North Carolina State University Athletics
There were the days of unparalleled happiness...
10/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
There were the days of unparalleled happiness...
In so many ways, [beating North Carolina in Reynolds Coliseum] was a healing victory for the Wolfpack. "This is something we needed, the school needed, the students needed," Valvano said in his post-game interview. [Dean] Smith was the first person to congratulate Valvano when the final seconds ticked off the clock. "I told him I was happy for him, and I meant it," Smith said. "It had to get old always hearing that he couldn't beat North Carolina." Whittenburg jumped off the bench and ran to Lowe at midcourt, hugging his teammate of the last seven years just as he did when the two led DeMatha to the high school national championship their junior season. Bailey stood on the sidelines with tears streaming down his face as students, fans, and alumni rushed the court for an hour-long celebration that spilled over from Reynolds, spread all over campus and ended on Hillsborough Street as car horns blared deep into the night.Ron Morris, who covered NC State for the Durham Morning Herald, began his game story in the next day's paper like this: "NC State won its national championship on Saturday, or at least it seemed that way." Beating the Tar Heels that afternoon was that important and that emotional.
"I don't think anything has come close to that in my lifetime," [Thurl] Bailey said a couple of days after that victory. "Nothing has ever made me that emotional. We had struggled so long and so hard this year, and we deserved a game like that. When the buzzer went off, I closed my eyes and threw my hands up in the air. I felt hands tugging at my jersey. I opened my eyes and I was surrounded. So I surrendered. I was trying to hold back, but I just let the tears go. I don't think anything could top that feeling. Even if we go to the NCAA, even the Final Four, even if we won it all - at that point, at that moment in the game, I don't think anything could feel better than that."
