1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
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 Miss	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 24, 1985*	No. 9	vs. Tulsa Preseason NIT	W 80–74	2–0	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 29, 1985*	No. 9	vs. No. 5 Kansas Preseason NIT	L 78–83	2–1	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Dec 1, 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*	No. 15	Iona	W 88–75	4–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 14, 1985*	No. 15	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*	No. 18	Wyoming	W 94–62	7–3	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 6, 1986*	No. 17	Eastern Kentucky	W 86–55	8–3	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 9, 1986	No. 17	at No. 6 Memphis State	L 71–73	8–4 (0–1)	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 13, 1986	No. 18	at Southern Miss	W 59–54	9–4 (1–1)	Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jan 15, 1986	No. 18	at Florida State	W 85–64	10–4 (2–1)	Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 18, 1986*	No. 13	No. 4 Syracuse	W 83–73	11–4	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 20, 1986	No. 13	Cincinnati	L 82–84	11–5 (2–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 25, 1986*	No. 13	at No. 7 Kansas	L 69–71	11–6	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Jan 28, 1986*	No. 18	La Salle	W 72–60	12–6	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 1, 1986*	No. 18	UCLA	W 91–72	13–6	Freedom Hall (19,384) Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 3, 1986	No. 16	South Carolina	W 74–72	14–6 (3–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 6, 1986	No. 16	No. 15 Virginia Tech	W 103–68	15–6 (4–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 8, 1986*	No. 16	at NC State	L 64–76	15–7	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
Feb 10, 1986	No. 19	at No. 20 Virginia Tech	W 93–83	16–7 (5–2)	Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, Virginia
Feb 13, 1986	No. 19	at Cincinnati	W 74–58	17–7 (6–2)	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 15, 1986*	No. 19	at DePaul	W 72–53	18–7	Rosemont Horizon (15,754) Rosemont, Illinois
Feb 17, 1986	No. 16	Southern Miss	W 83–74	19–7 (7–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 19, 1986	No. 16	Florida State	W 89–67	20–7 (8–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 22, 1986*	No. 16	at Houston	W 76–59	21–7	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Feb 24, 1986*	No. 13	South Alabama	W 66–55	22–7	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 26, 1986	No. 13	at South Carolina	W 65–63	23–7 (9–2)	Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina
Mar 2, 1986	No. 13	No. 7 Memphis State	W 70–69	24–7 (10–2)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Metro Conference tournament
Mar 7, 1986*	(1) No. 11	(4) Cincinnati Semifinals	W 86–65	25–7	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 8, 1986*	(1) No. 11	(2) No. 10 Memphis State Championship	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 (9,037) Ogden, Utah
Mar 15, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (7 W) No. 14 Bradley Second Round	W 82–68^[1]	28–7	Dee Events Center (10,061) Ogden, Utah
Mar 20, 1986*	(2 W) No. 7	vs. (3 W) No. 8 North Carolina Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 94–79^[2]	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 (16,493) Dallas, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[3]

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

Rankings

^[4]

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^[5]
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

^[6]

References

^ "LOUISVILLE WEARS BRADLEY DOWN, OUT". Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1986. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
^ "LOUISVILLE TOPS NORTH CAROLINA, 94-79; AUBURN GAINS". New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
^ "1985-86 Men's Basketball Schedule". gocards.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "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.

[1] "LOUISVILLE WEARS BRADLEY DOWN, OUT". Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1986. Retrieved May 18, 2019.

[2] "LOUISVILLE TOPS NORTH CAROLINA, 94-79; AUBURN GAINS". New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2019.

[3] "1985-86 Men's Basketball Schedule". gocards.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.

[ESPN-4] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[Tourney_History-5] "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.

[6] "1986 NBA Draft on". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.

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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