North Carolina State University Athletics
2016 NC State Athletic Hall of Fame: 1974 Men’s Basketball Team
9/13/2016 8:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Hall of Fame ceremony takes place Sept. 16 in the newly renovated Reynolds Coliseum
NC State Athletic Hall of Fame | 2016 Induction Ceremony | Purchase Tickets
RALEIGH, N.C. - The 1974 NC State men's basketball team will be among the headliners of the 2016 NC State's Athletic Hall of Fame Class, becoming the first team in school history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 1973-74 squad went 30-1, capturing the regular-season ACC crown, the ACC Tournament title and eventually the NCAA Championship. The unit also won plenty of individual honors along the way, as Tommy Burleson was crowed the ACC Tournament MVP and David Thompson was named the NCAA Men's Championships MOP. Thompson, Burleson and Monte Towe were also selected as All-Americans during 1974.
The team had it all, superstars who could take over a game and a supporting cast that crashed the boards, shut down opposing offenses and filled in as needed. In addition to the standout athletes, the Wolfpack was led by an equally successful coach in Norm Sloan.
"He developed his offense to his player personnel," said Burleson on Sloan in an interview with ESPN. "He knew he had a tremendous team and he didn't want to overcoach us. He wanted to give us freedom within the offense."
"He was a guy that took on North Carolina, took on Maryland," Towe added. "He thought we belonged on the same court to compete with all those people. ... His leadership and toughness took us over the top."
Sloan's free-flowing offense was a triangle-based system with Towe running the offense at point guard. Thompson operated on the wing and Burleson controlled the paint, while a host of strong role players filled in all over the court. The offense hit triple digits eight times and scored at least 90 points 18 times throughout the season.
The team was rounded out by forwards Tim Stoddard and Phil Spence and guard Moe Rivers. The Pack also had Steve Nuce, Mark Moeller and Craig Kuszmaul as options for substitutes.
With the star studded cast, the Pack rolled through most of the 1973-74 season. It lost only once, falling in a neutral-site matchup against UCLA before rattling off 28 straight victories to close out the season.
The team was ranked no lower than fifth all season, and for the first time in program history earned the nation's No. 1 ranking.
With the national acclaim, every team took its best shot at NC State, the 1974 ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C., proved to be one the toughest tests for the Pack.
In the tournament final, the No. 1 Wolfpack prevailed over No. 5 Maryland in what has been equally compared to a battle between heavyweights as a basketball game.
"It's sort of like two really good boxers," said Burleson in an interview with Fox Sports. "You can't really knock either one out, so you're sort of throwing punches and at the same time, you're trying to protect yourself from getting a knockout punch."
NC State landed the final blow in the game and won the title with a, 103-100 (OT), victory and most importantly advanced to the NCAA Championships. The game is still referenced today as the best game in ACC history.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Pack rolled to an NCAA East Region Championship before meeting perennial powerhouse UCLA in the national semifinal.
In the dynamic matchup against UCLA, the game went to double overtime where the Bruins took a seven-point lead with two minutes to go. NC State then produced off one of the best comebacks in NCAA Tournament history to shock UCLA and advance to the championship game.
In the championship game, NC State rolled past Marquette, 76-64, in Greensboro Coliseum, marking NC State's first team national title in any sport and sealing the legacy of one of the best teams in NC State, the ACC and college basketball history.
Created in 2012 and now boasting 36 total members, the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame will honor its 2016 class in a grand reopening gala on Friday, September 16 at the newly-renovated Reynolds Coliseum. To purchase tickets to the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Induction Ceremony, click HERE.
RALEIGH, N.C. - The 1974 NC State men's basketball team will be among the headliners of the 2016 NC State's Athletic Hall of Fame Class, becoming the first team in school history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 1973-74 squad went 30-1, capturing the regular-season ACC crown, the ACC Tournament title and eventually the NCAA Championship. The unit also won plenty of individual honors along the way, as Tommy Burleson was crowed the ACC Tournament MVP and David Thompson was named the NCAA Men's Championships MOP. Thompson, Burleson and Monte Towe were also selected as All-Americans during 1974.
The team had it all, superstars who could take over a game and a supporting cast that crashed the boards, shut down opposing offenses and filled in as needed. In addition to the standout athletes, the Wolfpack was led by an equally successful coach in Norm Sloan.
"He developed his offense to his player personnel," said Burleson on Sloan in an interview with ESPN. "He knew he had a tremendous team and he didn't want to overcoach us. He wanted to give us freedom within the offense."
"He was a guy that took on North Carolina, took on Maryland," Towe added. "He thought we belonged on the same court to compete with all those people. ... His leadership and toughness took us over the top."
Sloan's free-flowing offense was a triangle-based system with Towe running the offense at point guard. Thompson operated on the wing and Burleson controlled the paint, while a host of strong role players filled in all over the court. The offense hit triple digits eight times and scored at least 90 points 18 times throughout the season.
The team was rounded out by forwards Tim Stoddard and Phil Spence and guard Moe Rivers. The Pack also had Steve Nuce, Mark Moeller and Craig Kuszmaul as options for substitutes.
With the star studded cast, the Pack rolled through most of the 1973-74 season. It lost only once, falling in a neutral-site matchup against UCLA before rattling off 28 straight victories to close out the season.
The team was ranked no lower than fifth all season, and for the first time in program history earned the nation's No. 1 ranking.
With the national acclaim, every team took its best shot at NC State, the 1974 ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C., proved to be one the toughest tests for the Pack.
In the tournament final, the No. 1 Wolfpack prevailed over No. 5 Maryland in what has been equally compared to a battle between heavyweights as a basketball game.
"It's sort of like two really good boxers," said Burleson in an interview with Fox Sports. "You can't really knock either one out, so you're sort of throwing punches and at the same time, you're trying to protect yourself from getting a knockout punch."
NC State landed the final blow in the game and won the title with a, 103-100 (OT), victory and most importantly advanced to the NCAA Championships. The game is still referenced today as the best game in ACC history.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Pack rolled to an NCAA East Region Championship before meeting perennial powerhouse UCLA in the national semifinal.
In the dynamic matchup against UCLA, the game went to double overtime where the Bruins took a seven-point lead with two minutes to go. NC State then produced off one of the best comebacks in NCAA Tournament history to shock UCLA and advance to the championship game.
In the championship game, NC State rolled past Marquette, 76-64, in Greensboro Coliseum, marking NC State's first team national title in any sport and sealing the legacy of one of the best teams in NC State, the ACC and college basketball history.
Created in 2012 and now boasting 36 total members, the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame will honor its 2016 class in a grand reopening gala on Friday, September 16 at the newly-renovated Reynolds Coliseum. To purchase tickets to the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Induction Ceremony, click HERE.
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