Latest victim: West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Hasn't played since December 9th. This follows his summer arrest.
The Curse has a long and storied history. We can only ask what we asked Jerry Tarkanian at the 1991 Final Four: Given what happens when you beat Duke in the tournament, is it really worth it?
- 1984, Washington. The next year they played in Durham and were so riddled with injuries that Detlelf Schrempf had to play point guard. A long decline ensued and their German connection dried up.
- 1985, Boston College, lost coach Gary Williams soon thereafter to Ohio State. Program revived long enough to beat UNC, then self-destructed and lost Jim Oâ Brien toâ¦Ohio State.
- 1986, Louisville: A long, slow descent followed, complete with probation. Crum finally run off. In 2005, Rick Pitino finally got the Cards back to the Final Four.
- 1987, Indiana: A painful down period until 1992 Final Four (where they lost toâ¦..Duke). Controversial coach Bob Knight forced out in 2001 (see below).
- 1988, Kansas: Probation, lost coach.
- 1989, Seton Hall: slow decline ensued, finally arrested by Tommy Amaker, who almost got them to the Elite Eight.
- 1990, Vegas. Lost rematch, lost coach, lost most prestige, got Rollie Massimino
- 1991 - Duke wins title.
- 1992 - Duke wins title.
- 1993, Cal. Probation, lost coach, big scandal, big stinking mess.
- 1994, Arkansas: a small probation, faded for several years, Nolan Richardson fired in bizarre sequence of events.
- 1995 n/a
- 1996, Eastern Michigan: Lost coach (to Cal), faded from view, not heard from since. Bonus Curse: Ben Braun fired at Cal in 2008.
- 1997, Providence: Program peaked, fell, lost coach to UVa. Bonus Curse: Pete Gillen fired after a dismal run at Virginia
- 1998, Kentucky: Lost players to hardship in â98, draft, transfers at the end of â99, a rash of serious auto related problems. In 2001-02, chemistry problems and Jason Parker injury doomed the âCats. .
- 1999, UConn: El-Amin arrested for marijuana possession, , Hamilton left, two car/image problems. Doug Wrenn arrested for alleged shoplifting before the season, suspended twice. El-Amin suffers a critical injury in tournament, team loses to Tennessee in NCAAs. Wrenn kicked off team after a post-season arrest.
- 2000/2001, Florida: lost Mike Miller and Donnell Harvey to the NBA. Had a series of injuries the following season. Knocked out early in tournament two years in a row. Teddy Dupay implicated in gambling scandal, kicked off team.
- 2001 - Duke wins title.
- 2001 - UConn flames out in regular season, canât even make the NCAA field.
- 2002 - Indiana loses Jared Jeffries to early entry.
- 2003 - Kansas loses head coach Roy Williams to UNC
- 2003 - Former UConn star Khalid El-Amin loses case, ordered to pay $54,000 for beating man.
- 2004 - Indianaâs loses forwards Patrick Ewing, Jr., and Sean Kline, to injuries. George Leach has struggled with injuries as well. Indiana finishes at 14-15.
- 2004- Ben Gordon leaves UConn for NBA
- 2005 - Indiana finishes 15-14. Mike Davis retained, but told he must win more. The entire state of Indiana misses the tournament.
- 2005 - UConn assistant coach Clyde Vaughan arrested for solicitation,. Antonio Kellogg arrested for marijuana, Charlie Villanueva leaves after two years for the NBA. UConn lost to N.C. State in the tournament after Denham Brown said they âwere used to losingâ and wouldnât be able to handle being down to UConn.
- 2005 - Kansas loses to Bucknell in the first round. Bucknell had a total of five scholarship players on the roster.
- 2005/2006 - UConnâs Marcus Williams and A.J. Price busted for trying to sell hot laptops. The Huskies, overwhelming favorites for the title, go on to lose to George Mason.
- 2006 - LSU defeats Duke. 2008 - John Brady fired in mid-season.
- 2007 - VCU - Florida A.D. was in the air to hire Anthony Grant after BillyDonovanâs bizarre NBA career lasted a weekend or so. After he decided to bolt back to Gainesville, the A.D. flew straight back and never offered Grant the job.
- 2007 - Tubby Smith leaves Kentucky under pressure. In the fall, Kentucky loses at home to Gardner- Webb in an all-time low for the program.
- 2008 - All-time low tied, as the Wildcats lose at home to VMI.
- 2008 - Bob Huggins trips at the airport and ends up at the hospital.
- 2008 - West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla and Cameron Thoroughman arrested for underage drinking and fighting the cops - at a Pirates game no less.
- 2009 - Mazzulla out for the season with a shoulder injury.