David Thompson Gives Team Postgame Talk
This article is just great to read! (Additionally, you will enjoy this related piece regarding DT.)
Lowe, who starred on State’s 1983 NCAA champs, invited Thompson into the locker room after the game for a few words.
“The other night, I talked to the guys about the tradition of our school,” Lowe said. “After the [Clemson] loss, I told them, ‘You’re not just playing for yourselves. You’re playing for all the guys who came before you, the guys who set the stage for us.’
“I wanted them to see that the person I think was the best college basketball player to ever play the game came from N.C. State. I wanted them to know he’s supporting us, he’s here to see us. This is who we’re playing for.”
State sophomore Ben McCauley called meeting Thompson “mind-blowing” and meaningful.
“He said, ‘I love watching you guys play,’ ” McCauley said. “He said, ‘If you just keep working hard, it will pay off this season.’
“Coach Lowe said, ‘These are the people you’re playing for — the players who wore the red and white proudly.’ That means a lot to us. We’re playing for N.C. State, for the players, for our fans. And this could be the big momentum booster we needed, the start of a new season, really.”
15 Responses to “David Thompson Gives Team Postgame Talk”
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SID GETS IT. PERIOD.
I had chills just reading that.
Sid is a master of psychology. They ought to give him an honorary degree. He is really building on the whole history/legacy thing.
it worked so far. the team that played wake was night and day from the one that played clemson.
This is why I’ve been saying that no matter what happens in the future, not Rick Barnes, not Calipari, not even John Wooden, or a better record to this point, there was no other coach out there anywhere, who will mean anything close to what Sidney Lowe means to NC State right now and will continue to mean in the years to come. He will restore and recapture like no one else, and better than any of us could have ever dreamed.
BTW, is David Thompson any kin to Dick Clarke?
Right on! It is so important for these guys to understand this. They are part of something bigger than themselves, and in addition to playing for the guys who set the stage for them, but are setting the stage for those who are to come. This is why they should be proud to take the floor wearing red and white, with “NC State” on their chests, knowing that they don’t have to take a back seat to ANYONE. This is also a huge reason why kids dream of playing for a school/coach. We have that, we just need to make it known. Kudos to Sid for taking the lead on this.
I hope that win or lose the rest of the season, Sid keeps this young inexperienced team hungry and dedicated. With past legends like DT dropping in from time to time, everyone involved in the current program can feel proud to represent a storied tradition steeped in success. I hope it helps motivate them to always prepare to do better the next time out, no matter what the present outcome is.
“SID GETS IT. PERIOD.”
My same thought when I read the story this morning. Whether my opinion is rght or wrong, it seems that our national championship history was ingnored on purpose the last 10 years and that’s just wrong. We are one of 13 schools with 2 championships and we should be proud of that.
Clarksa
Sorry, but I have to say it.
Simply ignored, or simple ignorance, one of those is plain fact. The only words that were ever disputable are the “on purpose” parts of your opinion.
We are treated like the Rodney Dangerfield of NCCA BB — No respect — No respect at all.
I think the problem hinges more around the fact that there are more, younger, writers and announcers who have no sense of history.
They tend to see the NCCA BB world as defined by who was hot in the past 15 years with some nods to John Wooden as the “Bae Ruth” of BB. The never saw his work but only glimpsed it the stats and old video highlights. They know Pete Maravich from that movie that was made about him — not from any personal study. Thye probably only just learned about the great upset of Ky as a result of that recent movie.
They probably have never (and will never) read “Four Corners: How Unc, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made a book like North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe by Joe Menzer. This is a must read for Wolfpackers and Holes, Dookies, and Deacons.
There ought to be a literacy test based on history for writers and announcers. Not just ACC but overall.
I go with Fred’s “simple ignorance” as a primary reason.
^Thanks Bo, it had been some time since I read that book, it is awesome. One of my fav anecdotes from that text is when, I think McKinney from WF would bring recruits past Reynolds and tell them “this is where you’ll play one day if you become a Demon Deacon”. I am reading some book about NC State basketball by Tim Peeler right, now (ironically with a forward by Herb Sendek), and while fun to read, does not convey the power the big four and in some respect South Carolina once had in transforming the game. For this portrayel, the book you mentioned above has no peer, IMO.
I have that book — Xmas gft. Legends of NC state. More about us than all of us. In my queue for reading. There are a few others that I have yet to read. My best part was about Ev Case. When he died, he left his estate to every former WP player — albeit not a large estate –it showed how much he loved his former players.
There were some intersting insights into the other coaches also — Bones diet pill usage, etc…
What about Tommy Burleson? Is he going to some of the games? I know I saw him on the TV at some games over the last few years and didn’t he write a letter about the need for a change in the program last year? I think it would be great for him to do something similar as DT. Nobody every had more determination, drive and heart than TB! I remember how Len Elmore made first team all ACC over him and he went out there and took it to them for what? 38 points and 12 rebounds or something like that.
Actually it was 13 rebounds; but close enough.
Why do we want to promote our team history? Who is DT? Some old washed up ex player? Why should he carry any clout?
OK all, that was tongue in cheek. Glad to see Sid bringing back the alumni, which for some reason the unnamed banned.
“Glad to see Sid bringing back the alumni, which for some reason the unnamed banned”
I let about 98% of the comments about the former coach go, but when a statement is made that is out and out BS, I am going to say something.
1) prior to the former coach’s arrival, there was only one jersey hanging in the rafters, and that was DT’s 44. He was the one that initiated the honoring of the other jersies, and made the arrangements for those honorees to return to Raleigh for the hanging of their jersey, as their schedule permitted.
2) there was a basketball reunion every year, where all former players and managers were invited
3) former players were invited to speak to the team. they were also invited to visit practice whenever they liked
4) former players were given tickets when they requested them. last year, at the RBC, I sat in a section of team guest seats that also included Burleson, Thompson, Corchiani, Charles, Chucky Brown, and Grundy.
Maybe it was not always written up in the paper when former players visited the locker room, or practice, or spoke to the team, but to say that they were “banned” is out and out BS.