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A look at the history of UVA basketball

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uva basketballThe University of Virginia is represented in the ACC by the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team. Since the beginning of 2006, this team has played exclusively in the John Paul Jones Arena.

With Tony Bennett the coach of this team in his 10th season, the UVA basketball team have been able to win the ACC regular-season title three times. Interestingly, in that period of time, Bennett has been able to inspire this team to win two ACC Tournaments.

The UVA basketball team is one of the college teams with a rich history. Since this team first played in the 1905/06 season, they have managed to appear about 22 times in the NCAA tournaments. In a bid to attract black players to the university and team as well, this basketball team hired the service of a black assistant coach in 1974. With the appointment of Bill Cofield, a couple of black talented players joined the team.

The UVA basketball team has produced some of the finest talents we have seen in the game. From the likes of Ralph Sampson to Cory Alexander to Malcolm Brogdon, John Crotty, Joe Harris, Andrew Kennedy, Jeff Jones.

The UVA basketball team for years had the Maryland Terrapins as its fierce rival. With the realignment of the conference, the Louisville Cardinals replaced Maryland. Although these two teams have just a little history together, their rivalry grew and has since 2014 is characterized by blowouts and tight games. Like the Maryland rivalry series that existed between the UVA basketball team, this newly formed rivalry with Louisville Cardinals took the same road with these two teams acting as spoilers to the success of the other.

Aside from the rivalry that exists between the Cavaliers and the Cardinals, the UNC rivalry is one that stands out as well.

This basketball team is currently one of the top college basketball teams. Since the team’s first game back in the 1905/06 season, they have been voted the nation’s #1 team 17 times. The first ranking came in January of 1981 with the most recent one being earlier this season. With eight total ACC championships, the Cavaliers are the third best ACC team of all time, right behind Duke and UNC. With this basketball team winning the ACC Tournament in 2018, they became one of the best college basketball teams in the country.

The reputation the Cavaliers have gathered in the last couple of years is why it is one of the teams with the highest number of spectators.

With the basketball game being one of the most watched sports in the world, there’s every chance you would love to try out basketball slots.

Guest column by Anne B. Jones

 

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