North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Charles More Than a One-Shot Wonder
2/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
But it took more than one basket to turn Charles from an over-looked recruit from
“When you win the national championship, there is nothing else that can compare to that,” Charles said Saturday, when the school hosted a 25th-anniversary reunion for the 1983 championship team. “I don’t care if you win All-America honors or are first-team All-ACC, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds, if you don’t get to the Final Four and win the national championship, there is nothing else that you can do that compares to the magnitude of winning the national championship.
“People regard that as the best game I ever played. But I only scored four points.”
But, as of Monday, Charles’ legendary status was made official, by being named NC State’s representative in the ACC Tournament’s Legends. He’ll join representatives of the other 11 schools at the Legends Brunch during this year’s tournament at
What some people don’t remember is that Charles grew into an important player for the Wolfpack long before he grabbed Dereck Whittenburg’s famous airball and stuffed it into the basket on April 4, 1983, in
He also made a pair of free throws at the end of the NCAA West Region Championship victory over
He had never had a double-double in his career until getting 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Deacons in the ACC Tourney opener. He had three more throughout the run, including a career-high 14 rebounds to go with his 12 points in the double-overtime win against Pepperdine.
“People think that dunk was the first thing he did,” said teammate Thurl Bailey. “But Lorenzo did his growing up before we got to that championship game. I think he knew that we expected a lot out of him to get where we were.”
And he did much more the next two seasonss, sometimes carrying the Wolfpack on his extra-broad shoulders and impressing the NBA scouts with his sculpted, muscular frame. He averaged 18 points as a junior and a senior, earning first-team all-conference honors both years. In his final season, he led a team that was just moments away from another trip to the Final Four in scoring in 22 of its 33 games.
Perhaps his greatest game came in
“A lot of people say that was my best game,” Charles said, with his infectious smile. “I got on a roll and scored a couple of points. That might have been one of my better games.”
His professional career included three seasons with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, and a handful of stints in the Continental Basketball Association, the Global Basketball Association and various teams overseas. But he never really got a chance to carry the load in the NBA as he did in college.
He’s settled back in the Triangle, in the town of
In fact, he’s a bit of a celebrity around
“That took some getting used to,” Charles said. “When people first started coming up to me, I was a little uncomfortable with it. I have had to get used to people coming up to me at all times and talking about it, but especially as we go into this time of the year, near the post-season.
“People like to stop and talk, and I enjoy it. I guess it’s something that can never get old.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
