# 1979–80 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented University of Virginia and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was Ralph Sampson's freshman year with the Cavaliers.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov. 30* | No. 13 | Johns Hopkins | W 93–58 | 1–0 | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Dec. 1 | No. 13 | Georgia Tech | W 55–37 | 2–0 (1–0) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Dec. 3* | No. 13 | Randolph–Macon | W 76–55 | 3–0 (1–0) | University Hall (8,500) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Dec. 5* | No. 13 | at Temple | W 58–52 | 4–0 (1–0) | McGonigle Hall (8,559) Philadelphia |
| Dec. 15* | No. 13 | at BYU–Hawaii | W 82–64 | 5–0 (1–0) | Cannon Activities Center (1,000) Laie, HI |
| Dec. 18* | No. 12 | at Chaminade | W 79–54 | 6–0 (1–0) | Neal S. Blaisdell Center (1,092) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec. 21* | No. 12 | vs. San Jose State | L 79–83 | 6–1 (1–0) | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| Dec. 22* | No. 12 | vs. Army | W 84–60 | 7–1 (1–0) | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| Dec. 28* | No. 14 | vs. VCU | W 89–72 | 8–1 (1–0) | Richmond Coliseum (10,716) Richmond, Virginia |
| Dec. 29* | No. 14 | vs. Old Dominion | W 79–58 | 9–1 (1–0) | Richmond Coliseum (10,716) Richmond, Virginia |
| Jan. 2 | No. 13 | Wake Forest | W 64–59 | 10–1 (2–0) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Jan. 5 | No. 13 | No. 6 North Carolina | W 88–82 | 11–1 (3–0) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Jan. 7* | No. 13 | Delaware | W 82–55 | 12–1 (3–0) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Jan. 12 | No. 8 | at NC State | L 56–64 | 12–2 (3–1) | Reynolds Coliseum (12,200) Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Jan. 14* | No. 8 | vs. Virginia Tech | W 65–58 | 13–2 (3–1) | Richmond Coliseum (10,716) Richmond, Virginia |
| Jan. 16* | No. 12 | Pennsylvania | W 69–39 | 14–2 (3–1) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Jan. 19 | No. 12 | at No. 17 Clemson | L 68–88 | 14–3 (3–2) | Littlejohn Coliseum (10,700) Clemson, South Carolina |
| Jan. 23 | No. 17 | at No. 3 Duke | W 90–84 | 15–3 (4–2) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, North Carolina |
| Jan. 26 | No. 17 | NC State | W 49–47 | 16–3 (5–2) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Jan. 27* | No. 17 | at No. 4 Ohio State | L 65–70 | 16–4 (5–2) | St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan. 30 | No. 13 | No. 12 Maryland | L 61–63 | 16–5 (5–3) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb. 2 | No. 13 | at Wake Forest | L 77–79 | 16–6 (5–4) | Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum (8,100) Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Feb. 6 | No. 18 | No. 10 Duke | W 73–69 | 17–6 (6–4) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb. 9 | No. 18 | at Georgia Tech | L 61–62 | 17–7 (6–5) | Alexander Memorial Coliseum (5,414) Atlanta |
| Feb. 13 | | No. 10 Clemson | W 89–87 | 18–7 (7–5) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb. 16 | | at No. 11 North Carolina | L 51–68 | 18–8 (7–6) | Carmichael Arena (10,000) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb. 20* | | William & Mary | W 63–55 | 19–8 (7–6) | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb. 23 | | at No. 9 Maryland | L 71–82 | 19–9 (7–7) | Cole Field House (14,500) College Park, Maryland |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| Feb. 28 | | vs. No. 17 Clemson ACC Quarterfinals | L 49–57 | 19–10 | Greensboro Coliseum (15,735) Greensboro, North Carolina |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| Mar. 5* | | Lafayette NIT First Round | W 67–56 | 20–10 | University Hall (6,804) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Mar. 10* | | Boston College NIT Second Round | W 57–55 | 21–10 | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Mar. 13* | | Michigan NIT Quarterfinals | W 79–68 | 22–10 | University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Mar. 17* | | vs. UNLV NIT Semifinals | W 90–71 | 23–10 | Madison Square Garden (11,223) New York City |
| Mar. 19* | | vs. Minnesota NIT Finals | W 58–55 | 24–10 | Madison Square Garden (13,598) New York |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Jeff Lamp, 3rd Team UPI All-American
* Jeff Lamp, 2nd Team All-ACC
* Ralph Sampson, NIT Most Valuable Player
* Ralph Sampson, ACC Rookie of the Year

## NBA draft

| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1981 | 1 | 15 | Jeff Lamp | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1981 | 4 | 77 | Lee Raker | San Diego Clippers |
| 1981 | 7 | 159 | Lewis Latimore | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1982 | 4 | 77 | Jeff Jones | Indiana Pacers |
| 1983 | 1 | 1 | Ralph Sampson | Houston Rockets |
| 1983 | 3 | 68 | Craig Robinson | Boston Celtics |
    Source: