How many teams are undefeated in college basketball

Undefeated college basketball teams: How many national champions went unbeaten in NCAA Tournament era?

Mark Few's 2020-21 Gonzaga team team fell just short of becoming the first team since Bob Knight's 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated on Monday.

The Bulldogs lost 86-70 to Baylor in the NCAA Tournament championship game, keeping intact for another year the stretch of no unbeaten teams in college basketball. They are the fifth teams to have entered the tournament unbeaten since '76, and each failed to reach that lofty height — including two teams that lost in the Final Four and two that lost in the national championship.

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Curiously, the team Gonzaga faced first in its bid for perfection is the only program in college basketball history with more than one undefeated season: UCLA. The Bruins have four such campaigns to their name, all under legendary coach John Wooden. Following his final undefeated team in 1972-73, only Knights' Hoosiers have remained unbeaten and won the national title.

The team Gonzaga lost to in the final was also considered a potential team to go unbeaten. But the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the Bears' season, contributing to two losses in their otherwise spotless season.

Here are the only teams to go undefeated in NCAA Tournament history:

What was the last team to go undefeated?

The last college basketball team to go undefeated and win the national title was Bob Knight's 1975-76 Hoosiers team. That squad, led by such talents as Scott May, Kent Benson, Tom Abernathy, Quinn Buckner, Bob Wilkerson and Wayne Radford — all future NBA players — went 32-0. They capped their season with five wins in the NCAA Tournament, which included only 25 teams at the time.

How many teams have been undefeated national champions?

A total of seven teams have gone undefeated and won the national championship. (Another team, the 1972-73 N.C State Wolfpack, went undefeated but did not compete for the national title). The first unbeaten team was San Francisco, which went 29-0 in 1955-56; the second such season came a year later, when North Carolina went 32-0.

The next four undefeated teams came from UCLA, all under Wooden. The teams finished with undefeated national titles in 1964, '67, '72 and '73. Following that, the last undefeated team — Indiana — completed its run in 1976.

Undefeated college basketball teams

1955-56 San Francisco (29-0)

Coach: Phil Woolpert

Key players:

• Bill Russell: 20.6 ppg, 21.0 rpg
• K.C. Jones: 9.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg

1956-57 North Carolina (32-0)

Coach: Frank McGuire

Key players:

• Lennie Rosenbluth: 28.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg
• Pete Brennan: 14.7 ppg, 10.4 rpg
• Tommy Kearns: 12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
• Joe Quig: 10. 3 ppg, 8.6 rpg

1963-64 UCLA (30-0)

Coach: John Wooden

Key players:

• Gail Goodrich: 21.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg
• Walt Hazzard: 18.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg
• Jack Hirsch: 14.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg
• Keith Ericson: 10.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg

1966-67 UCLA (30-0)

Coach: John Wooden

Key players:

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 29.0 ppg, 15.5 rpg
• Lucius Allen: 15.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
• Mike Warren: 12.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
• Lynn Shackeflord: 11.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg

1971-72 UCLA (30-0)

Coach: John Wooden

Key players:

• Bill Walton: 21.1 ppg, 15.5 rpg
• Henry Bibby: 15.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
• Jamaal Wilkes: 13. 5 ppg, 8.2 rpg
• Larry Farmer: 10.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg

1972-73 UCLA (30-0)

Coach: John Wooden

Key players:

• Bill Walton: 20.4 ppg, 16.9 rpg
• Jamaal Wilkes: 14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg
• Larry Farmer: 12.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
• Larry Hollyfield: 10.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg

1975-76 Indiana (32-0)

Coach: Bob Knight

Key players:

• Scott May: 23.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.1 apg
• Kent Benson: 17.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.6 apg
• Tom Abernathy: 10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 apg
• Quinn Buckner: 8.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.2 apg
• Bob Wilkerson: 7.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 5.3 apg
• Wayne Radford: 4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 apg

One-loss national champions

1954-55 San Francisco (28-1)

Coach: Phil Woolpert
Loss: 47-40 loss to No. 13 UCLA

1965-66 UTEP (28-1)

Coach: Don Haskins
Loss: 74-72 loss to Seattle

1967-68 UCLA (29-1)

Coach: John Wooden
Loss: 71-69 loss to No. 2 Houston

1968-69 UCLA (29-1)

Coach: John Wooden
Loss: 46-44 loss to USC

1970-71 UCLA (29-1)

Coach: John Wooden
Loss: 89-82 loss to No. 9 Notre Dame

1973-74 N.C. State (30-1)

Coach: Norm Sloan
Loss: 84-66 loss to No. 1 UCLA

Undefeated teams that lost in NCAA Tournament

1978-79 Indiana State (33-1)

Coach: Bill Hodges
Loss: 75-64 loss to No. 3 Michigan State (NCAA Tournament championship game)

1990-91 UNLV (30-1)

Coach: Jerry Tarkanian
Loss: 79-77 loss to No. 6 Duke (Final Four)

2013-14 Wichita State (35-1)

Coach: Gregg Marshall
Loss: 78-76 loss to Kentucky (Round 2)

2014-15 Kentucky (38-1)

Coach: John Calipari
Loss: 71-64 loss to No. 3 Wisconsin (Final Four)

2020-21 Gonzaga (31-1)

Coach: Mark Few
Loss: 80-76 loss to No. 1 Baylor (NCAA Tournament championship game)

Undefeated college basketball teams: Who is the last team to go undefeated, how many times has it been done

National Championship Game update: Gonzaga’s run to immortality came up just short. Baylor dominated Gonzaga from the tip, taking a 9-0 lead to open the game and never looking back. Gonzaga lost 86-70 and finishes the season 31-1 and a footnote in the history books.

Final Four update: Gonzaga survived a thriller against No. 11 UCLA to advance to the National Championship Game. The Bruins gave the Bulldogs everything they could handle and forced overtime. Johnny Juzang hit a layout to tie the game with 3.3 seconds left, but Jalen Suggs banked in a shot just inside half court to secure the 93-90 win. They are the first undefeated team since the 1978-79 Indiana State Sycamores to advance to the title game with an undefeated record. Gonzaga will face No. 1 Baylor.

Elite Eight update: Gonzaga crushed No. 6 USC to advance to the second Final Four in program history. The Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 85-66 victory. They are the third undefeated team in the past 30 years to earn a spot in the Elite Eight, again joining 2015 Kentucky and 1991 UNLV. Gonzaga will face No. 11 UCLA.

Sweet 16 update: Gonzaga keeps rolling along. The Bulldogs crushed No. 5 Creighton 83-65 to improve to 29-0 and advance to the Elite Eight. They are the third undefeated team in the past 30 years to earn a spot in the Elite Eight, joining 2015 Kentucky and 1991 UNLV. Gonzaga will face No. 6 USC.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are rolling through the 2020-2021 season, and head into the Sweet 16 with a 28-0 record. They crushed Norfolk State 98-55 in the first round and pulled away from Oklahoma in a 87-71 second round victory.

Gonzaga is looking to become the first undefeated national champion in men’s Division 1-A basketball since Indiana University finished the 1975-76 season with a 32-0 record. Indiana was the preseason No. 1 and went wire-to-wire en route to the title. Kentucky and Michigan pushed the Hoosiers into overtime during the regular season, but the team held them off and won their five postseason games to complete the undefeated season.

Gonzaga is not the first men’s team to enter the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record. Since Indiana claimed their undefeated national title, Indiana State (1978-79), UNLV (1990-91), Wichita State (2013-14), and Kentucky (2014-15) all finished the regular season unbeaten. Wichita State was knocked out in the second round, while the other three teams advanced to the Final Four before losing.

Dating back to 1939, seven teams have claimed an undefeated national championship in men’s basketball. That includes San Francisco (1955-56), North Carolina (1956-57), UCLA (1963-64, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1972-73), and Indiana (1975-76).

On the women’s side nine teams have claimed an undefeated national title. The first team was Texas (1985-86) and they were followed by UConn (1994-95), Tennessee (1997-98), UConn (2001-02, 2008-09, 2009-10), Baylor (2011-12), and two more times by UConn (2013-14, 2015-16).

Can Gonzaga do the deed? They’re on a heck of a roll this season. They’ve won 25 games in a row by 10 or more points, and they opened the season with wins over ranked opponents Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa, and Virginia. This isn’t just a team beating up on second and third tier opponents. They’ll face the winner of Colorado vs. Florida State and while many other regions are seeing monster upsets, they could still be stuck having to beat the No. 5 seed (Creighton) and No. 3 seed (Kansas) to get to the Final Four.

We’re seeing a host of upsets, so who knows what might happen, but it’s hard to see Gonzaga losing anytime soon.

We would like to congratulate the fans of student basketball: sports officials finally got out of the closet and began to shake off the dust from this large, undeservedly relegated layer of life of Russian students.

Season-2007 IE&GN team, consisting mainly of economists and students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, spent as never before stormy. Our basketball players, led by head coach Nikolai Antsiperov, played in the finals of the student league championship of the Siberia zone in Kemerovo, entered the top four in the final part of the All-Russian basketball tournament among students, visited Perm at the end of September at the 1st All-Russian festival of student teams, and then , not having time to take a breath, went to Tomsk to fight for the Cup. G. Resha.

Interestingly, in the decisive stages of the last three tournaments, the Krasnoyarsk team was opposed by the same team - the team of the Tomsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (TSUAC). A strong team that has been playing both in the student and the Major League of the Russian Championship for the last three years. (Note that our team, in addition to the student team, also plays in the First League. In the 2007 season, we won this championship, but it was decided to postpone the next step - reaching the "tower" - for the time being).
- Six strongest teams played in the final round of the Siberia zone in Kemerovo. We reached the final, where we met with "sworn friends" - TGASU, - says Nikolay Antsiperov. - The game turned out just “fly away”. In the first half they led "plus ten", and in the end it turned out "zaruba". As a result, they lost two points to the Tomsk team.

The second place is quite a worthy result. True, the silver medal of the Siberia zone does not give the right to speak in the big - all-Russian student final. Considering the season to be basically over, the basketball players returned to Krasnoyarsk.
What was the head coach's surprise when, 20 days before the superfinal, a fax creaked in the dean's office, and the "footcloth" born by him announced that the team was being called ... to the final!

- We immediately rush to the phones - why not TGASU, they won! It turned out that the residents of Tomsk either "ate" basketball during the year, or maybe for some other reason they refused ... In general, at that time it was a matter of secondary importance. The question was posed: "Well, are you going to Magnitogorsk or not?".

Two weeks later, the SibFU troops landed at the railway station of an industrial city in the Urals.
- In the very first game, we met with MGUS. A team with history, Dmitry Bykov used to play for it, now a member of the national team, Vladimir Feryabnikov has been playing for the double of Dynamo Moscow for the fourth season. In the first half of the match we lose 10 points, in the second we put pressure and come out ahead. A win guarantees a place in the top four. In the match for the third place we meet with the team of Penza. The game is more intense. Five seconds before the end of the match we lead “plus one”. Penza attack, we foul. They hit the free kicks for sure, and we smear ...

On November 16-18, Krasnoyarsk hosts the second round of the Student League (the first round will take place on November 3-4 in Barnaul). 8 strongest teams of Siberia will gather. According to the results of 9 rounds, two teams will go to the finals of the Student Basketball Association. This event is of Russian scale. And it is very important that our city is able to receive guests at the proper level. Best of all, in the Sports Palace. I. Yarygin, filled to the brim with spectators...

Krasnoyarsk lost one point and remained below the line of winners. But… They hooked me, remembered for their playing style. After the bronze match, the match commissar Mikhail Lokshin approached Antsiperov's team. "You play well! Soon there will be a festival of student teams in Perm - come.” So our basketball players went on a second unplanned trip.
The place itself - the arena of the Molot Sports Palace (the home ground for the Ural Great basketball players and the Molot-Prikamye hockey team) for 5,000 spectators already spoke of the importance that the organizers attach to the competition. 20 teams were invited - 8 women's, 12 men's. At the preliminary stage, the Krasnoyarsk team got into the group with the teams of UPI (Yekaterinburg) and MGUS (Moscow).

— We beat both teams rather easily and got through to the semi-finals, where we met… of course, with old acquaintances from Tomsk! It turned out funny - we had the Siberian semi-final, and in the second two teams from the Urals were cut - "Magnitogorsk" and Perm. It was not possible to win against the Tomsk team this time either.

- Five minutes before the end, the score was equal - 43:43. And then three attacks were driven in vain, and that's all ... The train left.
Magnitogorsk State Technical University was beaten in the match for the 3rd place.

And then there was a meeting of students with the 1972 Olympic champions. Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, Sergey Belov, Ivan Edeshko… On the big screen they showed an excerpt from the match — the legendary three seconds of the basketball final of the Munich Olympiad, and they remembered how it was. The commentator of the TV channel "Sport" Dmitry Guberniev led all the action. Immediately after the triumph at the European Championships, Nikita Morgunov, Alexei Savrasenko, John Robert Holden came to Perm especially for the students... A fairy tale!

— The guys had more than enough emotions. All this ended with a wonderful show - the final between TGASU and the hosts. And during the break there was a game between the teams of former and current students. First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, General Director of CSKA Sergei Kushchenko, head of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov, Sergei Panov, Evgeny Pashutin, Edeshko, Zharmukhamedov, Belov played for the "former" ... Lesha Lebedev left Krasnoyarsk for the student team. The guys later told - Panov approached them before the game, said: "Do not touch the politicians - I will kill you!" They modestly ask: "And you? ..". "Well, then do not be offended!" Panov answered.

Former students won the match according to all laws of the genre.
What is a team? Nikolai Antsiperov spoke with pleasure about his fighters.

- Gleb Beigelzimer will be a very strong point guard. A fast basketball player with a good pass (which is a rarity these days) is good on defense. 3rd year FFK student, 20 years old, height 182 cm. Aleksey Lebedev (FFK, height 197 cm) and Gennady Surovtsev (EF, height 194 cm) have grown in terms of play. We constantly involve Dmitry Karpov, a student at the Aerospace University. Strengthening the team with several players from other universities does not contradict the regulations. Our fifth has a good throw - this is Anton Boyarkin, the oldest, most experienced. He is 23 years old, studying for a master's degree.

When speaking about basketball players, it is no coincidence that Nikolai Olegovich constantly talks about the age of the players. The age limit is a stumbling block in college basketball. Until recently, it was 27 years old. In fact, rather adult “uncles” could play for the student team, the main thing is to have a grade book. According to Sergei Belov, the sports director of the Russian Student Association, this is unacceptable. There was an idea to reduce the qualification to 23, but, you see, this is too drastic a change. To date, a decision has been made on the age limit of 25 years.

- I think this is correct. Are you 23 years old? It's time to go to serious basketball. Or play in the regional championship. The whole student league was invented in order not to force preparation. So that people can easily get an education, train without overloading their joints. We are losing a huge number of people precisely because young people start to work very early. Our bourgeois comrades even introduced a limit on the number of training sessions at student age. A person must simply grow up, get stronger. In general, I am very glad that at last they began to pay attention to student sports. Now we will have a full-fledged championship. And not like before - “ah, students? ... when do we have breaks between major league games? so play in this interval ... ". Now every second Saturday and Sunday of the month we go on a train trip. Perhaps, over time, the student league will grow in status into the highest. Since the first persons of the country gave the green light to the students. Since all our travel to competitions will be paid not by the university, but by the league.

On October 19, it became known that N.O. Antsiperov was approved for the post of head coach of the SibFU national team.
I.S. was appointed as the team manager. Ferova.

In the new season, our region will be represented by a slightly different team - the SibFU team. Antsiperov was offered to take up the national team. It is clear that the process of unification will not be easy, because reshaping existing teams is a painful task. We hope that Antsiperov will still be able to unite our student basketball forces. And in the new season, the invitation to the All-Russian final will not be sudden, but expected.

"The doctors didn't believe that I was playing basketball." Stanislav Sharov broke windows, worked as an installer, took silver at the Olympics - "Movement Up" - Blogs

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Stanislav Sharov - Olympic silver medalist in 3x3 basketball in Tokyo and champion of the European Games. He tells how, as a child, he hit car windows and worked as an installer, put everything on the line in favor of basketball and got to the Olympics from the student bench.

― I tuned in to our meeting today with a certain enthusiasm, and I will explain why: to some extent, I saw in you my unfulfilled dreams. You come from the small town of Gusev with a population of 30,000 people, I am from the city of Gorki, where there are also 30,000. All my life I dreamed of getting to the Olympic Games, playing at a professional level. You succeeded in all this. Tell me how it all started? I know that you were involved in athletics, sambo. Why did you choose basketball?

“You said it right, I did sambo, athletics… In such a small town, you probably have to do something, or you can get into some bad company, in my childhood it could easily happen. I was energetic, and therefore I was always taken to sports clubs so that I would splash out all my energy there. At some point, I first finished with sambo, then I got bored with athletics. Then I had a short break. I also remember that I went to football for a month, maybe two, just to go. Then my first coach appeared at the school, Yuri Anatolievich Strolis. He recruited children, invited me to training, and everything immediately began to work out for me, there was a quick jump in basketball. I came to basketball at the end of the seventh grade, perhaps even in the eighth, that is, quite late, but in the ninth grade I already played for the adult men's team of the city of Gusev. So it all started spinning, fifteen years have passed since that moment.

- Stas, as I understand it, you invested your endless energy not only in basketball. I also know that you liked to break the windows of cars a little. How did you manage to combine basketball with that?

- Break glass, misbehave - this was before basketball. Basketball put me in my place. I came home, threw my briefcase, took my bag and ran to training, I was very drawn in. Before basketball, they were hooligans with friends a lot, they just didn’t do it - you can write a book. The usual childhood of boys in such towns.

- I think that in order to break the windows of cars, you also need good physical condition.

- I got it from my father, but I don't regret anything. But I had a real childhood. It’s hard to find something like that now, if only in the same small towns where we are from. Now, children in such big cities as Moscow or even Kaliningrad, even though it is a small city, I think, will no longer have such a childhood.

- You know, now I'm coming to my hometown of Gorki, I repeat once again 30,000 people. I remember how there were about 40 people on the court, and everyone was waiting to play basketball. That is, you came there and really could wait an hour.

- And we had such a square area, and behind one house they built a large football field, just huge, put up a goal, a net. All this was done by my first basketball coach. And we played football from district to district, we could leave early in the morning and cut ourselves to death until nightfall.

Yes, similar. And now I have arrived and see that there is a wasteland and no one at all. It feels like the city is dead. I have both nostalgia and regret. I remember how much emotion and energy there was then ... As far as I know, your first job was as an installer. How did it happen?

- I have a friend Vadik Fadeev. I was kicked out of one school after the ninth grade, they said that it was better not to enter the tenth, and I went to another.

- Why?

- There was such a decent school, and I'm a hooligan, gouging. They didn't want to spoil their image. And they sent me to another school, more gangster or something.

- I think they regret it, because your portrait could be hanging there now.

- I wanted to go to the tenth grade, but my mother said that I shouldn't. Then there was BFU, and they had a strong student team, good, mature. I wanted to go there and play for them. There we became friends with Vadik. He is still my friend to this day, a good friend of the family. He has an uncle, and one summer he offered us a job. Vadik can do everything, he has golden hands, and he took me as an assistant. At first I just went to look, helped, and then I started to work myself.

Did you enjoy it?

- I earned my first 5 iPhones over the summer, I felt cool. It was fun. There were two of us, no one controlled us: we drove, set, laughed, broke these windows, by accident, of course, we paid fines, gained experience.

- Olympic medalist earned his first iPhone while working as an installer. Tell us, please, how did you enter BFU? What was the reason for this decision? What role did basketball play in your studies?

- I repeat, there was a team at that time, and I wanted to go there. I had to pass Russian, biology and entrance exams in physical education. Previously, everyone passed Russian, mathematics, a subject that is needed for admission, and a spare. And I didn’t even hand over the reserve, because I was focused only on going there.

- Did you prepare for the exams?

Yes, yes, I was preparing. I have always had a problem with studying. I went to a tutor in mathematics, Russian, only in biology he was not needed.

- Here I want to make a little emphasis. If there was hooliganism in the ninth grade, then you began to move to enter the university, and you have already consciously begun to study and prepare, because this is the way to basketball?

Yes. It's not even that I started to study, but that I started going to tutors. It was clearer to me. I never understood why teachers in school can't explain things the way tutors do. I came to school for math and didn’t understand anything, I just sat there like an idiot and stared at the wall. When I came to the tutor, he explained in two minutes with the help of some joke or drawing, and I immediately understood everything. To this day, this issue remains unresolved for me. I had a goal - to enter the university, and we had the championship of the Kaliningrad region, a fairly strong championship, I played for Gusev and already smashed some strong teams, there was a rumor about me, and this helped me enter the BFU. Their manager was already able to promote me there when I was just taking my exams. It was funny that when I entered, the whole team was renewed, and there was no one left from the strong team that I wanted to join.

- You joined a young team. I hoped to gain experience from the elders, and the functions of a leader fall on you. Who else joined the team? Danya? Dima Semenas? Did they come with you?

- Yes, Danya Pluzhnikov came with me. But there were no such hopes for me. We had quite a lot of competition. There were twenty people at the training camp. Eleven or twelve were going to be selected for the team. Everyone was equal. I didn't know much about basketball then. I only had my village basketball. They asked me who I looked up to, what I looked up to before, but I didn’t look up to anyone, except for AND1 Mixtapes, I had CDs, they are still recorded somewhere. I loved looking at Professor, Escalade. Maybe it was just after them that the street remained in my soul. It was cool. I didn't watch the NBA, regular basketball. We then had a good backbone in the team.

- Was Semenas still around then? Or did he move to the MGAFK?

- No, he was like in the youth team of CSKA or played in the MBA for the last year. When I entered the second year, he arrived, returned to Kaliningrad, and from the second year we all started playing together.

- Stas, did you go to classes at the BFU, at the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture? Studied? Or is it all formal?

– I went to IKBFU for the first semester, it was quite interesting. But then again, sometimes I didn’t understand, I’m studying sports, why do I need such subjects, for example, as an ordinary story? We had a history of physical culture, I understand that, I didn’t understand some subjects at all, why we need them. They were put just like that, for general development. At first I went, studied, and then stopped. After the Olympics, I had many meetings with children, and I honestly told everyone that I almost never studied at the university. It's probably wrong. I just put everything on the line, and my bet played. You can't do that. If I didn't succeed in basketball, what would I do? I would go to the army and that's it.

- Tell me, you bet everything on basketball. How many hours did you train at the BFU, in Malakhovka?

- Every day we had training, on weekends we went to the playground. He came to school when he had to take something. I was sick of basketball, but sometimes it brought me to such thoughts that I called my mother and said: “That's it. I don't want to do it." And my mother answered me: “You acted for this.” She supported me at such moments, I somehow found motivation later, stepped over myself, trained.

- Stas, I know that you devoted a lot of time to bodybuilding and training. Was it your inner motivation, understanding, instructions from the coach, or did you just enjoy it?

- Now I generally enjoy training, from the rocking chair. But before I didn’t have such simulators in Gusev, we had a horizontal bar and parallel bars. I remember how I started to work out on the horizontal bar, and in a short period of time - 3 weeks, a month - I noticeably grew in breadth. I was surprised at myself, before that I was quite skinny, and then my muscles began to appear. It mattered to me, I wanted to be physically strong, walk into the aisle so that people would fly away from me, and not me from them.

- I think it gave you a very strong advantage when you played at a high level, especially in three-on-three basketball.

- It is clear that in children's and youth basketball this is superfluous, because the body has not yet formed. I was already strong at that time, went through a street school, worked on the horizontal bars. It was easy for me then, and it still is.

- Let's remember the 2016/2017 season. You and Danya are the most productive duet in the ASB. You just made a splash. What are your memories of that season?

These are great memories. Together we smashed the VTB student league. I remember we came to the first round in Malakhovka, just played against Dima Semenos. It was cool, I like this time to remember.

- Many now say that this was the strongest duet in the history of the ASB. What do you think about this?

“Maybe I don’t like to go too far, but no one could stop us. You can look at the average statistics, about 50 for two have always been scored.

- It's powerful. Tell me what was missing in that season? You flew to LAST-32 that season, if I'm not mistaken.

- I didn't play then.

- Did you play those last games? What happened?

- I had grief in my family, my father left us. I didn't go to this tournament. But then we played the student league cool. The Final 8 was held in Chelyabinsk. Ukhta seemed to have lost.

- Ukhta was powerful.

- Yes, all the teams were good. I would love to return to that season, I would cut myself more.

- - Few people knew you then, and suddenly two such guys from Kaliningrad appear.

Yes, no one knew us. In this league, we gained experience, got stronger.

- Do you communicate with Danya now?

Rare. I'm busy now, I'm trying to fully devote myself to basketball again. But when we cross paths in Kaliningrad, then, of course, we communicate, we do not lose touch.

- Do you know that Dan was considering continuing his career in the Philippines this season?

- No, Anton Vladimirovich and I talked, I know that they were looking for options.

- It seems to me that a player of this level is at least Superleague 1.

- He is a smart player. We differ with him in that I go to the ram all the time, and he is more accurate, he will pass somewhere, crawl through, and therefore we complemented each other very well.

- Stas, we continue to remember 2017. Getting to the All-Star Game in Eagle. What memories?

― I've been to two All-Star Games and this one was the craziest. I still remember, when we went out, the fans yelled so that, probably, the whole Eagle heard, and not just this hall, just to goosebumps. It was necessary to be there, to be personally present, because it was amazing.

- You're not the only one talking like that. Alexander Vladimirovich and I recalled that each All-Star Game is good in its own way, but some kind of extravaganza was going on there.

- Yes, although there is a small hall, there are not many stands, but it was something with something, incredible.

- Considering three points for dunking that year, the record was broken, but objectively the score was like 126:125.

- - We also won this game with a buzzer. All stars converged in this match.

- What did it mean to you to get to the All-Star Game for the first time? Was it something special, or did you already understand that you are a status player, and for you it was a matter of course?

- No, I knew that they were writing something in the ASB, they were looking at Danya and me. It was nice that I was called to the All-Star Game, so to speak, they put a tick that Sharov should go. In my heart it was very pleasant.

― Considering it was the first All-Star game, it certainly was a surprise.

- Yes, the one that took place in Orel. It was doubly cool.

- Tell me what happened next? How did you get into MGAFK? I still remember the story, it was probably your first match for the MGAFK, I arrived in Malakhovka, sat next to you on the bench, you were warming up, we greeted you, I asked how your mood was. Do you remember? Tell me how it happened

- Yes, I had already graduated from the BFU, I was looking for options to continue playing basketball. Dima Semenas has already played in Malakhovka, he talked with Anatoly Vladimirovich. They called me back in St. Petersburg, in GUTID, but I did not receive any specific information from them. And Anatoly Vladimirovich called and explained everything. The next day I flew in, passed the exams, entered, everything was fast. I love specifics, and I had no questions about him.

Have you considered staying in Kaliningrad?

- No, I had nothing to do there.

- Were there any offers from professional clubs?

- No, it wasn't.

- What was your overall impression of the microclimate that reigns in the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture? Were there any serious differences from what you saw in Kaliningrad?

- There were no serious ones. More discipline, you won’t get loose, because you have to go to Moscow by train, by metro ... And that’s good. Training, and I really liked the fact that at any time you can come to the gym, quit, work out.

- Did you devote much time to individual training in Malakhovka?

- Not myself, but Dima and I worked together individually, with Anatoly Vladimirovich. First, I had to understand what and how I need to work in order to make progress.

Your role in the team has changed, of course. You can even draw a comparison with Alexei Shved. In Khimki, he could do everything, in CSKA - already systemic work. How much did you agree with your new role, accepted it? How comfortable were you?

- I felt absolutely comfortable. There was no such thing that I could not score my 28 points and was upset about it. I played, at first, a little, then quite a lot and calmly scored 30-35 points in my 15-20 minutes. I had to learn to play, this is a different level, so I didn’t get hung up on the scorers and the statistics.

- I think this is a good example for young basketball players. When you come to a higher level, you must come consciously, with a desire to learn and reach a higher level yourself, accept new rules of the game - this is important.

- Yes, you come to a place where there is a system, and you cannot resist it, otherwise it will just break you and that's it. I immediately understood this, but I also understood that I could become a leader in this team, because there were no such attacking players anymore. I calmly accepted these rules, rebuilt.

- There is a lot of controversy in the field of student basketball that physical education universities, specifically the Moscow State Academy of Physical Education, have a clear advantage over other universities in that they can train a lot, they have specialized subjects, there is an opportunity for some things close your eyes. Do you think it is easier to grow a basketball player at a sports university than at other universities?

- No, I think those who say this are looking for excuses. If you want, you will achieve yours. There is no such thing that we, for example, played at the BFU and said that Malakhovka is the Academy of Physical Education, they are working in this direction, and we have one sports department, the rest are mathematical, and some other. No, we came, we trained, we worked, we enjoyed it. These conversations are just an excuse.

- How was your studies organized in Malakhovka?

- There was a light there, I was already in the magistracy, I’m even still studying there, I haven’t finished Malakhovka yet, because I switched to professional basketball three by three, immediately to the national team, there was no time at all, I’ll finish in the winter.

- So you spent a year and a half studying for a master's degree?

Yes, yes. You go to school one day a week, nothing complicated. We have already completed the bachelor's degree, and the master's degree is just like refresher courses.

- Do the guys who study at the bachelor's degree in Malakhovka, what attention is paid to their studies?

I honestly don't know. Although we had young people who studied at the bachelor's degree, they directly went to classes all the time, they even missed training because of couples.

― Stas, there is a story that one day at a training session at the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture, you were so hard on defense that the guys came up to you and said: “Yes, you play easier, we have different games with rivals.” Were you that tough on defense?

- I'm always like this, I don't like to succumb anywhere. If I do, I do it to the end. I'm more worried about the guy that I keep in defense, because I'm not afraid of getting injured, I don't care at all, but I'm worried about other people.

- So you always give your best? Does it matter if it's practice or play?

- In the team, in the club, in the national team, we cut ourselves so that we are asked to be more careful, but sometimes the training ends due to the fact that someone was injured.

- Do you think three-on-three basketball is more traumatic than classical basketball, given the level of contact?

- I wouldn't say. Maybe there are more microtraumas, because it is tougher. There are bruises, injuries, bruises, but there are no serious injuries.

- And what about the intensity, several games a day, all the time in contact?

- You need to take care of yourself, your body - warm up, if there are any sores, work them out, warm up well, then there will be fewer injuries. You can also play five-on-five basketball, just walk on foot and twist your ankle.

- If you remember this season in the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture, you won the Moscow Student Games, in ASB Moscow you went through all the skating rink, won the VTB Student League, were the clear favorites. What happened in the final?

- I don't even know, they just outplayed us on character. I think it was precisely the fact that we did not lose a single game. Nothing happens. I was not upset then, it was my first final. This medal was like gold for me.

- Did you underestimate your opponents?

- I think we rather overestimated ourselves.

- Tell me, please, if you hadn't got into the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture, could you give up basketball?

Yes.

- So, in fact, the MGAFK gave you a path to basketball, became the next step in your development?

- Yes, a huge step forward so that I can develop further, MGAFK is a big basketball school that I went through. I didn’t have a sports school, no grades, I didn’t know a lot of things.

- Can you tell us a little more about your relationship with Anatoly Vladimirovich Laptev? What did he require of you? What accents on what components of the game did you make? What was easy for you? What is difficult?

- The only thing that was difficult was head work, combinations, because no one taught me, and this is not an excuse, but it has always been difficult for me. The cool thing is that he understood what kind of player I am and what I need. He put me in when I was needed. I defended, attacked, played along somewhere in combinations. I really like him, an experienced coach. He guided me in the right direction, and for that I thank him very much.

- I quite clearly remember the situation when we counted on you at the Universiade in Naples as one of the key players, and Oleg Ushakov calls me and says: “Sereg, there is an interesting guy, can we take him to the tournament?” Tell me how it all happened, how did you get into three by three?

- There was such a story, now I already know about it, that I also played in MLBL, there was some kind of additional income. We played against some team in which Dmitry Zimin played. He was then the coach of the main national team. And we fought hard, but I didn’t know who it was, they also constantly gave me techies in MLBL, kicked me out of the hall, we almost got into a fight, and I was disqualified from the game. Then Oleg Ushakov calls me, the showdown began, I did not understand what to do, such an unexpected call. Agreed, I remember it was 8 or 9May, I arrived in Rizhka, and the national team had been sitting there for 9 days at the training camp. There were three guys in U23: Antonikovsky, Abramovsky and Zuev, and I should be the fourth. I greeted them, somehow I felt uncomfortable, they explained to me what to do. And there the tournament was among themselves: two adult teams and a young one. We all won, even the youngest ones. I was lucky that I had a passport with a Schengen visa. I was told that tomorrow I am going to Latvia. There was a huge tournament, no one had hopes for us, but we took second place, the adults all flew out. We qualified for the Tinkoff Moscow Open, the adults already had a ticket. And so the career began. Then we won the Tinkoff Moscow Open.

- Tell me, when you came to Rizhka, were you not scared?

- No, I came, I thought, now we will play basketball. They gave me the national team jersey. At first, I did not know their system, in this regard, it was not clear, but the guys immediately received me well, explained everything, we started playing, everything worked out for us.

- So you literally immediately joined the squad?

Yes, yes.

- Tournament in Riga. How did you manage to do this if you practiced one day and rode the next day? When Oleg called me, we agreed only on the tournament in Riga. Then he said: "Well, your kid is just power." I realized that in Naples I can no longer count on you, the interests of the national team are more important.

- I don't know how, we were just playing. No one bet on us there at all, almost nothing was explained. There were adults, it was necessary to see them in the main team. We didn’t even know where we were preparing, we played for the soul, and so we quietly won everyone there.

- Then you won the Tinkoff Moscow Open?

– Yes, there was also a lunatic asylum, no one bet on us again, no one knew us, they just played.

- Stas, you are now telling that no one bet on you, no one expected you, and so it lasted until the Olympic Games?

- At the Olympics, they already knew who we were, but there, no one at all. "Gagarin", some young ones. We, roughly speaking, went through everyone, only lost one game in the group.

- If you look like that, it seems to me that your passion for basketball, love and long patience, starting from a small town, Kaliningrad, Malakhovka, it all suddenly paid off in one moment.

- Yes, the work is bearing fruit.

- Again, I appeal to our young basketball players, it's all patience and colossal work.

- Yes, I always say that one should not deceive oneself in work. Not only in basketball, in any. You have to work, work, and someday she will reward you big, everything will pay off, nothing just happens. Do not give up, injuries are all nonsense, it will pass.

― You told an interesting story about how you told your mom how tired you were of this basketball and it probably takes one moment to just break down and end your career. Imagine how many people broke down at that moment, who could potentially be at the highest level.

- Someone thinks about the pros and cons, and something outweighs. My mother just supported me, and the next day I went to training.

- When you started playing three-on-three basketball, how good was this sport for you? Did you have any reluctance? Did you get high on this? Did you feel the benefits, or was it still drawn to the classic?

- He came to me right away, because in Gusev I constantly played for one ring, they played streetball. He was not alien to me, but, on the contrary, as a native, I came there as if to my home. I spent my whole life like this, in the summer we always played not in the hall, but on the street. If there were few people in training, then we played for one ring.

- If, as soon as you moved to the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture, you would be told: “Boy, in four years you will be the winner of the Olympics.” Could you imagine it?

No, of course not. At that time, I didn’t think about three-on-three basketball at all, I wanted to play only five-on-five and go further in this direction.

What qualities helped you achieve such a high result in three-on-three basketball? Name 3-4 key qualities.

- Diligence, diligence, I never give up.

- Your anthropometry, physical qualities, it seems to me that you just fit perfectly into three-on-three basketball, it seems that this sport was created for you.

- It's all thanks to the street, horizontal bars, athletics, sambo - everything I did. I was a thin guy, but these sports somehow pumped me, made me stronger, I became stronger. Everyone says I don't look like a basketball player. Doctors told me that they have a completely different anthropometry, but everything is universal with me.

- Stas, but if you remember your path to the Olympic Games: European Games, Tinkoff Moscow Open, European Championship U23. Is there something that is especially memorable, has remained in your memory for a long time?

- Winning the U23 World Championship is probably the most memorable. The European Games in Minsk, because I was recovering from an injury for a year, and they immediately took me to the squad. The main adult team went to the World Championship, and we went to Minsk, we played well there.

- Do the three-by-three teams in which you played differ in their chemistry and does the Russian national team have its own unique style that differs from others?

- Can't say anything is different. I have played in many places, we are one. We can be divided into different teams, and we will still be strong. The fact is that someone was out due to an injury, someone else had something else, and then it’s hard for them to roll in, because the system has already been developed, and if you change something, it can affect the game.

- Training camp, preparation for the Olympic Games, extended line-up. Ponkrashov arrived. The highest competition. Were you sure or had doubts? At what point did you realize that you would definitely go?

- I didn't even think about hitting or not hitting. I just got high from the fact that I am now in the expanded composition of the Russian national team before the Olympic Games, we are training, working. I just worked, tried not to think, not to bother my head.

- I think this is a great example of focusing on the main things, on a specific process.

- I was honest with myself, I didn’t freebie anywhere, I constantly worked. If the coaches thought it right not to take me, I would not be upset. I would be glad that I had such a crazy four years of preparation for the Olympic Games.

- You say golden words: "I enjoy basketball."

- Yes, you get tired, but you even enjoy the fact that you come exhausted, swear, swear, say that you don’t want to do this anymore, and the next morning you get up again with a smile.

- And when they told you that you were in the squad, were you just as calm and cool? Or were there emotions?

We were all calm. So we're going.

― Tell me, what are your impressions of the Olympic Games? Describe the general atmosphere. They are clearly held in a different format than regular tournaments, which probably left a certain imprint. But still, what are the general impressions?

- At first, none at all. It was not clear that this was the Olympic Games. A lot of masked people were walking around the village, eating. The first three days we just trained, then four played. There were no sensations until the moment when we were already standing under the stands, and we were called to the first game.

- Did you manage to see anyone? Maybe from the American basketball team?

- No, we only saw Skola. Everyone met someone there. Someone took a picture with Doncic. I watched what people post in stories on Instagram, how they take pictures with someone, but we didn’t see anyone at all. I don't know why it happened.

- I think this is the result because you didn't see anyone.

- We tried once again not to go anywhere, so as not to contact. You never know. There were rumors that someone was already sick.

- Did you manage to see the city?

- No, we looked at the city when we were traveling by bus to training and back.

- Rigid insulation was. Before the start of the Olympic Games, Serega Bondarev and I broadcast on Instagram, thought about what could be, watched the ratings. If I'm not mistaken, our men's team was second or third from the end. Was it better that you were riding as outsiders? Did it allow you to be free?

- It didn't bother us. We knew why we were going. This is the most important thing, the rest did not care.

- Was the goal to get into the prizes?

- We went there just for this. We strived for medals, for gold medals. We have set such goals. Someone's conversations, ratings - this is their opinion. We knew why we were going.

- Did you believe it?

- Of course. What's the point of going there then? Just? It's better to stay at home then. We only went to win.

- The tournament was quite difficult. Especially if you remember the quarter-finals with the Netherlands.

- It was a very cool tournament. All these twists, who gets where or does not get. Some Serbs calmly played and got into the semi-finals, while everyone else had spins.

- Let's remember the playoff match with the Netherlands. What made it possible to win?

- I don't even know, we just always stuck to our line. We played quietly, no matter how much we lose, at least 20:0, it doesn't matter. I think at some point we finished them off.

- Then we sat on the Playground and watched the match with the Serbs on the big screen. Someone at the same time says something to someone, finishes some things, works in a laptop, but when you won, there was such a cry. I believed in the team, but for me it was a surprise. Yes, it was not easy, but you led with a very serious advantage. What happened to the Serbs?

- We just destroyed them morally. I remember sitting on the sub, I can’t say what the score was, but I already noticed in their eyes that they were everything. It was evident that morally they had already lost.

- There are different people: more emotional, more calm. Knowing you, even talking to you today, it seems to me that when there is such a player in the team, it, of course, calms and brings everyone else back to normal. One person who is unshakable, calm, who, as you say, bends his line to the end. Your role, not only on the site, but also in this team, is just a calm heart, common sense. Do you infect teammates with this?

- I can say that all four of us are like that, and this is a big plus, because we slowed down each other, calmed down on timeouts.

- I got the impression that our team's key advantage is chemistry.

- Excellent chemistry. It didn't matter if we lost or won, we moved on, all together.

- Have you discussed this, or did the stars just agree that four basketball players have a common vision, or is this the work of a psychologist, a head coach?

- It all came gradually. We played together, we won the Moscow Open, it was already clear that we could work on something to become better. Then we arrived at the Olympics, and the team chemistry was fully formed and ready.

Did you sleep well before the final against Latvia?

Yes.

- As always.

- We do not have such problems, we have one game, what was before is already gone.

- A shameful, in my opinion, defeat in the final. After all, in the group we beat the Latvians. Everyone believed and hoped. Was there any sadness?

Yes, I did. In fact, very disappointing, the first five minutes somewhere. But I remember when we lost, we immediately got together and were ready to work on. It was embarrassing.

- And everything started anew.

- Yes, the tournament is over. We were a little happy when we realized what we had done, that we were standing on a pedestal.

- Stas, your example shows that everything in sports is real. From the streets to the Olympics is just your option. From the streets, from the students. This is a vivid example for young guys who are starting to play basketball, who have some doubts.

- I hope my words can help someone.

- What happened to your phone during the Olympics? How many messages did you receive?

- He just burned. Sorry to those I didn't answer, I tried not to get distracted by it. I wrote only to my mother, close friends. I could even delete it so that it does not bother me.

- Did you feel supported? Is she important to you? Or is it more important to focus on the goal at this moment?

- I tried not to read messages before games, only after. Support is always nice. But you are here and people are there. You need to tune in here, with the team.

How were you received? Not just in Russia, but above all your family?

- They arrived at the airport. A huge crowd of people met me, there was a big banner at the airport. When I went out, I saw my nephew, he was sitting on a friend's neck. I didn't know they were coming. It was stressful when so many people meet, I'm not used to this, but when the family came up, it became easier.

- There was a huge banner in Kaliningrad. How nice was it for you to drive into the city and see it? You dreamed of entering the Baltic Federal University, playing with older guys, studying, but here you came already in the status of a national hero?

― I had pride in myself in my soul. I try not to show it, but somewhere inside I am proud that I got out of such a small town.

One of the last questions. Would you like to take the gold of the White League? Return to the student team?

- You can say that I have it, but I would like to take it on the court. It's part of me, part of history. It so happened that I was injured when the guys played. I'd love to take that gold.

― Stas, we met with many basketball players: Sergei Bykov, Vitya Keyru, Svetlana Abrosimova, and Svetlana Antipova. Everyone has their own way and their own philosophy. No one has just achieved success, no one has had a career fall out of the blue. In my opinion, your focus on what you are doing, removing everything superfluous, focusing only on basketball, not worrying about the consequences - whether the result will be positive or negative, along with great diligence and perseverance - this is what needs to be recommended and told to young guys . In fact, you are right to say that this is not only in basketball, but in any field of activity. I'll ask an obvious question, but still, Stas, what is your biggest basketball victory?

- Olympic medal.

- What is your biggest victory in life?

- Probably because my mother is now proud of me.

What is your basketball dream?

Just play basketball, practice.

- This simplicity gives you goosebumps. Someone builds some imaginary castles for themselves, but in your simplicity there is a solid foundation.

- It is clear that you need to earn money, feed your family, yourself. I am doing what I love, and at the moment it feeds me. I don't play for the money, but because I've been doing it all my life. Now the fifteen years that I worked can feed me.

- Stas, thank you very much. We talked very deeply. Once again, simple things, when they are conscious, give a colossal result. We are always glad to see you at the Site, in the CSB. I know the entire college basketball community is rooting for you because we consider you part of our family and you can always count on us.

Photo: East News/Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP; globallookpress.com/ZhangXiaoyu/XinHua; Gettyimages.ru/Christian Petersen; instagram.

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