North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Ranked No. 2 in 1973-74 Preseason Poll
11/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 1973
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. The debate will rage, at least until Dec. 15: Who is the best college basketball team in the country?
For now, it’s seven-time NCAA-champion UCLA, led by the red-headed wonder Bill Walton and legendary coach John Wooden.
But the Bruins could be unseated by the only other team that finished last year without a loss: Norm Sloan’s NC State Wolfpack.
Wooden's team finished last season with a 30-0 record and yet another national title. The ACC-champion Wolfpack was 27-0, but could not advance to the national tournament because of a one-year NCAA probation. The two teams were ranked 1-2 in the preseason poll released this week by the Associated Press.
Sloan has a pair of All-Americans in David Thompson and Tommy Burleson, a feisty point guard in junior Monte Towe and two of the best junior college players in the country, Morris Rivers and Phil Spence, to go along with junior forward Tim Stoddard, a two-sport athlete who also pitches for the Wolfpack baseball team.
“I don’t see any weaknesses on our squad,” Sloan said. “We have a lot of players who can play. We’re strong, not great, at every position.”
But Sloan also believes that Thompson, the soft-spoken forward from Shelby, is destined for greatness after leading the ACC with remarkable numbers last year: 24.7 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game, 57.1 field-goal percentage, 82.0 free-throw percentage. Thompson had surgery in the off-season to repair torn cartilage in his right knee, but was spectacular this summer in leading the United States to the gold medal in the World University Games.
“I have repeatedly said that David Thompson is improved over last year,” Sloan said. “And he’s still a very young person. He’s just 19. But now he has two good legs. We didn’t realize how bad his leg was until his operation. He played the whole season last year in pain. He is moving quicker laterally and has more confidence.”
Thompson’s improved health is one of the reasons so many who follow college basketball are eager for the Dec. 15 game against the Bruins, which is already being billed as the greatest regular-season college basketball game since Houston hosted UCLA in the Astrodome in 1968.
| 1973-74 AP Preseason Poll | |||
| Rank | Team | '73 record | Votes |
| 1. | UCLA (39) | 30-0 | 816 |
| 2. | NC State (2) | 27-0 | 706 |
| 3. | Indiana | 22-6 | 519 |
| 4. | Maryland | 23-7 | 415 |
| 5. | North Carolina | 25-8 | 384 |
| 6. | Providence | 27-4 | 274 |
| 7. | Marquette | 25-4 | 250 |
| 8. | Notre Dame | 18-12 | 239 |
| 9. | Louisville | 23-7 | 231 |
| 10. | Kentucky | 20-8 | 202 |
| 11. | San Francisco | 23-5 | 160 |
| 12. | Long Beach State | 26-3 | 155 |
| 13. | Kansas State | 23-5 | 114 |
| 14. | Houston | 13-4 | 97 |
| 15. | Arizona | 16-10 | 95 |
| 16. | Penn | 21-7 | 94 |
| 17. | Jacksonville | 21-6 | 84 |
| 18. | Alabama | 22-8 | 76 |
| 19. | Nevade-Las Vegas | 13-15 | 75 |
| 20. | Memphis State | 24-6 | 67 |
“I just hope we can play like we did last year, each game as we come to it and not looking ahead,” Sloan said. “I hope we don’t peak too soon. It is an absolute must that we peak in March and no other time. I’d like to be unbeaten all the time, but particularly in March.”
No one is predicting that the Wolfpack will match last year’s 27-0 record. But no one wearing red is conceding anything either.
“It would take an awful lot of luck for us to go undefeated again this year,” said 7-foot-4 senior center Tommy Burleson. “But we sure don’t plan on losing any.”
There will be numerous challenges, especially within the rugged ACC, which may have its best collection of players and talented teams ever.
“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Sloan said. “There are more great players in this conference this year than ever before. I’ve done some legitimate research on the talent in this league and three teams this season have to be contenders for the national championship.”
The Wolfpack is ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, but Lefty Driesell’s Maryland is right behind at No. 4 and Dean Smith’s North Carolina is at No. 5.
Sloan has prepared his team for the challenges ahead with a more rugged schedule, one of the reasons behind his team’s six-game tour of the state with intra-squad scrimmages. In addition to the marquee match-up with the Bruins, the Wolfpack will play non-conference games against Georgia, Purdue and Furman and participate both the Big Four and Sugar Bowl Tournaments.
“We are very deep and good, in my opinion,” Sloan said. We determined this from playing what you might call our exhibition season around the state. We did this because starting practice on Oct. 15 is foolish. You don’t need that much time. When you play in a different town with officials and the crowds, you get greater effort than you do in practice.”
So Sloan believes his team will be prepared for the big game that is just two weeks away, when State and UCLA make their claim on the No. 1 spot in the first ever meeting between the two schools.
The game is part of a double-header with St. Louis and Southern Illinois serving as the undercard. Tickets, which were available only by mail and cost $8 and $10, were sold out within weeks of going on sale.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
