TIM PEELER: Wolfpack Tabbed No. 16 in AP Preseason Poll

Oct. 16, 1982

BY TIM PEELER

RALEIGH, N.C. For the first time since 1978 and the first time under third-year head coach Jim Valvano NC State is ranked in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 20 poll, released this week by the world-wide news organization.

The Wolfpack, which finished fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 7-7 record last season, heads into the 1982-83 campaign ranked No. 16 in the nation.

“We have been picked in most of the preseason Top 20 polls, and we are not over-rated,” said Valvano, who led the Wolfpack to a 22-10 record and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament last season. “We are going to be a good basketball team.”

However, Valvano’s team will face stiff competition, within the ACC and in its non-conference games. Not only is the Wolfpack slated to play regular-season games against three of the last four national champions Michigan State, Louisville and North Carolina there are five teams on the Wolfpack schedule also ranked in the preseason Top 20: No. 1 Virginia, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 6 Memphis State, No. 8 Louisville and No. 15 Missouri.

“Last year, we had an all-Catholic stretch in our schedule, when we played St. Francis, St. Peter’s and St. Francis,” Valvano said. “This year, the schedule is significantly tougher. But we are a veteran team, and we should be able to play against the best teams in the country.”

The Wolfpack is led by the senior trio of Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg.

Bailey, a 6-11 forward from Bladensburg, Md., has led the Wolfpack in scoring the last two years, averaging 12.3 points as a sophomore and 13.7 points as a junior. Lowe, already NC State’s all-time leader in assists with 491 in his first three years at NC State, has an outside chance of breaking the ACC’s all-time assist record of 753, which is held by former North Carolina All-America Phil Ford. Whittenburg, a 6-0 guard, was a second-team All-ACC selection last year and was picked for the All-ACC Tournament team.

While Valvano’s team is one of only three ACC teams in the preseason ranking, it’s not necessarily a good omen that the Cavaliers, led by returning All-America center Ralph Sampson, and the Tar Heels, led by Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty, are picked ahead of the Wolfpack. So far in Valvano’s career with the Wolfpack, he has yet to beat either North Carolina or Virginia.

 

1982-83 AP Preseason Poll

1.	Virginia (33)	1,020
2.	Georgetown (5)	978
3.	North Carolina (8)	897
4.	Kentucky (2)	740
5.	Villanova (2)	713
6.	Memphis State	699
7.	UCLA	698
8.	Louisville (1)	602
9.	Indiana	590
10.	Oregon State	514
11.	Iowa	457
12.	Alabama	434
13.	Tennessee	427
14.	Houston	372
15.	Missouri	280
16.	NC State	159
17.	Arkansas	140
18.	Marquette	119
19.	St. John’s	118
20.	Oklahoma	114

Tim Peeler, author of When March Went Mad: A Celebration of NC State’s 1982-83 National Championship, can be reached at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.

 

North Carolina State University Athletics

TIM PEELER: Wolfpack Tabbed No. 16 in AP Preseason Poll

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