Almost every c ollege basketball fan can recall the most defining moment in N.C. State men’s basketball history. It was a moment that spanned generations of the college basketball landscape. Thirty years ago to this day, the Wolfpack pulled off one of the most improbable upsets in college basketball history.
With four seconds left in the game Dereck Whittenburg hoisted up a shot from almost half court. His attempt fell short, but Lorenzo Charles was in the right place at the right time. He tipped in the game-winning bucket to give the Wolfpack its second men’s basketball national title against the University of Houston’s “Phi Slama Jama.”
The iconic images of head coach Jim Valvano finding someone to hug after the final buzzer and Cozell McQueen holding up a “Pack Power” sign over the backboard still resonate in the consciousness of Wolfpack fans through the past three decades.
“Why I did that, that particular era I was playing against who I considered some of the best centers that have ever played the game,” McQueen said. “When we won the whole thing I was like, ‘You know what, let me pull myself on top of that goal.’ And so I just grabbed the rim, grabbed the side posts and pulled myself up.”
“I felt for the first time I had a view as though I was fan … It was amazing to me,” McQueen said.
The second title was, in fact, sweeter than the first. Unlike the 1974 championship team, N.C. State’s season was considered a dud by its halfway point. Many thought Whittenburg’s season would be over after he was sidelined with a foot injury. But, he and team rallied through the ACC tournament to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, and the rest is history.
“V just out-coached the guys they had,” McQueen said.
Throughout the anniversary year, the team has been celebrated with appearances, memorabilia and even a 30-for-30 documentary by ESPN. The film has been mentioned by various coaches throughout this year’s NCAA tournament. Head coaches have had their teams watch the film in an effort to inspire the players – most notably by Jeff Walz, head coach of the Louisville women’s basketball team that defeated No. 1 Baylor en route to the Final Four.
Ernie Myers, who was a freshman on the team, said the title becomes more significant as the years go by.
“Every year, it has a little more to it,” Myers said. “Coach V always told us this thing is going to be more, even 20 years later. But we were younger then, so it keeps coming.”
“When I walk into the school and I see our banner, it reminds me all the time,” Myers said. “When I see these guys coming out of the tunnel at a State game I remember when I used to do that. It’s all a memory. And it’s all good.”
As much as the Wolfpack community celebrates this team, the men’s basketball program is faced with the challenge of living up to the expectations of the past. Those expectations rose with the arrival of head coach Mark Gottfried and the Pack’s Sweet Sixteen run last season. But the 2013 team failed to live up to its preseason hype, bowing out of the NCAA tournament in the first round.
Whittenburg spoke of living up to the expectations of the past before the 2013 team embarked on its postseason run.
“Embrace the history,” Whittenburg said. “If you embrace it, try to be a part of your own history today.”
