North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Men's Jamboree Has Lively History
5/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
And so few he can share for public consumption.
It started in 1965, when Bryant was an NC State assistant basketball coach and Warren Carroll was the executive secretary of the Wolfpack Club, the fundraising and booster club for NC State athletics. State was the reigning ACC champions in football and basketball, and it seemed like a good opportunity to gather some of the school’s most loyal supporters for a weekend retreat at the beach.
So they traveled to the Blockade Runner Beach Resort at
The 43rd-annual Men’s Summer Jamboree is slated for May 30-June 1 at the Legends Resort in
That first Jamboree got off to a raucous start. When John Pate, a free-spending donor from
“We don’t have those, sir,” the bellman answered.
“Then could you go somewhere and find one,” said Pate, peeling $100 off a roll of cash.
So the bellman went to a local hardware store, bought a brand new, full-sized refrigerator and filled it with cold drinks.
“I don’t know what happened to it after we left,” Bryant said, “but it sure got a lot of use that weekend.”
There have been some eventful moments at past Jamborees. Bryant will never forget walking off the 18th hole at Foxfire Resort in Pinehurst after his second round of the day in 1971.
“We were playing at Foxfire that day and we played a morning round,” Bryant said. “We decided to play a second round and as we finished up the 36th hole of the day, we see [assistant basketball coach] Eddie Biedenbach running from the clubhouse to the 18th green, waving a piece of paper. It was David Thompson’s signed letter of intent."
A few years back, former men’s basketball coach Herb Sendek was riding around in a golf cart, visiting every foursome at the Lake Lure Resort in the
Sendek, a non-golfer, wasn’t particularly comfortable standing on the tee and he sliced his ball off a granite cliff that was on the right side of the hole. The ball bounced hard and high, and came to rest about five feet from the flag on the green.
The donor mailed the check to the Wolfpack Club office when he got home.
For 10 years in the 1980s, the Jamboree was Jim Valvano’s personal paradise. What could be better for the late coach than a dedicated audience of NC State supporters?
Bryant remembers the ’88 Jamboree when Valvano was the featured speaker at the Friday night banquet at Foxfire. Valvano had already committed to participating in The Crosby Pro-Am at Tanglewood Country Club in Bermuda Run. The coach got an afternoon tee time, and Bryant knew Valvano would have a hard time getting from
But before the banquet even started, Valvano and one of his assistants walked through the door thanks to their lights-flashing Highway Patrol escort.
“Jim, you must have been going 90 miles an hour!” Bryant said.
“Yeah,” Valvano said. “We slowed it down a couple of times.”
The next day, Valvano made the first hole-in-one of his life. He made a single phone call, and that night, as the group assembled for drinks in the bar, they watched ESPN, which mentioned the feat on the air. Valvano himself called in the news tip.
Some of the stalwarts from long ago have either passed away or no longer play golf, and the Wolfpack Club is looking for more participants to continue to the tradition.
“It’s an opportunity to spend some time with fellow Wolfpackers and to mingle with some coaches," Bryant said. "A lot of times there aren’t that many opportunities to share that kind of time in an informal setting like the Jamboree.”
This is the Jamboree’s third year at the Legends Resort, which is owned by Wolfpack Club member Danny Young. This year, there will be two rounds of golf at two different course on Friday and Saturday.
The event is important to Wolfpack Club Executive Director Bobby Purcell, who attended his first Jamboree in 1983, just months after the Wolfpack won the NCAA basketball championship. It’s an opportunity for him and his staff to spend time with a couple hundred loyal supporters in an informal atmosphere.
“It is a great opportunity for all Wolfpack Club members at all giving levels, to come spend a weekend with the coaches,” Purcell said. “We invite all the football coaches, all the basketball coaches and all the head coaches. It allows them to get to know the coaches on a different level, by having dinner with them, playing golf with them and spending quality time with them. We also welcome non-golfers to come and participate.”
Having the coaches participate has always been a big draw for the event, along with the bevy of Wolfpack Club gifts that every participant receives upon arrival.
“The coaches play a huge part in the weekend,” said Phillip Wood, the Wolfpack Club assistant director who has organized recent Jamborees. “It’s what separates this from just a normal guys’ trip to the beach with your buddies.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
