1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
NCAA National Champions NCAA Midwest Regional Champions Metro Conference Champions Metro Conference Tournament Champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament Championship Game, W 59-54 v. UCLA
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#4
AP	#2
1979–80 record	33–3 (12–0 Metro)
Head coach	Denny Crum
Assistant coach	Bill Olsen
Assistant coach	Wade Houston
Assistant coach	Jerry Jones
Home arena	Freedom Hall

The 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1979-80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 66th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum. The team played home games at Freedom Hall.

The team completed a 33-3 record and brought Louisville basketball their first NCAA National Championship when they defeated UCLA 59-54, led by Darrell Griffith (aka "Dr. Dunkenstein") and his 23 points.

Roster

1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 5 Eaves, JerryJerry Eaves 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Ballard Louisville, Kentucky G 15 Deuser, GregGreg Deuser 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Floyd Central New Albany, Indiana F 21 McCray, ScooterScooter McCray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Mount Vernon Mount Vernon, New York F/C 22 McCray, RodneyRodney McCray 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Mount Vernon Mount Vernon, New York G 23 Branch, TonyTony Branch (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Elston Michigan City, Indiana F 24 Cleveland, DarylDaryl Cleveland 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Thomas County Central Thomasville, Georgia G 34 Burkman, RogerRoger Burkman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Franklin Central Indianapolis, Indiana G 35 Griffith, DarrellDarrell Griffith (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Louisville Male Louisville, Kentucky C 40 Pulliam, MartyMarty Pulliam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Mercer Country Senior Harrodsburg, Kentucky C 41 Brown, WileyWiley Brown 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Worth County Sylvester, Georgia F 43 Smith, DerekDerek Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Hogansville Hogansville, Georgia G/F 44 Wright, PonchoPoncho Wright 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Marshall Indianapolis, Indiana	Head coach Denny Crum (UCLA) Assistant coach(es) Jerry Jones Bill Olsen Wade Houston Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular Season
December 1*	#10	South Alabama	W 75-73	1–0	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
December 5*	#14	Tennessee Chattanooga	W 87-63	2-0	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
December 8*	#14	at Tennessee	W 77-75	3–0	Stokely Athletic Center ([1]) Knoxville, TN
December 13*	#12	UNC-Charlotte	W 93-76	4–0	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
December 14*	#12	Western Kentucky	W 96-74	5–0	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
December 19*	#11	#2 Ohio State	W 75-65	6–0	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
December 22*	#11	at Utah	L 69-71	6-1	Jon M. Huntsman Center ([1]) Salt Lake City
December 28*	#12	vs. Princeton Hawaii Rainbow Classic	W 64-53	7-1	([1]) Honolulu, Hawaii
December 29*	#12	vs. Illinois Hawaii Rainbow Classic	L 65-77	7-2	([1]) Honolulu, Hawaii
December 30*	#12	vs. Nebraska Hawaii Rainbow Classic	W 65-58	8-2	([1]) Honalulu, Hawaii
January 3	#15	at Tulsa	W 78-58	9-2	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
January 5	#15	Kansas St.	W 85-73	10-2	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
January 8	#11	St. Louis	W 94-65	11–2 (1–0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
January 12	#11	at Memphis St.	W 69-48	12–2 (2-0)	Mid-South Coliseum ([1]) Memphis, TN
January 19	#7	at Tulane	W 76-59	13–2 (3-0)	Avron B. Fogelman Arena ([1]) New Orleans, LA
January 22	#7	Marquette	W 76-63	14–2 (3–0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
January 25	#7	at St. Louis	W 99-74	15–2 (4–0)	Kiel Auditorium ([1]) St. Louis
January 27	#7	Florida St.	W 79-73	16–2 (5-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
January 31	#7	Tulane	W 64-60	17–2 (6-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
February 3	#7	at #9 St. John's	W 76-71	18-2 (6–0)	Alumni Hall ([1]) Queens, NY
February 4	#7	Memphis St.	W 88-60	19-2 (7-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
February 6	#3	Cincinnati	W 88-73	20-2 (8-0)	Freedom Hall (10,001[1]) Louisville, KY
February 9	#3	at Providence	W 79-73	21-2 (8-0)	Providence Civic Center ([1]) Providence, RI
February 11	#3	at Virginia Tech	W 56-54 ^OT	22-2 (9-0)	Cassell Coliseum ([1]) Blacksburg, Virginia
February 14	#3	at West Virginia	W 90-78	23-2 (9-0)	WVU Coliseum ([1]) Morgantown, WV
February 16	#3	at Cincinnati	W 61-57	24-2 (10-0)	Riverfront Coliseum ([1]) Cincinnati, OH
February 18	#3	Virginia Tech	W 77-72	25-2 (11-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
February 21	#2	vs. Iona	L 60-77	25-3 (11-0)	Madison Square Garden ([1]) New York, NY
February 24	#2	at Florida St.	W 83-75	26-3 (12-0)	([1]) Tallahassee, FL
1980 Metro Conference Tournament
February 29	#4	Memphis St. Metro Conference Tournament Semi-Final	W 84-65	27-3 (12-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
March 1	#4	Florida St. Metro Conference Tournament Championship	W 81-72	28–3 (12-0)	Freedom Hall ([1]) Louisville, KY
1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
March 8	#2 (MW2)	vs. #MW7 Kansas St. Second Round	W 71-69 ^OT	29-3 (12-0)	([1]) Lincoln, Nebraska
March 14	#2 (MW2)	vs. #MW6 Texas A&M Midwest Regional Semi-Final (Sweet Sixteen)	W 66-55 ^OT	30-3 (12-0)	([1]) Houston, TX
March 16	#2 (MW2)	vs. #3 (MW1) Louisiana St. Midwest Regional Championship (Elite Eight)	W 86-66	31-3 (12-0)	([1]) Houston, TX
March 22	#2 (MW2)	vs. #E5 Iowa National Semifinal (Final Four)	W 80-72	32-3 (12-0)	Market Square Arena ([1]) Indianapolis, IN
March 24*	#2 (MW2)	vs. #W8 UCLA National Championship Game	W 59-54	33-3 (12-0)	Market Square Arena ([1]) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

NCAA basketball tournament

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Alcorn State	70
	9	South Alabama	62
						8	Alcorn State	88
						1	LSU	98
											1	LSU	68
										5	Missouri	63
						4	Notre Dame	84*
						5	Missouri	87
	5	Missouri	61
	12	San Jose State	51
																1	LSU	66
																2	Louisville	86
	6	Texas A&M	55
	11	Bradley	53
						6	Texas A&M	78
						3	North Carolina	61**
											6	Texas A&M	55*
										2	Louisville	66
						2	Louisville	71
						7	Kansas State	69*
	7	Kansas State	71
	10	Arkansas	53

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Finals
	E5	Iowa	72
	MW2	Louisville	80
						MW2	Louisville	59
						W8	UCLA	54
	ME6	Purdue	62
	W8	UCLA	67

^[2]

Awards and honors

• Darrell Griffith, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[3]
• Darrell Griffith, All-America selection

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1980	1	2	Darrell Griffith	Utah Jazz
1983	2	36	Scooter McCray	Seattle SuperSonics
1983	1	3	Rodney McCray	Houston Rockets
1982	2	35	Derek Smith	Golden State Warriors

^[4]

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Final
AP	10	14	12	11	12	15	11	7	7	7	3	3	2	4	2

References

1. "Louisville Basketball Media Guide". University of Louisville.
2. "1980 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket and Results". Retrieved 2012-02-06.
3. "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
4. "1980 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-02-27.