Wahoo Nation Rejoices Atop ACC

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Virginia celebrates its ACC regular season title. ~ Michael Ingalls

A few minutes before tip-off at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday, a Virginia fan stood with a button on her orange shirt. It read: “This is next year.”

The phrase, of course, alludes to all the years that fans suffer through heartbreak or disappointment. For UVa fans, the past decade has featured lean times in the two sports with the most visibility. The football team has just two winning seasons in the last eight years, while the men’s basketball team earned only two trips to the NCAA Tournament since 2004. In other words, Hoo fans have had to hold on to the hope of the future – next year – quite often in recent years.

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Akil Mitchell ~ Michael Ingalls

But thanks to Tony Bennett’s bunch, next year is here. The UVa men’s basketball team wrapped up the outright ACC regular season championship Saturday with a 75-56 victory against Syracuse. It is the first outright regular season championship in 33 years, the last coming in 1981. Virginia is just the fifth team other than Duke or North Carolina to win the ACC title outright in the past 30 seasons.

So when Senior Night for Joe Harris, Akil Mitchell, and Thomas Rogers ended with the Cavaliers as champions, a celebration followed. Fans stormed the court and lingered until the team returned from its locker room. The players carried a ladder through the throng and cut down the nets.

And Wahoos everywhere rejoiced. Take a look …

Joe Harris: “It’s unbelievable. I can’t even describe this feeling right now. One of the main reasons I came here, and I know that Akil [Mitchell] came here, was to be the foundation for Coach Bennett’s program and turning this thing around back to what it used to be. For us to go out this way with an ACC crown is unreal. I can’t even describe it. But at the same time, we still have a lot of basketball left. This is exciting, and I can’t wait for the postseason, but I also can’t wait for Maryland. We’re going to have a good week of practice and we’re going to keep this thing rolling.”

Akil Mitchell: “This is a team full of guys that live for the big game. We got our opportunity and we were blessed to be here. We just tried to make the most of it.”

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3 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Proud to be a Wahoo and especially proud of a great group of BB players and coaches. They represent the best of scholar athletes.

  2. Just look at that photo of seniors Harris and Akil. Beautiful. What say you, Kentucky? And we owe so much to you, Coach B.

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