NCAA Champion Villanova Will Not Visit White House, President Donald Trump



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President Donald Trump's record of congratulating championship basketball teams at the White House is the opposite of success.

The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team will not be going to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue after winning the NCAA championship in April, said head coach Jay Wright on Big East Day at Madison Square Garden .

They become the eighth American basketball champion not to have finished his tour, making Trump a 0-8.

Villanova has not yet received an invitation from the White House

Wright said the school had yet to receive invitations to the traditional champions ceremony, according to Asbury Park Press, nearly eight months after the Wildcats won their second title in three years .

When they won the 2016 title, Barack Obama met them at the White House at the end of May.

"Two years ago, we all lived the experience of a lifetime," Wright said. "It's just a different moment and I understand it. So that's what it is.

Wright added that if an invitation came up, the team "would probably not be able to get everyone together" to visit. The staff members have left for other jobs and some championship players are already in their first NBA season.

Basketball champions do not visit the Trump White House

Eight basketball championships have been won since President Trump was sworn in, but none had a ceremony.

North Carolina, the 2017 NCAA Men's Champion, was invited but "could not find a date that works," according to USA Today.

South Carolina, the 2017 NCAA Champion, declined the invitation received in November 2017, when its new season was already underway.

And this year's female champion, Notre Dame, did not visit or say she was invited.

The Golden State Warriors of the NBA have declined its visit of 2017 and have not been invited in 2018.

Neither the 2017 WNBA Champion, Minnesota Lynx, nor the 2018 Champion, Seattle Storm, have been invited. The Storm won the title in August and several players said they did not want to go.

Traditionally, many teams come to the White House to attend a community service. Some teams instead completed a full day of community service in Washington, DC

The teams who visited the White House

Teams from other sports visited and received invitations within a reasonable time. The Houston Astros went in March, five months after their win in the World Series and before the new season.

The Alabama football team traveled in April, four months after the victory, and while the school was still in session.

The Philadelphia Eagles were invited and a ceremony was planned, but Trump canceled the invitation when most members of the team announced that they would not attend.

Visits to the White House: the history of origin

Presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant invited teams to their homes in the late 1860s, although the 1924 Washington Senators are expected to be the first team to win the title to visit the White House, according to the Washington Post .

The Boston Celtics were the first NBA champion to go in 1963, after the invitation of John F. Kennedy. The NFL Pittsburgh Steelers followed in 1980 with Jimmy Carter and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 with George H. W. Bush.

The Indiana University men's basketball team is considered the first NCAA champion to go on the scene, with Gerald Ford in 1976.

The practice of the presidents, inviting each winning team of the championship, became commonplace in the 1980s, according to an ESPN article, when Ronald Reagan made it a regular event.

Over the years, some players have chosen not to attend.

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