Tommy Burleson’s No. 24 jersey is not alone in the rafters of RBC Center. In fact, there are three other players – Tom Gugliotta , Julius Hodge, and John Richter – who were also honored after wearing the same number.
He may not be alone, but he certainly stands out.
Burleson, a native of Newland , N.C ., was a vital member of N.C . State’s first ever National Championship team in 1974. The 7’2″ center produced a remarkable collegiate career, which includes being the MVP of the ACC Tournament in ’73 and ’74 as well as being named to the All-Final Four team after the Wolfpack defeated UCLA (looking for an eighth consecutive championship) and Marquette in Greensboro during Burleson’s senior year.
Although it may not be as widely discussed as his final season in Raleigh, Burleson was also a part of the undefeated 1973 squad a year earlier. The team, which included the dominating presence of David Thompson, was barred from postseason play after being put on probation. Prior to arriving to State, Burleson was also a member of the 1972 U.S . Olympic Team, who participated in one of the most controversial and tragic Olympic Games of all-time. The U.S . lost in its gold medal game against the Soviet Union, which, due to a series of unforgettable officiating and coaching mistakes in the waning seconds, ended in the U.S . team refusing to accept its silver medals in a 51-50 loss.
Of a much greater magnitude, the 1972 Summer Olympics were overshadowed by what’s now referred to as the “Munich Massacre”. Eleven Israeli Olympic athletes were taken hostage and then killed by a Palestinian terrorist group called Black September. During the hostage-taking, Burleson was one of the athletes inside the Olympic Village who was held up against the wall with a machine gun pointed at the back of his head. Behind him, nine Israeli athletes were being led onto a helicopter by Palestinian terrorists.
Burleson spoke with Technician to discuss his experiences in Munich, Raleigh, and the direction the Pack’s current program is heading in.
Q: Having been 40 years since the tragic and infamous Olympic Games of 1972, what is the one memory that stands out the most?
Burleson: That was just a moment that was just a messed up moment. Coaches messed it up, our style of play messed it up and the scorer’s table messed it up. There was an element where 11 people had lost their lives in a horrific tragedy, and you definitely don’t look back on that with any fond memories.
Q: As a player, how did playing in the Olympics help you moving forward at State?
Burleson: I was coached by three of the best coaches in the world – Coach [Don] Haskins , Coach [Hank] Iba and Coach [John] Bach. They probably raised my game three or four levels. They really taught me how to play as a big man and they taught me things I wouldn’t normally have learned. The experience of playing at that type of level, playing against the best competition – that made me into a better player.
Q: What was the lesson from having to go through the 1973 season without a chance to win the National Championship?
Burleson: We felt what we did should have been more a slap-on-the-wrist infraction, but nobody really wanted to play against David Thompson, so they gave us a year’s probation. But when you look back on it, it was really just God preparing us to get ready to defeat UCLA. They had won seven straight National Championships at that point.
Q: What made the 1974 team such a special group?
Burleson: I just felt like we were a team of destiny that season. 1974 was one of the first times the NCAAs were held in North Carolina, and we just had everybody ready. I was a senior and David [Thompson] was a junior. We had Monte [ Towe ] and Tim Stoddard. We just had everybody primed and ready to win the National Championship, and not having to leave the state of North Carolina was a really neat thing. I felt it was divine intervention, it was just what God had prepared us for.
Q: What was it like playing under someone like Coach Sloan?
Burleson:Coach [Norm] Sloan was exactly the type of coach that I needed. My father was in the military, and so was Coach Sloan. Practice was a very disciplined practice. He actually told me that I made him a better big man coach. He said I was the only big man who ever showed up 45 minutes before practice. I did my tipping drills, my jumping drills, and my hand-eye coordination drills. And then I was the only big man to stay after practice 45 minutes just shooting foul shots and playing one-on-one. He said most of his big men usually just walked on the court when he blew the whistle and walked off the court when he blew the whistle.
Q: Do you have any stories from playing under Coach Sloan?
Burleson: My senior year, he yelled at me for lifting weights during the season, because back then that was a no-no. I was going to the back weight room there at Reynolds and fighting with him to lift weights. Now, everybody lifts weights during the season. Back then, he told me it would totally mess up my shot. Of course we know it didn’t – I had the third best shooting percentage at State shooting right at 55 percent. For my size, I was an excellent shooter. It wasn’t exactly long before he started using my routine with other big men.
Q: Now that we are 20 games into the season, what are your initial impressions of Mark Gottfried’s coaching style?
Burleson:You have to have your big men rebound and play interior defense. Nobody knows that better than Coach Gottfried . The way his teams play, you can tell everyone is well-coached and being taught the fundamentals of the game.
Q: What’s the best example of how Mark Gottfried has really affected his team?
Burleson: During the Maryland game, I was right there behind the bench and the time outs he called were just so on-time and critical in order to keep the guys calmed down. He kept them focused and didn’t let them lose their confidence. It was just masterful the way he called the time-outs.
