Wheeling Jesuit University Nabs First March Madness Victory in School History

While kudos go to the eight Jesuit universities that qualified for the NCAA Men’s National Basketball Tournament, special mention should be made of Wheeling Jesuit University. It was the only representative of Jesuit higher education that qualified for this year’s “March Madness” at the Division II level. Although previously having competed in this annual basketball fest, WJU had never gone past the first round. However, this year was different.

Matched against the University of Charleston (ranked #17 in the nation), unranked Wheeling Jesuit cruised to a victory that would next pit them against the nation’s #7 team (Shaw University of North Carolina). Since WJU had already beaten West Liberty University during the regular season, and since West Liberty was ranked the #1 team in the country, the “Cardinals” of Wheeling Jesuit were confident that they could advance to the “elite eight.”

Unfortunately, Wheeling’s winning streak came to a halt, but the D II Jesuit school was still proud to take home its first victory in March Madness history. The team was coached by Dan Sancombe, a one-time All-American and graduate of Wheeling Jesuit.