North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack to Make First Appearance in Jimmy V Classic
12/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Twenty years after Jim Valvano led NC State to its second national basketball championship, the Wolfpack (5-0) will make its first appearance in an event that is named after its former coach when it tangles with Gonzaga (5-3) Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game will be a part of the Jimmy V Classic, an annual college basketball doubleheader designed to raise funds for the V Foundation.
Prior to dying of cancer in 1993, Valvano formed the V Foundation to raise money for cancer research. Since that time, the organization has collected approximately $26 million to aid the fight against a disease that takes thousands of lives every year. The foundation is headed up by Valvano's brother, Nick, who is ecstatic about NC State's first appearance in the classic.
"It's incredible," Nick Valvano said. "The timing of it, this being the 20th anniversary of the championship. Jim will be gone 10 years in April. There are so many mixed feelings. It's going to be hard not to be biased on the games this time. I think Jimmy would be thrilled to have all these things come together."
Timing, said NC State coach Herb Sendek, had prevented the Pack from playing in this game prior to this year. It's an event that hasn't always corresponded well with Wolfpack schedules, especially since the Jimmy V Classic often comes at about the same time as final exams.
"This year," Sendek said, "an extra special effort was made because we're commemorating the 20th anniversary of the championship team."
Although there were no formal introductions, Sendek and Valvano once crossed paths during a basketball camp when Sendek was still a student at Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh.
"He was speaking at the Five-Star Camp when I was in college as a counselor," Sendek recalls. "I probably got him a glass of water or something. Everybody who has followed college basketball can remember coach Valvano and all that he represented. It's just been great for me to get to know his family. They've been really kind to me. I've never, even for one second, taken the opportunity to coach here at NC State for granted."
As for Tuesday's match-up, the Wolfpack will probably be getting its most challenging test of the season. Gonzaga, which has averaged better than 27 wins over the last four years, is certainly battle-tested after facing a grueling early-season schedule that has included games against Indiana (86-85 loss), Kentucky and Georgia.
"We go on the road to the Meadowlands where we play Gonzaga, who many people think could not only make it to the dance, but make it through the dance," Sendek said. "They have a very experienced team, one of the best guards in the country in Blake Stepp, and their frontcourt is ominous."
Stepp, a 6-4 junior, was averaging more than 21 points per game before being held to just seven points in Sunday's 95-83 loss to Georgia. Up front, the Zags could present some problems for the Pack with their size. On Sunday, 6-11, 275-pound junior Richard Fox made 7-of-11 field goals and scored 15 points against the Bulldogs. Cory Violette (6-8, 255) and Ronny Turiaf (6-10, 243) are also capable of doing plenty of damage in the paint. Turiaf, a native of Martinique, scored 14 of his game-high 20 points from the free throw line in the game versus Georgia.
NC State's top scorer is sophomore Julius Hodge (17.8 ppg.), who became the first men's player in school history to notch a triple-double (11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) in the Wolfpack's lopsided victory over North Carolina A&T on Saturday. The Harlem native will certainly have plenty of local support when he takes the floor at the Continental Airlines Arena, which is just a stone's throw away from his hometown.
"It's going to be a big deal, but my first priority is to get a win," Hodge said. "We're playing against a very good Gonzaga team, but it's not about them; it's about us. As long we play our game and follow our game plan, we should be successful."
