A few days after their win, Arch and The Chef heard about a fan -– a small boy battling cancer - who could use a boost. They’re also involved in the Philadelphia community, serving meals for those in need, supporting the Special Olympics. And that’s the kind of record that you really want. In fact, ever since the 1970s, the Wildcats have graduated every four-year player. Their grades ranked in the top 10 percent nationally. So this is a team for the ages, on and off the court. (Laughter.) But I know inside he was pretty excited. Coach Wright, on the other hand, played it cool - (laughter) - just turned around, shook hands like nothing happened. Legendary Coach Massimino, who led the Wildcats to their first title 31 years ago, obviously couldn’t be prouder. Charles Barkley apparently jumped out of his seat, which - (laughter) - he doesn’t do very often these days. It was like a Jimmy-V-running-up-and-down-the-court shot. (Laughter.) It was like a Christian Laettner-good. And on a play called “Nova,” Kris took a pass from Arch, and pulled up a few steps behind the line and shot this team into basketball lore. A lot of teams would have had their spirit broken - the Wildcats, they took control, they responded. Just the last few seconds could be a documentary - you had an unbelievable double-clutch circus shot from Marcus Paige on UNC’s team. In Houston, they blew the doors off Oklahoma by a Final Four record 44-point margin.Īll of which set up an unbelievable showdown with the Tar Heels - it might be maybe the best title game of all time. That’s how they rolled through the first three rounds by an average of 24 points, beat Kansas to punch their ticket to the Final Four. As Coach Wright says: “In life, you cannot control what happens to you, but you do control how you respond to it.”Īnd that’s how they bounced back from disappointing tournaments these past few years. (Applause.)īut more than any individual honor, this team possessed something that the coaches preached from day one, and that’s attitude. (Laughter.) A captain since his freshman year, wore the blue and white in more games than any Wildcat ever, and went out in style as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. (Laughter.) Barack Obama is tough, but Arcidiacano, man, that’s a lot of vowels in there so we’re just going to call him Arch. Now, I just sped through that in case I didn’t say it right. “Big Smoove” –- (laughter and applause) - who learned how to shoot from his mom. (Laughter.) But it was good to see a Sidwell kid do well. (Applause.) My daughter will be graduating from there next week, which makes me cry when I talk about it, so I’m not going to talk about it. We had Josh Hart who led the Wildcats in scoring. (Applause.) Also not afraid to do the little things - we saw him grab that mop in the middle of the game. You had Daniel Ochefu, a.k.a “The Chef,” - (laughter) - who became just the seventh player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 900 boards - pretty good. They had a stable of talented players who were as happy hitting the deck for a loose ball as they were cutting down the nets. A senior class that won more games than any group in Wildcats history. We’ll talk more about that game in a second, but these Wildcats were about more than just one moment or one shot. So Coach Wright and this team treated us to as memorable a run and as memorable a championship game as I can remember. (Laughter.) His tailor and stylist could not make it, but we do have his basketball players here. And today, we celebrate a remarkable team that worked tirelessly to make Coach look good in terms of his job and not just his wardrobe. We have the best-dressed man in college basketball - (applause) - the George Clooney of coaches - (laughter) - Jay Wright. (Laughter.) Unfortunately, I didn’t follow his counsel and so my bracket was busted. (Laughter and applause.) This is the type of wise counsel that you are looking for from a Vice President. I think she may be teaching, but her husband Joe wanted me to remind you that he picked ‘Nova to win it all. Unfortunately, perhaps the most important ‘Nova grad here, Dr. (Applause.) Athletic Director Mark Jackson, who capped off his first year as athletic director with a national championship –- pretty good job. We also want to acknowledge Villanova President, Reverend Peter Donohue, who is here. Now, you should know that we have some big ‘Nova fans here, from both sides of the aisle in Congress. And I guess it is the blue and white house today because we’re giving it up for the 2016 NCAA Champion Villanova Wildcats! (Applause.) (Applause.) Everybody please have a seat.
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