Sean Singletary and the Hoos brought some pride back to UVa basketball.

This past weekend, as Final Four teams were immortalized in college basketball history, the same number of teams and their fans learned that their seasons ended on the brink of the sport’s ultimate stage. And a few days before, a larger number discovered their own unfulfilled brink. The weekend before that, even more schools found out about their brink the hard way, including the University of Virginia.

Sean Singletary ‘s last-second shot was not just the brink of the Sweet 16, however. His shot was also the culmination of the moments that made up the entire season: the come-back victories and the blown leads, the home dominance and the road struggles, and the fan base that followed every moment. In fact, the season brought about other brinks as well – some that led to successes and even a championship banner and some that led to frustrating, unmet potential. We were fortunate to follow the season through its twists and turns, the development of the players, the highs and lows, the thank goodness moments, the almosts and the should’ve beens.

The Beginning

The season itself began with a crossing over into a new era. For the past several years, Virginia has been on the brink of opening a new arena. A state-of-the-art palace dedicated to building two elite basketball programs. From the first tip-off of the year, the realization of this dream – brought about by the hard work of many Wahoos like Craig Littlepage and Terry Holland – became the underlying foundation of the successful season.

The John Paul Jones Arena erupted upon opening, both in the crowd reaction and the team’s play. Despite falling behind double-digits by halftime, the Hoos battled back against a highly ranked Arizona team. On the first night at the Big Bonhomme, Dave Leitao’s squad erupted with the help of a 14-5 run and a surging crowd to take a small lead. The Hoos stood in the gateway of a signature victory for the rest of the contest, and finally stepped through when a final 3-point try by the Wildcats fell short. The arena erupted, and became the toughest place for ACC opponents to play a game.

With this win, we fans were told by the team to believe in this season. If this overmatched band could fight to a victory against a top 10 opponent so early in the season, could it be on the brink of bigger things? Of an unforgettable season? It seemed possible, and we all began to believe a little bit.

But in the early going, several other games would act in the opposite way: near misses and unforgivable losses that began to build into Virginia’s final results and forge the fragility of the collective fan psyche. Last-second losses to Purdue and Stanford, and more unfortunate losses against weaker teams in Puerto Rico, started to work against the mind of every Wahoo as we reached for higher expectations through the rest of the season.

The Streak

J.R. Reynolds’ scoring soared during the winning streak.

The team continued to toy with our emotions – following up impressive victories with less-impressive defeats. They didn’t appear to be on the brink of anything – taking one step forward before taking a couple steps back during this period. Two quick losses against ACC foes gave us an early losing conference record. Fans began to fret, and message boards started to melt down. But the team responded with some key conference wins that threatened to become a winning streak – beginning with the Terps, then Wake, then State.

A trip to Clemson looked destined to end the threat. Down 16 points as time wound down, the Hoos looked to be reverting back to their win some-lose some pattern. They whittled down the lead a little, and then a little more. Virtually every fan of both teams had logged in a Clemson victory into their emotional databanks. The Clemson crowd was ebullient, and Hoos watching across the country were frustrated. But the lead kept shrinking. A 3-pointer by J.R. Reynolds, a series of big shots by Adrian Joseph , and suddenly everyone was thinking the same thing: “They’re back in this thing!”

A Clemson player caught a pass and planted a foot on the out of bounds line, right in front of the Cavalier bench. Some how, the Hoos had a chance to take the lead in the final minute. On the brink of an amazing, season-defining comeback, the team broke through for another signature win. Sean Singletary ‘s unforgettable rebound and Jason Cain’s unforgettable tip-in added a fourth straight victory.

Suddenly, the Hoos were surging in the ACC standings. And the next game – a nationally televised battle against a top 10 Duke team – became a critical opportunity to solidify a place in the upper echelon of the conference. After Virginia fell further and further behind late in the game, our star guards decided to pound the adage “Fool me twice, shame on me” into our collective heads. We grew frustrated again as the Clemson miracle had taught us nothing. Reynolds and Singletary ignited a 10-2 run to close out regulation, capped off by a game-tying shot and a game-winning dagger from the team leader.

Never again would we doubt the team’s ability to come back against any lead. And this training would come in handy for the players and the fans down the road.

On the brink of winning two critical ACC games against teams leading the conference, the Hoos broke through both times. The winning streak swelled to five games, and then to seven straight victories before a clearly fatigued team collapsed in Blacksburg.

The Brink of a Championship

Jason Cain helped Virginia knock off the Hokies.

After reverting to the win and lose pattern, alternating tough victories and tougher losses for four games, the Hoos still managed to find themselves at the top of the ACC standings tied with Carolina and Virginia Tech. And, conveniently, the Hokies came to town for senior night – J.R. and Jason’s last game in Charlottesville – for a rivalry game dripping with significance.

And, with revenge in their hearts and a regular season championship in their minds, the Hoos crushed the Hokies. Coupled with an opportune Carolina loss that same night, Virginia seized undisputed control of the ACC’s top slot in the standings. At the very least, the Hoos had earned a share of the regular season championship. Nobody realized at the time that the team had been on the brink of a championship banner and had seized that opportunity to hang a housewarming present in the new arena.

In addition, the Hoos now controlled their own destiny to win the thing outright. With one more win in the final game against a mediocre Wake Forest team, Virginia would seize the top seed in the ACC tourney and sole possession of a regular season championship. The Hoos were on the brink again. Many fans believed, even expected that UVa would be the only school to raise that banner next year.

This time, unfortunately, we found ourselves with nothing more than unfulfilled potential. The team lost in Winston-Salem. The banner would have to be shared with UNC. The team had seized its opportunity to win a regular season championship, but had failed in its shot to win the crown for itself alone.

Almost Sweet

The Hoos were upset in its first game of the ACC tourney by a surging N.C. State team – a disappointing end to conference play. However, the Hoos followed up that loss by crushing Albany in the NCAA Tournament.

Advancing to the second round was itself a grand stepping stone for the Virginia program. The last NCAA tourney victory came more than a decade ago. In two short years, Dave Leitao had seized a milestone that had eluded Virginia coaches since the Clinton administration. And with a stifling defense and a renewed offensive juggernaut named J.R. Reynolds, the team and we fans were very optimistic about being on the brink of the sweetest part of the tournament.

And, for half of the game, our expectations were met. J.R. exploded for 22 points in the first half. Already nearing his game-leading scoring outburst from the first round game against Albany, Reynolds looked poised to carry this team into the Sweet 16.

Then, he heard a pop.

Driving through the lane late in the first half as if he was addicted to scoring, J.R. stepped on a Tennessee player’s foot and twisted his ankle. His injury was bad enough to be audible to his ears. And though Reynolds was able to continue playing, he didn’t score more than a few more times in the rest of the game. Fate had robbed UVa of its top scorer. And Tennessee surged to what looked like an insurmountable lead.

But these Hoos – and us fans – had been trained to believe that any second half lead was vulnerable. So nobody gave up, believing until the end as this undermanned team fought and scraped and shaved the lead down to a one-possession game. Sean brought the ball up the court, and Jason sprung him free with a well-coached pick. Singletary rose up for the game-tying trey. A season on the brink as the ball floated away from his fingertips.

That Brink of the Future

The remarkable, unexpected season ended there, with a dejected Singletary collapsing on the floor in a heap of emotion. Dave Leitao and his teammates helped him to his feet, a small favor in light of how much Sean had done to help this team off its feet all season. This team sat on the brink of advancing to the Sweet 16, but a twist to an ankle and a barely off-target shot left the season encased in the second round.

However, the mourning was brief for the team and its fans, as thoughts of next season began almost instantly. The brink that was the culmination of an entire season was itself part of the larger flow of time. Perhaps this moment in Columbus – that seemed steeped in finality – was just another moment leading up to even greater opportunities. In the future, Dave Leitao and his team and its fans will find themselves collectively on the brink of an outright regular season championship, or an ACC tourney crown, or even a Final Four. We will all have that chance some day and will remember the season that paved the way.

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