NC State Athletic Hall of Fame: 1983 National Champions
4/11/2019 10:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Hall of Fame Ceremony takes place April 13 in Reynolds Coliseum
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RALEIGH, N.C. - As his NC State basketball team drifted back to the court with just 44 seconds remaining in the 1983 NCAA Championship game against top-ranked Houston, Wolfpack head coach Jim Valvano pulled sophomore forward Lorenzo Charles aside.
"Lo, you haven't done anything all night," the coach shouted over the din of the Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "I wish you would wake up."
It was true that the sophomore had scored only two points and grabbed six rebounds in a little more than 39 minutes of play. The young player was, after all, working hard against Houston's tremendous frontcourt of Akeem Olajuwon, Larry Micheaux and Michael Young.
The only reason the Wolfpack was still in the most important game of the season was because guards Sidney Lowe, Dereck Whittenburg and Terry Gannon had scored every one of their team's second-half points.
In the 43 seconds after the timeout—matching the number on the sophomore's jersey—Charles continued to sleep-walk through the worst halfcourt possession of the season, as his teammates made 19 ineffective passes, four of which were nearly intercepted.
With only a few ticks remaining, Whittenburg grabbed one last errant pass more than 25 feet from the basket and managed a desperation jump shot as the clock approached zero.
That's when Sleeping Beauty awoke to complete the Wolfpack's Cinderella dream.
Charles grabbed Whittenburg's too-short jumper and jammed it through the basket, while Olajuwon and his teammates stood flatfooted on the court, giving Valvano and the Wolfpack the school's second men's basketball national championship and setting the coach off on his memorable jaunt to find someone to hug.
More than 35 years later, it remains the most dramatic dunk in championship game history, as the unheralded and underappreciated Cardiac Pack took down the Cougars, a victory practically no one outside NC State locker room thought was possible.
The monumental win is why that team will follow the 1974 championship team in the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame, in a ceremony inside Reynolds Coliseum on April 13. Others who will be inducted will be former athletics director and swimming coach Willis Casey, basketball players Rodney Monroe and Trudi Lacey, golfer Tim Clark and swimmer Cullen Jones.
Here's the thing, though: the Wolfpack's 54-52 victory was not that big of an upset.
The final play, with all its drama, often subsumes the entirety of the 1982-83 season, which started with great promise, but was prematurely deemed over when Whittenburg suffered what was thought to be a career-ending injury in early January. He made a promise to come back before the season was over, and he did.
The Wolfpack, despite faltering at times in his absence, vowed to be ready for the postseason, and they were.
Valvano told his team it needed to make it to at least the ACC championship game to have a shot at going to the NCAA Tournament, and the team did him one better by beating Virginia and four-time All-American Ralph Sampson in the title game to earn the league's automatic berth into March Madness.
Valvano told reporters he thought his team might go all the way if it found a way to beat Pepperdine in distant Corvalis, Oregon, and they did, thanks to double-overtime game and two missed free throws by a guard who still owns his school's second best single-season shooting percentage.
Valvano said all his team needed was a chance in the final possession, which he often created with a late-game fouling strategy so effective the NCAA eventually changed the rules of the game to eliminate it.
All the coach ever wanted was for his team to survive and advance, and that's what they did.
Valvano's team rose from the dead more often in the final month of the 1982-83 season than all the zombie and vampire movies made since then.
However, to boil the championship down to one play or one unexpected victory is a disservice to the memories of Valvano, Charles, reserve senior Quinton Leonard and assistant coach Ed McLean, as well as all the remaining players who were responsible for Valvano's "Never Give Up" mantra.
The 1983 champions were an excellent team, anchored by senior starters Lowe, Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey; supplemented by junior college transfer Alvin Battle and sophomores Charles, Gannon and center Cozell McQueen; and saved midseason by freshman Ernie Myers. A slew of complementary reserves—Mike Warren, George McClain, Walter "Dinky" Proctor, Harold Thompson, Walt Densmore and Tommy DiNardo—were there to fill necessary roles throughout the season.
In all, Valvano's team played 10 games against teams that were ranked No. 1 at some point during the season—four against Virginia, three against North Carolina and one each against Memphis State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Houston—more than any team in NCAA history. They won six of them, including the championship game against the Cougars.
In seven of their nine postseason games, they trailed in the second half (six by double figures).
Charles, who as a recruit was called "The Sleeper of the East," woke from his slumber and won three of those postseason games with last-second points: free throws against Wake Forest in the ACC opener and Virginia in the NCAA West Region title game and the dunk against Houston.
Others took turns saving the day: Whittenburg with his overtime scoring against the defending national champion Tar Heels in the ACC semifinals, Gannon with his steal against the 7-foot-4 Sampson in the league championship game, McQueen with his rebound and put-back against Pepperdine, Bailey with his last-second double offensive rebound and jumper against UNLV and Lowe with his three second-half jumpers against Houston.
It was an inspiring run by a collection of talented and motivated players, not just a chance rebound and dunk by a player who was admittedly out of position to make a memorable play. The story began well before Charles' dunk, and has lived long after.
Others may pull off similar wins, but no one will ever surpass the totality of the unlikely run. It has become as gospel as David vs. Goliath, as unlikely as the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team winning the gold medal and as dramatic as any over-the-top screenplay Hollywood has ever produced.
That team captured the spirit, humor and imagination of the mercurial Valvano, who thrived on the national stage as his team cut down the game's biggest giants—Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, among others—on the way to cutting down the nets.
By Tim Peeler
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RALEIGH, N.C. - As his NC State basketball team drifted back to the court with just 44 seconds remaining in the 1983 NCAA Championship game against top-ranked Houston, Wolfpack head coach Jim Valvano pulled sophomore forward Lorenzo Charles aside.
"Lo, you haven't done anything all night," the coach shouted over the din of the Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "I wish you would wake up."
It was true that the sophomore had scored only two points and grabbed six rebounds in a little more than 39 minutes of play. The young player was, after all, working hard against Houston's tremendous frontcourt of Akeem Olajuwon, Larry Micheaux and Michael Young.
The only reason the Wolfpack was still in the most important game of the season was because guards Sidney Lowe, Dereck Whittenburg and Terry Gannon had scored every one of their team's second-half points.
In the 43 seconds after the timeout—matching the number on the sophomore's jersey—Charles continued to sleep-walk through the worst halfcourt possession of the season, as his teammates made 19 ineffective passes, four of which were nearly intercepted.
With only a few ticks remaining, Whittenburg grabbed one last errant pass more than 25 feet from the basket and managed a desperation jump shot as the clock approached zero.
That's when Sleeping Beauty awoke to complete the Wolfpack's Cinderella dream.
Charles grabbed Whittenburg's too-short jumper and jammed it through the basket, while Olajuwon and his teammates stood flatfooted on the court, giving Valvano and the Wolfpack the school's second men's basketball national championship and setting the coach off on his memorable jaunt to find someone to hug.
More than 35 years later, it remains the most dramatic dunk in championship game history, as the unheralded and underappreciated Cardiac Pack took down the Cougars, a victory practically no one outside NC State locker room thought was possible.
The monumental win is why that team will follow the 1974 championship team in the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame, in a ceremony inside Reynolds Coliseum on April 13. Others who will be inducted will be former athletics director and swimming coach Willis Casey, basketball players Rodney Monroe and Trudi Lacey, golfer Tim Clark and swimmer Cullen Jones.
Here's the thing, though: the Wolfpack's 54-52 victory was not that big of an upset.
The final play, with all its drama, often subsumes the entirety of the 1982-83 season, which started with great promise, but was prematurely deemed over when Whittenburg suffered what was thought to be a career-ending injury in early January. He made a promise to come back before the season was over, and he did.
The Wolfpack, despite faltering at times in his absence, vowed to be ready for the postseason, and they were.
Valvano told his team it needed to make it to at least the ACC championship game to have a shot at going to the NCAA Tournament, and the team did him one better by beating Virginia and four-time All-American Ralph Sampson in the title game to earn the league's automatic berth into March Madness.
Valvano told reporters he thought his team might go all the way if it found a way to beat Pepperdine in distant Corvalis, Oregon, and they did, thanks to double-overtime game and two missed free throws by a guard who still owns his school's second best single-season shooting percentage.
Valvano said all his team needed was a chance in the final possession, which he often created with a late-game fouling strategy so effective the NCAA eventually changed the rules of the game to eliminate it.
All the coach ever wanted was for his team to survive and advance, and that's what they did.
Valvano's team rose from the dead more often in the final month of the 1982-83 season than all the zombie and vampire movies made since then.
However, to boil the championship down to one play or one unexpected victory is a disservice to the memories of Valvano, Charles, reserve senior Quinton Leonard and assistant coach Ed McLean, as well as all the remaining players who were responsible for Valvano's "Never Give Up" mantra.
The 1983 champions were an excellent team, anchored by senior starters Lowe, Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey; supplemented by junior college transfer Alvin Battle and sophomores Charles, Gannon and center Cozell McQueen; and saved midseason by freshman Ernie Myers. A slew of complementary reserves—Mike Warren, George McClain, Walter "Dinky" Proctor, Harold Thompson, Walt Densmore and Tommy DiNardo—were there to fill necessary roles throughout the season.
In all, Valvano's team played 10 games against teams that were ranked No. 1 at some point during the season—four against Virginia, three against North Carolina and one each against Memphis State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Houston—more than any team in NCAA history. They won six of them, including the championship game against the Cougars.
In seven of their nine postseason games, they trailed in the second half (six by double figures).
Charles, who as a recruit was called "The Sleeper of the East," woke from his slumber and won three of those postseason games with last-second points: free throws against Wake Forest in the ACC opener and Virginia in the NCAA West Region title game and the dunk against Houston.
Others took turns saving the day: Whittenburg with his overtime scoring against the defending national champion Tar Heels in the ACC semifinals, Gannon with his steal against the 7-foot-4 Sampson in the league championship game, McQueen with his rebound and put-back against Pepperdine, Bailey with his last-second double offensive rebound and jumper against UNLV and Lowe with his three second-half jumpers against Houston.
It was an inspiring run by a collection of talented and motivated players, not just a chance rebound and dunk by a player who was admittedly out of position to make a memorable play. The story began well before Charles' dunk, and has lived long after.
Others may pull off similar wins, but no one will ever surpass the totality of the unlikely run. It has become as gospel as David vs. Goliath, as unlikely as the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team winning the gold medal and as dramatic as any over-the-top screenplay Hollywood has ever produced.
That team captured the spirit, humor and imagination of the mercurial Valvano, who thrived on the national stage as his team cut down the game's biggest giants—Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, among others—on the way to cutting down the nets.
By Tim Peeler
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