The greatest programs: No. 25, N.C. State
Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:12 PM
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Greatest hoops programs
N.C. State doesn’t lack for hoops history.
The Pack has multiple NCAA Tournament titles, more than 1,500 wins and their 36-game winning streak is among the best in NCAA history.
Prefer your history by years? Only Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky squads won more gameshad a higher win percentage in the 1950s, the 1973-74 squad could be considered the greatest ever, while Jimmy V’s 1983 team pulled off perhaps the biggest upset the Big Dance has ever seen.
The topper? N.C. State started the tradition of cutting down the nets after winning a title. Move over Jim Burt.
In fact, if not for playing in the same conference with North Carolina and Duke, N.C. might rank higher than No. 25 on the list of the greatest college basketball programs. (Click here for the introductory post.) A lack of recent success also hurts the Wolfpack’s overall ranking.
This is a marvelous rundown of N.C. State’s hoops history, starting with the North Carolina A&M Farmers, transitioning to legendary coach Everett Case and continuing up through 2003. There are highs (titles) and lows (NCAA sanctions), but two years stand out: 1974 and 1983.
The legendary 1974 squad, led by Monte Towe, Tom Burleson and the incomparable David Thompson gets plenty of recognition for its dethroning of UCLA – which had won the previous titles – but deserves just as much for its game against Maryland in the ACC Championship.
The Wolfpack’s 103-100 overtime victory is widely credited as one of the main reasons the NCAA Tournament starting giving at-large bids to teams other than the conference tournament champ. The Terps finished the season fourth in AP poll, but couldn’t go to the Big Dance.
N.C. State had to win the game, though. The Wolfpack finished 27-0 the year before, but probation prevented it from taking a chance at the title. Think of a team that went 73-1 in two seasons not having a chance to play for the title. Today, they’d be a No. 1 seed regardless of how the conference tournament ended.
After a classic victory, Thompson and Co. beat Providence and Pitt, avenged an earlier loss to UCLA and ran past Marquette for an NCAA title.
It’s hard to overstate just how impressive that team was, especially Thompson. A high flyer who thrived when the rules didn’t allow the dunk, Thompson was the rare player who transcended produced “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” simply by being on the court. Watch his block of Bill Walton or see Michael Jordan fawn over Thompson’s ability. The guy was amazing.
Maybe more amazing was the 1983 NCAA title.
Valvano’s bunch wasn’t nearly as talented as the 1974 team – or even some of his later teams – and needed a run to the ACC tournament final to help secure an at-large berth. As a 20-10 six seed, the Wolfpack needed double overtime to top Pepperdine, escaped by 1 against third-seeded UNLV and ripped Utah before stunned No. 1 seed and regular season champion Virginia, replete with reigning player of the year Ralph Sampson. After beating Georgia in the Final Four, the Pack amazed every pundit and most fans by beating Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma squad that featured Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon.
The famous ending – State tries to work around for the last shot, only to have guard Dereck Whittenburg heave from damn near half court, but Lorenzo Charles grabs the airball and slams it home for a 54-52 victory – is shown every March and rightly so for its dramatic finish and improbable result.
Even now, 25 years later (an excellent collection of video clips can be found here), the win still astounds me. Houston shouldn’t have lost. Virginia shouldn’t have lost. How did a team without any stars, which had lost to Chattanooga in the first round the year before and would miss the tourney the year after, pull off that kind of run? It’s another reason March Madness has grown into what it is today.
Valvano pieced together other capable teams, and reached two more regional finals, but never again captured that kind of magic as the Pack did in ’83. He was fired in 1990 amid allegations of player point shaving and poor player academic performance. The program hasn’t really recovered since.
Herb Sendek has some success in the mid-90s and early 2000s, but struggled to break 20 wins most years and rarely finished higher than third in the ACC. The Pack finished 15-16 last season, the first for new coach and ex-star Sidney Lowe. He has talent on the roster – the Pack still sends a respectable number of players to the NBA – but it won't be easy to return to its former heights.
Next Tuesday: No. 24 on the list of greatest college basketball programs.
