April 4, 1983: The N.C. State Miracle

April 4, 1983: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Final is held at the University Arena, a.k.a. "The Pit," on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. It caps one of the great underdog stories in the Tournament's history.

Coached by Long Island native and former Rutgers player Jim Valvano, North Carolina State University was not expected to have a great season in 1982-83. They finished the regular season 17-10. They had beaten teams then ranked Number 20, West Virginia in a holiday tournament at the Meadowlands; Number 19 Georgia Tech at home, the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh; and Number 3 North Carolina at home. But they had also lost away to Number 14 Louisville, Number 15 Missouri away; Number 2 Virginia at home; Number 3 North Carolina away; Wake Forest in Greensboro; Number 6 Memphis State at home; Maryland away; Notre Dame at home; Number 3 Virginia away; and Maryland at home.

But the Wolfpack won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at The Omni in Atlanta. They beat Wake Forest, then Number 5 North Carolina in overtime, and then Number 2 Virginia in the Final. They went into the NCAA Tournament, and beat Pepperdine in double overtime, 69-67. They upset Number 6 Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), 71-70. They beat Utah, 75-56, and played Virginia one more time, beating the Number 4 Cavaliers, 63-62.

The Final Four was held at the University of New Mexico's University Arena in Albuquerque. The court is actually below ground level, giving the place the nickname "The Pit." N.C. State beat Number 18 Georgia, 67-60. That set up a Final with the University of Houston. They won their Semifinal, 94-81 over the University of Louisville.

Coached by Guy Lewis, who had taken UH to the Final Four (not that the name was in use yet) in 1967 and 1968, they featured center Akeem "the Dream" Olajuwon (who would later start calling himself "Hakeem") and guard Clyde "the Glide" Drexler. Their high-flying, slam-dunking style led Houston Post sportswriter Thomas Bonk to think of college fraternities, and he nicknamed them "Phi Slama Jama."

The Cougars went into the Final 31-2 and ranked Number 1, having lost only away to Syracuse and to then-Number 1 Virginia in a tournament in Tokyo.

N.C. State went in 25-10. The starting lineup was guards Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg, forwards Lorenzo Charles and Thurl Bailey, and center Cozell McQueen. Their close games got them nicknamed the "Cardiac Pack." But Houston were favored by 7 1/2 points, and their experience of having gotten to the Final Four the season before made them look like they should win.

Uncharacteristically, Drexler was called for 4 fouls in the 1st half, with a 5th foul meaning dismissal from the game. N.C. State led at halftime, 33-25. Whatever Lewis told his Cougars in the locker room, it worked, as they went on a 17-2 run to take the lead. But with the arena's odd combination of being nearly a mile above sea level and having its court underground, Olajuwon left the game multiple times to receive oxygen. That forced the Cougars to slow the pace of the game in order to protect their lead.

Tied 52-52 with 44 seconds remaining, and with no shot clock in college basketball (it would be adopted for the 1985-86 season), the Wolfpack held the ball for a final shot attempt. Houston's Benny Anders narrowly missed stealing the ball as the clock ticked down. Whittenburg got the deflected ball about 30 feet from the basket, and launched a shot. It didn't quite go in, but Charles got it as it started to go down, and dunked it just before the clock ran out.

Final score: North Carolina State 54, Houston 52. It was N.C. State's 2nd National Championship, after coach Norm Sloan led them to the 1974 title.

It was one of the most stunning upsets in the history of college basketball. Valvano ran onto the court, looking as if he wasn't sure where he was going. He later said he was "looking for somebody to hug." It was reminiscent of another team in red and white, English soccer team Sunderland A.F.C., whose manager Bob Stokoe ran around the touchline to celebrate their big upset win over Leeds United in the 1973 FA Cup Final.

Thurl Bailey went on to play 11 seasons in the NBA, with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves, before playing in Greece and Italy, and returning for 1 more season with the Jazz. Sidney Lowe played 4 seasons, for the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, and was an original Charlotte Hornet in 1988-89 and an original Minnesota Timberwolf in 1989-90. He then went into coaching, including as head coach of the Timberwolves, and 5 seasons at N.C. State, including 2 20-win seasons, although he was unable to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

Lorenzo Charles played the 1985-86 season with the Hawks, before playing in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Sweden and Uruguay. Cozell McQueen played 3 games for the Pistons in 1987, and also played in France, Italy and Spain. Dereck Whittenburg went right into coaching, including the head jobs at New York City schools Wagner (getting them into the 2003 NCAA Tournament) and Fordham, and 3 stints as an assistant at his Alma Mater, before returning to N.C. State as an assistant athletic director. Sophomore guard Terry Gannon went on to become a renowned sportscaster. And freshman guard Ernie Meyers became a broadcaster for N.C. State.

Valvano had previously coached Iona College into the NCAA Tournament in 1979 and 1980. He went on to get N.C. State back into the Elite Eight in 1985 and 1986. In 1990, an NCAA investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, but some of his players had broken rules, and it reflected badly on him. He was forced to resign, and titled his memoir Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead.

Nevertheless, Dave Didion, the NCAA investigator handling Valvano's case, wrote a personal letter to Valvano, saying, among other things, "If I had a son, I would feel comfortable with you as his coach and encourage him to learn from you."

Valvano was hired as a college basketball analyst by ESPN, but developed cancer, and died in 1993. The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in his name, and he was posthumously elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lorenzo Charles died in 2011. As of April 4, 2022, the rest of the '83 Wolfpack are still alive.

Over the 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, the University of Houston went 88-16, including 71-12 in the regular season. The Cougars won the Southwest Conference title in 1983 and 1984. They made the NCAA Tournament Final Four all 3 seasons, and the Final in the last 2. With their "Phi Slamma Jamma" style, they did something even the Houston teams of Elvin Hayes in 1967 and '68 couldn't do: They made basketball cool to the football-crazy State of Texas.

But they couldn't take the final step. In 1982, they lost the Semifinal to North Carolina. In 1983, they lost this epic final to N.C. State. And in 1984, they lost the Final to Georgetown. It would take another 37 years before they reached the Final Four again. In between, the Houston Rockets made 3 NBA Finals, winning 2; the Dallas Mavericks made 2, winning 1; the San Antonio Spurs made 6, winning 5; and the University of Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor University each made a Final Four, with Tech reaching the 2019 Final and Baylor beating Houston in the 2021 Semifinal before beating Gonzaga to become the 1st Texas-based team to win a National Championship since Texas-El Paso (UTEP, then known as Texas Western) did so in 1966.

UPDATE: Houston reached the Final in 2025, losing to Florida. 

*

April 4, 1983 was a Monday. Ben Gordon, who helped the University of Connecticut win the 2004 National Championship, was born that day. So was actress Amanda Righetti.

As NCAA Tournament Finals tended to be in that era, it was also Opening Day for Major League Baseball, and there were 4 games that day:

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Larry Gura outpitched Dennis Martinez. George Brett went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs. Willie Aikens and Jerry Martin also hit home runs for the Royals. For the O's, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. each went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Despite this defeat, the Orioles went on to win the World Series.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Dave Concepción singled Eddie Milner home with the winning run in the bottom of the 8th, off Steve Bedrosian, who had relieved Phil Niekro. This made Mario Soto the winning pitcher. Johnny Bench, in what turned out to be his last season as a player, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ron Oester and Gary Redus hit home runs for the Reds, Chris Chambliss for the Braves.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Mike Richardt and Larry Parrish hit home runs. Mike Smithson started for the Rangers, but John Butcher was the winning pitcher, in relief, defeating LaMarr Hoyt. Despite this, Hoyt went on to win the American League Cy Young Award, and the White Sox won the AL Western Division title, before losing the AL Championship Series to the Orioles, who then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-5 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rick Sutcliffe outpitched Rick Langford. Andre Thornton hit a home run for the Tribe, while Toby Harrah went 4-for-6, but with no RBIs. Kelvin Moore homered for the A's. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.

The NHL was between the end of its regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There was 1 game in the NBA that night: The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-111 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. David Thompson, the hero of N.C. State's 1974 National Championship, led all scorers with 31 points.

And there was 1 game in the USFL, the United States Football League: The Denver Gold beat the Michigan Panthers, 29-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

March 4, 1993: Jim Valvano's Speech

March 4, 1993: Jim Valvano speaks at Madison Square Garden. He wasn't talking to a basketball team he was coaching, to try to get them to win a game. This game was much more important.

James Thomas Anthony Valvano was born on March 10, 1946 in Corona, Queens, New York City, and grew up in nearby Seaford, Long Island. A high school star in baseball and football, he stuck with his best sport, basketball, and went to Rutgers University in New Jersey. In a backcourt with All-American Bob Lloyd, RU finished 3rd in the 1967 National Invitation Tournament.

Years later, when fans at Duke University -- often derided by fans of neighboring schools as "The University of New Jersey at Durham" -- developed their reputation for nastiness, Jimmy V said he didn't mind them, "'Cause they're all from Jersey, like me." I guess he forgot his Lawn Giland roots, although North Jersey and Long Island, on opposite sides of the City, do have a lot in common.

Despite the NBA being in place, and the American Basketball Association starting in 1967, no professional team drafted him. So he went into coaching, hired as the freshman coach at Rutgers. In 1969, he was named the head coach at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After 1 season there, he spent 2 as an assistant at Connecticut.

In 1972, he was named head coach at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1975, he was hired at Iona University in New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York. In 1977, he became Iona's athletic director as well. In 1979 and 1980, he got Iona into the NCAA Tournament.

That got the attention of North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, and they hired him as head coach in 1980. After a rough 1st season, he got them into the NCAA Tournament in 1982. In 1983, he guided them to a regular-season record of 17-10, then won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, then got them into the NCAA Final Four in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

They beat Georgia in the Semifinal, and faced the University of Houston in the Final. The heavily-favored Cougars were led by Akeem "The Dream" Olajuwon (who began spelling his name "Hakeem" when he turned pro) and Clyde "The Glide" Drexler. They dunked so often, they were given a nickname suggesting a college fraternity: "Phi Slama Jama."

But N.C. State played a strong defense, and, on the last play, what looked like a desperation shot by Derek Whittenberg was snatched out of the air, and dunked, by Lorenzo Charles, giving the Wolfpack a stunning 54-52 upset victory. The CBS cameras showed Valvano running all over the court. When interviewed, he said he was looking for someone to hug. (For British soccer fans, it was similar to Bob Stokoe running around after guiding Sunderland to the 1973 FA Cup.)

With his bubbly personality, and his background as an Italian New Yorker, Valvano was often compared to older coaches Lou Carnesecca of St. John's and Rollie Massimino (who, unlike Valvano, actually was from North Jersey) of Villanova. Certainly, he was a contrast to the quiet but authoritative Dean Smith at the nearby University of North Carolina, and the stoic Mike Krzyzewski of nearby Duke.

After missing the Tournament in 1984, but getting N.C. State into the Elite Eight in 1985 and 1986, Valvano was named the school's athletic director. He got them into the Tournament again in 1987, and was rumored to be on the short list to be the next coach of his hometown New York Knicks. Instead, that job went to another Italian New Yorker, who had just gotten Providence College into the Final Four: Rick Pitino.

After a Sweet Sixteen finish in 1989, Valvano was only 43, nearly universally-admired, and coaching a big school in perhaps the best basketball league in the country. It seemed like the only thing that could pry him away from this charmed life was a bigger offer, one he would find irresistible. Maybe he was waiting for Pitino to fail with the Knicks. (He didn't: After winning 52 games in his 2nd season, it was Pitino who got an offer he couldn't refuse, to rebuild the legendary but troubled program at Kentucky.)

But in 1989, Peter Golenbock, author of several sports books, published Personal Fouls, alleging misdeeds by Valvano and his program. An investigation by the NCAA cleared him, but cited rule violations by his players that he could have prevented, or at least stopped. A report showed that Valvano had "violated the spirit, not the letter, of the law." The school was put on probation, and in 1990, Valvano resigned his posts.

Dave Didion, the NCAA investigator handling Valvano's case, wrote a personal letter to Valvano, saying, among other things, "If I had a son, I would feel comfortable with you as his coach and encourage him to learn from you." And yet, the next year, Valvano wrote an autobiography, titled Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead.

He was signed by ESPN as a basketball announcer. Special segments were taped with another Italian coach-turned-ESPN hoops guy, Dick Vitale, and the duo became known as "The Killer Vees." (Vitale was from East Rutherford, New Jersey, and is easily the most famous person actually from the town that is home to the Meadowlands Sports Complex.) Like Vitale, and another guy from the New York Tri-State Area, Rockaway native Al McGuire, the question became whether he would stay in broadcasting (as those two did) or get another coaching offer.

Instead, in 1992, he was diagnosed with cancer. On February 21, 1993, he spoke at a 10th Anniversary reunion of the 1983 N.C. State National Champions. On March 4, ESPN hosted the 1st ESPY Awards at Madison Square Garden. Valvano was awarded the 1st Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, in memory of the tennis legend and civil rights activist who had recently died of the effects of AIDS.

In his acceptance speech, he announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. He announced that the foundation's motto would be "Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up."

The teleprompter stated that he had 30 seconds left, to which he said, "That screen up there is flashing 30 seconds. Like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body, and I'm worried about some guy in the back going, '30 seconds'?"

He closed by saying, "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you, and God bless you all." He received a standing ovation.

Seeing this, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, knowing that Valvano was a Yankee fan, invited him to throw out the ceremonial first ball for Opening Day, April 12. But the cancer spread further, and he called Steinbrenner, and told him he couldn't do it. He suggested a replacement: Smith, who had just led North Carolina to the National Championship. George called Dean, who was happy to step in, and he threw a strike in honor of his friend Jimmy V.

Jim Valvano died on April 28, 1993, at the age of 47 -- with some irony, at Duke University Medical Center, in Raleigh. He was survived by his wife Pam and their 3 daughters.

In 2018, North Carolina State University's William Neal Reynolds Coliseum was renamed James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum. But Jimmy V has not yet been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. (UPDATE: He was elected in 2023.)

The V Foundation has donated over $300 million to cancer research. Starting in 1995, ESPN has broadcast an annual season-opening basketball tournament, the Jimmy V Classic. It was held at the Meadowlands, then moved to Madison Square Garden in 2003, held there every year except 2020, when, due to COVID restrictions, it was held at the Indiana Pacers' arena in Indianapolis.

Jim Valvano made some mistakes in his coaching career, but with that 1983 N.C. State upset and the final act of his life, he did a whole lot more good.

*

March 4, 1993 was a Thursday. Bobbi Kristina Brown was born to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 7 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Utah Jazz, 125-111 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Orlando Magic, 116-97 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Derrick Coleman scored 34 points.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Washington Bullets, 117-98 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 13-111 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Reggie Miller scored 34 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-95 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-88 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Charlotte Hornets, 138-112 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Quebec Nordiques played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 2-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Ottawa Senators, 8-6 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.