1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions Metro Conference tournament champions Metro Conference regular season champions
National Championship Game, W 72-69 vs. Duke
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
Record	32–7 (10–2 Metro)
Head coach	Denny Crum (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Wade Houston Jerry Jones Bobby Dotson
Home arena	Freedom Hall
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Metro Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Louisville †	10	–	2	.833	32	–	7	.821
No. 12 Memphis State	9	–	3	.750	28	–	6	.824
Virginia Tech	7	–	5	.583	22	–	9	.710
Southern Mississippi	6	–	6	.500	17	–	12	.586
Cincinnati	5	–	7	.417	12	–	16	.429
Florida State	3	–	9	.250	12	–	17	.414
South Carolina	2	–	10	.167	12	–	16	.429

† 1986 Metro Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 72nd 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 compiled a 32–7 record and brought Louisville basketball their second NCAA national championship when they defeated Duke, 72–69.

Roster

1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G/F	34	Mike Abram	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Northside	Muncie, Indiana
F	41	Herbert Crook	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Eastern	Louisville, Kentucky
F/C	43	Pervis Ellison	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Savannah	Savannah, Georgia
G	42	Jeff Hall	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Fairview	Ashland, Kentucky
F	44	Tony Kimbro	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Seneca	Louisville, Kentucky
F/C	33	Avery Marshall	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Myrtle Beach	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
F/C	10	Mark McSwain	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	St. Pius X	Atlanta, Georgia
F	24	Will Olliges	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	St.Xavier	Louisville, Kentucky
F	21	Kenny Payne	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Northeast Jones	Laurel, Mississippi
F	30	David Robinson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Eastside	Gainesville, Florida
F	55	Billy Thompson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Camden	Camden, New Jersey
F	00	Robbie Valentine	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	North Hardin	Radcliff, Kentucky
G	20	Milt Wagner	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Camden	Camden, New Jersey
G	15	Kevin Walls	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Camden	Camden, New Jersey
G	23	Chris West	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Manual	Louisville, Kentucky
G	22	Keith Williams	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Seneca	Louisville, Kentucky

Head coach

Denny Crum (UCLA)

Assistant coach(es)

Jerry Jones

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 22, 1985*	No. 9	vs. Miami (OH) Preseason NIT	W 81–65	1–0	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 23, 1985*	No. 9	vs. Tulsa Preseason NIT	W 80–74	2–0	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 24, 1985*	No. 9	vs. No. 5 Kansas Preseason NIT	L 78–83	2–1	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Nov 25, 1985*	No. 9	at No. 18 St. John's Preseason NIT	L 79–86	2–2	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Dec 7, 1985*	No. 16	Purdue	W 77–58	3–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 10, 1985*		Iona	W 88–75	4–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 14, 1985*		Western Kentucky	W 73–70	5–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 18, 1985*	No. 16	No. 17 Indiana	W 65–63	6–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 28, 1985*	No. 15	at No. 13 Kentucky	L 64–69	6–3	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 4, 1986*		Wyoming	W 94–62	7–3	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 6, 1986*		Eastern Kentucky	W 86–55	8–3	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 9, 1986		at No. 6 Memphis State	L 71–73	8–4 (0–1)	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 13, 1986		at Southern Miss	W 59–54	9–4 (1–1)	Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jan 15, 1986		at Florida State	W 85–64	10–4 (2–1)	Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 18, 1986*		No. 4 Syracuse	W 83–73	11–4	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 20, 1986		Cincinnati	L 82–84	11–5 (2–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 25, 1986*		at No. 7 Kansas	L 69–71	11–6	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 1, 1986		No. 7 Memphis State	W 70–69	24–7 (10–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Metro Conference tournament
Mar 7, 1986*		Cincinnati	W 86–65	25–7	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 8, 1986*		No. 10 Memphis State	W 88–79	26–7	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (15 W) Drexel First round	W 93–73	27–7	Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah
Mar 15, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. No. 14 Bradley Second Round	W 82–68	28–7	Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah
Mar 20, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (3 W) No. 8 North Carolina Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 94–79	29–7	The Summit Houston, Texas
Mar 22, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (8 W) Auburn Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 84–76	30–7	The Summit Houston, Texas
Mar 29, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (11 SE) LSU National semifinal – Final Four	W 88–77	31–7	Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas
Mar 31, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (1 E) No. 1 Duke National Championship Game	W 72–69	32–7	Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

NCAA basketball tournament

West region

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	St John's	83

16	Montana St	74
			1	St John's	65

			8	Auburn	81
8	Auburn	73

9	Arizona	63
						8	Auburn	70

						4	UNLV	63
5	Maryland	69

12	Pepperdine	64
			5	Maryland	64

			4	UNLV	70
4	UNLV	74

13	Northeast Louisiana	51
									8	Auburn	76

									2	Louisville	84
6	UAB	66

11	Missouri	64
			6	UAB	59

			3	North Carolina	77
3	North Carolina	84

14	Utah	72
						3	North Carolina	79

						2	Louisville	94
7	Bradley	83

10	UTEP	65
			7	Bradley	68

			2	Louisville	82
2	Louisville	93

15	Drexel	73

Final Four

National semifinals			National Championship Game

E1	Duke	71

M1	Kansas	67
			E1	Duke	69

			W2	Louisville	72
S11	LSU	77

W2	Louisville	88

Awards and honors

Billy Thompson, first team All-Metro Conference
Billy Thompson, AP honorable mention All-American
Billy Thompson, NCAA All-Tournament team
Billy Thompson, NCAA All-West regional
Milt Wagner, first team All-Metro Conference
Milt Wagner. AP honorable mention All-American
Pervis Ellison, Final Four Most Outstanding Player^[1]
Pervis Ellison, NCAA All-West regional
Pervis Ellison, Metro Conference Freshman of the Year
Pervis Ellison, second team All-Metro Conference
Herbert Crook, NCAA All-West regional
Tony Kimbro, Metro Conference All-Freshman team

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1986	1	19	Billy Thompson	Atlanta Hawks
1986	2	35	Milt Wagner	Dallas Mavericks
1986	6	118	Jeff Hall	Indiana Pacers
1988	3	61	Herbert Crook	Indiana Pacers
1989	1	1	Pervis Ellison	Sacramento Kings
1989	1	19	Kenny Payne	Philadelphia 76ers

^[2]

References

^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
^ "1986 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball 1985–86 NCAA champions
10 Mark McSwain 20 Milt Wagner 21 Kenny Payne 41 Herbert Crook 42 Jeff Hall 43 Pervis Ellison (MOP) 44 Tony Kimbro 55 Billy Thompson Head coach Denny Crum Assistant coach Wade Houston

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Belknap Gymnasium (1933–1944) Jefferson County Armory (1945–1956) Freedom Hall (1956–2010) KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	Billy Minardi Classic Cardinal Bird The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NAIA and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions