The Virginia basketball program will not be heading to Washington, D.C. to celebrate their national championship victory. On Friday, April 27, the Cavaliers announced that they have declined an invitation to the White House to celebrate their 2019 NCAA Tournament victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
But while the Virginia men’s basketball team declining the invitation immediately generated some political discussion, head coach Tony Bennett said in a statement that the team had to turn down the trip to the nation’s capital due to logistics, not President Donald Trump.
“We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House. With several players either pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from UVA, it would be difficult, if not impossible to get everyone back together. We would have to respectfully decline an invitation,” Bennett said in a statement released on the Cavaliers’ official Twitter account.
Juniors Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, and Mamadi Diakite, and sophomore De’Andre Hunter are among the Virginia players who are moving on to the 2019 NBA Draft.
It’s a shame the players won’t be able to enjoy the White House visit, however, because we all know Donald Trump has loved spoiling his visitors with a fast food buffet complete with Chick-fil-A, Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Dominos.
This season marked the third time Virginia had ever reached the Final Four, but they were finally able to get over the hump after a disastrous tournament outing last season. During the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Bennett and the Cavaliers entered as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament before suffering a stunning upset in the opening round to No. 16 seed UMBC.
Virginia needed overtime to get past the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday, April 8, with the final scoreboard reading 85-77.
