No matter the sport — be it professional football, basketball, baseball or hockey — winning that championship trophy is almost always accompanied later on by something else unforgettable: a trip to the White House.
For a number of reasons, that never happened for NC State’s 1983 men’s basketball team. However, thanks to some persistence from its members, the members of the 1983 NCAA National Championship team finally got to visit the White House more than 33 years later.
“For the past five or six years, Thurl [Bailey] has been working on a White House visit for the team since we didn’t go in 1983,” said Alvin Battle, a junior forward from the ‘83 team. “This came about fairly suddenly for us. We knew it was in the works, but we didn’t have any idea it was going to be this fast. We normally get together as a team once a year. We were going to meet in July just to do our normal get-together. I got a call from Thurl three weeks ago and he said, ‘The White House visit is on.’”
During its visit, the team was able to meet and speak with President Barack Obama, giving him a personalized NC State basketball jersey to commemorate its visit. The team also got to tour and see many parts of the White House.
“I think several have said it, that it is just incredible to see and meet the president of the United States in a personal setting,” Battle said. “The White House itself is just amazing; it’s an amazing building. You walk in there, and it’s all history of the country that you’re experiencing. It was one of those bucket list items that you check off like, I actually went to the White House, I shook the hand of the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world.”
While Battle would have loved for the team to be able to go directly after the victory in 1983, he said there were certainly benefits to the long wait.
“It was just an awe-struck experience for me,” Battle said. “Yes, I would have loved to have gone back in 1983 when we won the championship, but I appreciate it and understand the magnitude of it more now that I’m 54 years old. It was a blessing to me just to wait, and I was able to take my youngest daughter with me. She was able to shake the president’s hand, and he asked her if she was a model. That’s something for her that she’ll carry with her the rest of her life.”
Unfortunately, the team has lost members over the years, including legendary head coach Jim Valvano, assistant coach Ed McLean, Lorenzo Charles, whose famous last-second dunk sealed the 54-52 win over the Houston Cougars in 1983, and Quinton Leonard.
However, it was as if they were there in spirit, both through their surviving family members who made the trip and the team’s memories of them.
“We were fortunate enough to have Pam Valvano (Coach Valvano’s wife) with us, and also Jamie, Leanne and Nicole (their children), and they got to experience it,” Battle said. “It was so special to have Quinton’s son, Quinton Jr., there with us. He was extremely emotional, and we treated him like he was one of the family … To have Lorenzo there with us would have been very special, but it wasn’t meant to be. We thought about him at our reunion dinner, we gave a toast to Lorenzo, Coach V, Quinton and Coach McLean, because they were an integral part of us winning a National Championship. None of the members will ever be forgotten; this team will stay a family for generations.”
In addition to talking about his White House experience, Battle also offered his advice to current NC State players.
“Tradition means a lot at NC State,” Battle said. “It’s not all about winning. It’s about tradition; it’s about doing the right things. It’s a great school. My advice would be, to any player at NC State, understand the history. Work as hard as you can for the school and for the alumni. It’s an experience that you will take with you the rest of your life. I’m sure that happens at all schools, but because we are NC State alums, we understand how much the school means to us in the real world.”
