and then after I got into my civilian career," said Liebert. "The number of people who followed that team through the process and remembered the games and started to talk about it, then it started to hit me. I remember going out on the Navy football field with the team after 10 years. Maybe it started to feel special after 10 years. It really became special when we all started to have time to come back and celebrate together.
"To have a 1986 moment, it takes on-campus visits of people going, 'Hey, I know you have other Division I scholarships, but you should come to the Naval Academy because we have something special going on here.' I really thank Rob Romaine, Dave Brooks, Cliff Mauer, Jim Kuzma, and all of those guys who convinced us at 17 years old that the Naval Academy is building something special. I get chills just thinking of it. I really believe it wasn't until that moment when all of us came together as a unit of about seven or eight class years (the players in the Classes of 1983 through 1989 and coaches gathered at a 2018 reunion) to celebrate. I remember the words of coach Evans that night when he said it took all of you to create what happened in 1986. It is pretty freaking special."
Acknowledgments
All quotes for this story were provided in interviews conducted during the summer and fall of 2020 by the following unless noted in the story by their comments. Thanks to all for taking the time to provide their recollections:
Navy Players, Coaches and Staff
Ian Cassidy, Paul Evans, Al Konetzni, Carl Liebert, Cliff Rees, David Robinson, Derric Turner, Kylor Whitaker, Doug Wojcik
Opposing Players and Coaches
Air Force – Reggie Minton; American – Billy Stone; Cleveland State – Clinton Ransey; Delaware – Philip Carr, George Dragonetti, Steve Steinwedel; Duke – Tommy Amaker, Jay Bilas; East Carolina – Keith Sledge; Georgia Tech – Bobby Cremins, Mark Price; Lafayette –– John Leone; Ohio –– Billy Hahn; Richmond – Greg Beckwith; UNCW – Greg Bender
Media
John Feinstein, Dick Vitale
