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NC State Wolfpack: Valvano Named to ACC’s 2017 Basketball Legends Class

By Daniel Wilson

Oct 8, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; A North Carolina State flag waves in the wind in the parking lot before the game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; A North Carolina State flag waves in the wind in the parking lot before the game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Wolfpack head coach Jim Valvano, who led the famous “Cardiac Pack” squad to the 1983 national championship, will be honored during the ACC Tournament.

Inspiration can come from many places, but more often than not, inspiration can come from people. For many in the city of Raleigh and beyond, one figure that draws the most inspiration is former NC State head coach Jim Valvano.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday that the iconic coach would be named the Wolfpack’s representative to be inducted into the 2017 Basketball Legends Class. Among the others named to the elite group are Duke’s Shelden Williams, UNC’s Antawn Jamison, Syracuse’s Pearl Washington, and Wake Forest’s Josh Howard.

The Rutgers graduate joins Dereck Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey in the prestigious group though the argument can be made that Valvano should have been inducted in years before them.

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Following the departure of Norm Sloan, Valvano left his previous head coaching job at Iona to lead the Pack in 1980. After missing the tournament in 1981 and dropping out in the first round in 1982, the Wolfpack completed what many consider to be the quintessential Cinderella story.

Led by Whittenburg, Bailey, and Sidney Lowe, State went into the 1983 ACC Tournament knowing that its only way into the NCAA Tournament would be if it won the conference championship. The Wolfpack narrowly slipped past Wake Forest before defeating UNC in overtime in a game in which the Tar Heels were a fraction of an inch away from ending State’s season in the last shot of regulation. State secured its spot in the big dance with an 81-78 victory over Virginia in the ACC Championship Game.

Valvano and company, rallying behind its “Survive and Advance” mentality, continued its miraculous run with narrow triumphs over Pepperdine and UNLV before wiping the floor against Utah. The Wolfpack reached the Final Four after taking down the Cavaliers, this time by a one-point margin. After defeating Georgia, State had reached the title game against the infamous “Phi Slamma Jamma” crew from Houston, led by Hall-of-Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.

With momentum swinging back and forth between the Wolfpack and the Cougars all game, the 1983 NCAA Championship ended with not only one of the most iconic sports moments in history, but arguably one of the most illustrious moments of the 20th century.

With the game tied at 52 as the final seconds ticked away, Lorenzo Charles leapt over Olajuwon, collected Whittenburg’s would-be air ball and slammed it in, cementing the Wolfpack’s second-ever national title. The moment many see as the most memorable came shortly after time expired where Valvano sprinted around The Pit desperately looking for someone to hug after Whittenburg, his usual hugging partner, was found embracing someone else.

The farthest the Pack would advance in the NCAA Tournament after the 1983 run would be an Elite Eight bid in 1985. State would finish atop the ACC standings in 1985 and 1989 while taking the conference tournament in 1987. However, Valvano would leave the program in 1990 with amid allegations of NCAA violations that resulted in a two-year probation for the program.

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    • Valvano was diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma in 1992. In the final months of his life, he delivered two iconic speeches that have since become etched in his legacy. On February 21, 1993, Valvano stood in front of a packed Reynolds Coliseum crowd as his 1983 team was being honored for the 10th anniversary of the title. His final speech came during the 1993 ESPY Awards where, after being presented with the Arthur Ashe Award, Valvano announced the inception of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research with the motto, “Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up.”

    With less than two months left to live, he urged those watched his ESPY speech to enjoy their lives. “Spend each day with some laughter and some thought to get your emotions going,” he said. “To be enthusiastic everyday, and Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘Nothing great could be achieved without enthusiasm.'”

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    Many iconic figures and inspirational people have walked the campus of North Carolina State University, but very few have elicited the hope, the emotion, and the charisma of the great Jim Valvano. Despite suffering with cancer in the final year of his life, Valvano continued to touch those who knew him and inspire even though who never had the pleasure to know him personally.

    “Cancer can take away all my physical abilities,” he said at the conclusion of his ESPY speech. “It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”

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