By Jerry Ratcliffe
Because of his rich history with Virginia’s basketball program, Ryan Odom has linked the Cavaliers’ glorious past to his present team. Saturday was a perfect example when UVA honored the 1994-95 Wahoos, which reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.
There was a reception held for the team, along with approximately 75 former players attending Virginia Basketball Alumni’s reunion, and the ‘94-’95 team was recognized during a timeout in Saturday’s UVA win over Stanford.
During Saturday’s postgame, Odom was asked about honoring the former players, particularly the ‘94-’95 team, which was coached by Jeff Jones. Odom served as an assistant coach for Jones at American University.
“I love Coach Jones, one of my best friends in the world, mentor for me,” Odom said. “But it all started when I was a little youngster. [Jones] was good to me when I was here as an eight to whatever, 15-year-old. We would sit on the sidelines and, in between practices sometimes, and just dribble between our legs. And he would chat with me as a youngster, and to be friends now at this stage of our lives is really cool. To see him and his players be honored like that.”
Odom said there is discussion about honoring other former UVA teams.
“There’s so many great basketball teams that have played here under different eras, different coaches,” Odom said. “Obviously, Coach (Tony) Bennett, we’re excited to honor those guys.”
Almost all of the ‘94-’95 squad returned for the weekend (you can hear more stories from Jones and former player Junior Burrough in this podcast “The Hootie & JJ Show,” which was recorded this past week. Click here to give it a listen.
“We had all the (’94-’95) guys back except for three that were working: Cory (Alexander), Jay Willie (Jason Williford) and Jamal (Robinson) all had their own things going on or else they would have been back too. Everybody else was here. That was really special, and to be around and have them at the shootaround today and to have that group there to see how we do things, and just to be part of it. We had a good reception at the Rotunda (Friday night) and it was just special to be in that room with people that care about this place and certainly care about this program.”
Alexander is a game analyst for ESPN and was on assignment, Williford is an assistant coach at Georgetown and Robinson is an assistant at Old Dominion.
The 1994-95 team finished 25-9, including a 12-4 record in the ACC, which included the Cavaliers in a four-way tie for the regular-season title with Wake Forest, North Carolina and Maryland. All four teams were ranked among the nation’s top 15 teams in the regular season.
It was Jones’ fifth season as UVA’s head coach and his staff was composed of Anthony Solomon, Tom Perrin and Pete Hermann.
Here is the roster:
Junior Burrough, Curtis Staples, Cory Alexander, Jamal Robinson, Harold Deane, Jason Williford, Yuri Barnes, Norman Nolan, Chris Alexander, Chase Metheney, Maurice Watkins, Percy Ellsworth and Martin Walton. Ellsworth, who went on to a successful NFL career with the New York Giants, was in attendance Saturday, as was Staples, who is now working with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
That squad earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Nicholls State, 96-72 in the first round, before escaping a near upset in the second round with a 60-55 overtime win over Miami (Ohio).
One of the highlights of the season was an upset win over Midwest Region No. 1 seed and fifth-ranked Kansas, which was essentially playing in its backyard at Kemper Arena in Kansas City in the Sweet Sixteen. The Cavaliers defeated the Roy Williams-coached Jayhawks 67-58.
UVA made its deep run without Cory Alexander, who had suffered a second broken ankle during his career, which weakened the Cavaliers’ depth in the backcourt. Alexander went on to a long NBA career.
Advancing to the Elite Eight, Virginia faced No. 6 Arkansas, the region’s No. 3 seed. The Razorbacks were coached by Nolan Richardson and were known as “Forty Minutes of Hell” for their aggressive style of play, particularly on defense.
Arkansas prevailed, 68-61, ending UVA’s dream. The Cavaliers simply ran out of gas against Arkansas’ depth.
