Remember the 80s – A Golden Era of ACC Basketball

General NCS Basketball Sports Junkies Tradition151

I was chatting with a UNC fan colleague yesterday, who is also a world-class ACC historian (could have a great conversation with SFN commenter noah). He has an extensive game collection, and recently acquired tape of the first State/Carolina matchup in 1984. You may remember that as the year the Wolfpack opened with a repeat upset of again #1 Houston…and it went rapidly downhill from there. The Pack finished 4-10 in ACC play, and IIRC, lost to Florida State in the first round of the NIT. What I did not remember was how very good the ACC was that season. Virginia was the #6 seed (out of EIGHT, remember) in the ACCT, but made the Final Four, losing to Houston in OT. Wake Forest finished at .500 in league play, but made the regional final (also losing to Houston, by a mere 5 points).

One of my fondest wishes is for the ACC to start its own “classic” channel or series, or put out a DVD set with highlights and full games from ACC play in the 1980s. For the Wolfpack fan, this would include the 4OT game against Wake, the 1987 ACCT run, and of course, 1983.

Please share your own memories below (I would love more details on the regional final runs by the Pack in 1985 and 1986), and answer these 1980s ACC trivia questions:

– Name the Wolfpack starting five in the first game against UNC in 1984 (I got 3 correct).
– How many ACC teams qualified for either the NCAAT or NIT in 1985?
– Who was the last ACC team to go winless in league play, and in what year did they do it?
– Three ACC teams made the regional finals in 1985, but all 3 lost to Big East foes. Name the ACC teams and their corresponding Big East opponents.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

General NCS Basketball Sports Junkies Tradition

151 Responses to Remember the 80s – A Golden Era of ACC Basketball

  1. packfanstk 06/15/2007 at 9:38 PM #

    That Guy Is Stil Here?
    Maryland–Jim Bozo The Clown O’Brien
    GaTech–Mark Price
    Wake Forest–Frank Johnson
    NC State–Ilian Evtimov (and we are GRATEFUL!)
    Virginia–Curtis Staples
    FSU–Corey Louis
    Dook–Johnny Dawkins
    Carolina–Phil Ford

    Favorite Player From Other ACC Teams:
    Carolina and Dook: Nobody. Least favorite: Phil Ford and Danny Ferry.
    Wake: Alvis Rogers. Least favorite: Chris Paul (who else?)
    Clemson: Vince Hamilton. Least favorite: Nobody.
    GaTech: Rob Noyes, Dennis Scott. Least favorite: Stephon Marbury.
    FSU: Anthony Richardon, Kirk Luchman. Least favorite: Can’t think of one.
    UVa: Jeff Lamp, Richard Morgan. Least favorite: Harold Deane, Tom Sheehy.
    Maryland: Albert King, Walt Williams. Least favorite: Ernest Graham.

    Closest I Ever Came To Crying:
    1975 ACC Championship game. Lost by four to the Holes. Last game for David Thompson, Monte Towe, Moe Rivers, and Tim Stoddard.

  2. kool k 06/16/2007 at 7:38 AM #

    Favorite player from other ACC teams:
    UNC-George Lynch
    Duke-Dawkins
    Wake-Rodney Rogers
    Maryland-Extree Hipp
    UVA-Mel Kennedy
    Clemson-Chris Gardocki (no bball players likeable)
    Ga Tech-BRUCE DALRYMPLE (I might name my first born Dalrymple)
    FSU-Derrick Brooks (see Clemson) I take that back…Charlie Ward, but only because of that one year he played football in the conference, I remember that game in 92, lot of buzz in CF that day…he was as good as advertised, only Calvin Johnson has compared since (as far as opposing players)
    Miami-Rick Barry
    Va Tech-Lane Stadium (again, see Clemson) they have a very good college football atmosphere, which I respect, tied with Talahassee for my favorite roadie in the league
    NCSU-not enough bandwith to name them all, so I’ll go with Mr. Red Lobster himself, Chucky Brown

  3. choppack1 06/16/2007 at 9:17 AM #

    Regarding Jordan – who I really liked at Carolina, but whom I grew to hate in the NBA – I think Dean deserves a little of credit. Dean was a solid teacher of fundamentals – and usually did a decent job developing overall b’ball IQ. Going to UNC certainly didn’t hurt Jordan. Would Jordan have been the same icon if he went somewhere else? Who knows and who cares.

    Painful losses – the notorious State-UNC game where they took the TD off the board was about as painful as a loss can get. The year before, the loss to FSU was extremely painful, because we would have won a share of the title – AND had the tiebreaker if we beat FSU and UMd. We should have beaten FSU but for careless mistakes. Both the Charlotte to UNC were painful.

    Basketball – the loss in the ACC championship to Duke when we were up by 15 w/ about 9 minutes left in the second half was like a punch in the gut. You didn’t think it could get too much more painful than that, but the next year, we blew a 21 point half time lead to UMd (they always seem to come up in the subject of painful losses) and then on the verge of a Sweet 16 birth that sooth some of that pain, we blow 9 or 11 point w/ 2 minutes left to lose to Vandy. Then there was the loss to Georgetown, in no small part thanks to one of the more baffling calls you’ll ever see.

    I’m sorry – this is why UNC can’t lose enough for my taste. I’ve gotten over my toxic hatred of UNC – in no small part thanks to the internet which proved to me that they don’t have the market on ignorant and arrogant fans. However, I don’t ever want to hear a UNC fan talk about painful losses. Now, if you’re a Wake Forest fan, I might listen – but even they don’t know what pain is recently.

  4. chris92heel 06/16/2007 at 9:22 AM #

    Favorite players from other ACC schools –

    State – Kenny Carr. Mainly because my aunt and uncle lived next door to his uncle up in Maryland. Good guy.

    Dook – johnny dawkins. great college player with nasty game

    Wake – Rodney Rogers – always seemed like a down home NC boy.

    UVa – Dan Bonner ;>

    Clemson – Murray Jarman. Loved the stories of his HS games being outside. And he had nice hops.

    Maryland – Len Bias. Phenom player obviously. Still remember that I was at the kitchen table playing cards with my cousin when the news broke.

    VT – The kicker who won the 86(?) peach bowl.

    GT – Kenny anderson. Even though he spurned the heels, loved his game. and he married tammy from the real world.

    FSU – Hard to say – I hated Sam Cassell when he was there but like him a lot now. Same with bobby sura. I’d have to default to charlie ward I suppose.

    Miami – I’ve seen Clinton Portis play some basketball.

    BC – none. Screw BC. They can all burn in hail – bunch of thuggish biats.

  5. kool k 06/16/2007 at 9:40 AM #

    “VT – The kicker who won the 86(?) peach bowl.”
    That’s pretty low
    Frickin Bonner?
    True story…after the 92 final home game against Wake (the Lakista McCuller on fire game) at Reynolds, Bonner is interviewing Googs…in his final home game, he spent a lot of it on the bench and watched as the Les Robinson All Stars led the Pack to a W over the favored Deacons…while most of the crowd has dwindled out, there are still a few hanging around in the rafters, my father and I included…right while he is conducting his precious Jefferson Pilot Raycom post game interview, some random fan yells out: “HEY BONNER…YOUR FLIE’S OPEN!”…classic…my Dad drops that line everytime Bonner does a broadcast or anyone brings him up…by the way, Bonner also does college baseball for Fox Sports South…dude is way too much a part of my life for a broadcaster

  6. chris92heel 06/16/2007 at 9:45 AM #

    “That’s pretty low
    Frickin Bonner?”

    -just mild return for noah’s enjoyment of the 96 UVa loss.

    -Note the winkie after bonner. I can’t think of any UVA players that I liked. Just a bunch of clowns like Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker, Tom Sheehy, Richard Morgan and Bryant Stith that I hated.

  7. kool k 06/16/2007 at 10:27 AM #

    Chris Keldorf!

  8. noah 06/16/2007 at 10:45 AM #

    If it makes you feel any better, that VT kicker (who was a two-time All-American), went to the Oilers and destroyed his knee in the first week of training camp and never played again.

  9. chris92heel 06/16/2007 at 11:08 AM #

    kook k – Octavus Barnes ran the wrong route so he’s the one you should be shouting out.

  10. kool k 06/16/2007 at 11:22 AM #

    touche

  11. kool k 06/16/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    “If it makes you feel any better, that VT kicker (who was a two-time All-American), went to the Oilers and destroyed his knee in the first week of training camp and never played again.” Thanks Noah
    I do believe a one Haywood Jeffries was the Oilers # 1 pick that year and went on to have great career with them…hell, I still have his Starting Lineup figure…the karma god’s must have been behind that one

  12. highstick 06/16/2007 at 11:34 AM #

    Fulton County Stadium, Braves and Twins! Summer of 1965 and I was living in Atlanta. The stadium was new and I watched the Minnesota Twins play the Milwaukee Braves in an exhibition game. Pre game activities included a home run derby with Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, and Tony Oliva against Eddie Matthew, Hank Aaron, and I believe, Joe Adcock square off against each other!

    Also watched Hank’s brother, Tommy play in the minor league All-Star game that year.

  13. Sixpackfan 06/16/2007 at 12:11 PM #

    If I ever wanted to cry over a State game it was at FSU. I went to FSU and witnessed in person one of the worst defeats in our football history. We actually scored first. Then everything went wrong. Poeple fumbled without being hit and everything. I think we lost 77-17 or something close to that . Bowden spent most the 4th quarter playing 3rd string and just handing the ball off to the back and running up the middle. By that time our team had quit and Bowden was doing everything to try and not score. After the game the media asked O’Cain if Bowden had run up the score, he answered no and he was telling the truth. FSU could have scored a 100 that day if they had wanted to. O’Cain beat FSU a couple years later, but that game was one sad day to be a wolfpack fan.

  14. Sixpackfan 06/16/2007 at 12:30 PM #

    On the other side of the coin. One of my favorite moments in Wolfpack football was watching us go into Texas, would have been 99 or 00, and beat Mack Brown’s Longhorns at home. We played great defense and blocked some kicks that day.

  15. Sixpackfan 06/16/2007 at 12:39 PM #

    As far as the SFN comment that you wish the ACC would start its own channel, that is a great idea. But I would not like to see that until we have a different ACC Comish. GC would turn it into the UNC channel and I doubt the Pack would get much exposure. GC has shown his true Baby Blue colors too many times for my comfort.

  16. RabidWolf 06/16/2007 at 10:30 PM #

    The ’03 UVa win was awesome! I was there with my dad in the upper deck right next to a bunch of asshole wahoos. It was one of the best performances TA, PR, and J-Co put on!

    My favorite PR memory was the TD catch in his first game in CH!!

    The ’86 Peach bowl showed the world exactly what VT football was all about–if you can’t beat ’em–CHEAT!

    My favorite BB memory has GOT to be the sweep of UNX by Les Robinson’s all-stars, as well as the win at home this past season.

  17. RabidWolf 06/16/2007 at 11:58 PM #

    “If it makes you feel any better, that VT kicker (who was a two-time All-American), went to the Oilers and destroyed his knee in the first week of training camp and never played again.”

    While I never like to see anyone suffer a career ender, I feel that in some way, karma caught up with this guy on behalf of the rest of his team.

  18. TNCSU 06/17/2007 at 7:36 AM #

    ^^”Cried after the 81 loss to IU”

    I actually did too – that was when I was still on the “dark side” as a Heels fan. The Georgetown loss in 89 is still my most painful Pack loss memory.

    My favorites from other teams:

    UNC: Walter Davis, Worthy, Jordan, Mike O’Koren (these are the only ones I can tolerate) JEFF LEBO all-time LEAST favorite!

    Dook: Johnny Dawkins – although I still remember the 3-pointer he hit at the buzzer from the corner to beat us in Reynold’s (either ’85 or ’86?)

    UVa: Wally Walker, Stith, Stokes

    Maryland: Bias, Brad Davis, Len Elmore

    Clemson: Elden Campbell

    Ga. Tech: Mark Price

    Wake: Frank Young, Mugsy (I actually liked the little guy!)

    FSU: Bobby Sura

    I include FSU (barely) — the other 3 “new” schools are NOT included for good reason.

  19. choppack1 06/17/2007 at 8:55 AM #

    Good article today on TOB and his emphasis on organization and building mental toughness and togetherness in adversity in today’s Winston Salem Journal.

  20. noah 06/17/2007 at 10:28 PM #

    “Dook: Johnny Dawkins – although I still remember the 3-pointer he hit at the buzzer from the corner to beat us in Reynold’s (either ‘85 or ‘86?)”

    The three-point shot was only in play during Dawkins’ freshman year (and we swept them). We did lose close games to them in 85, I think….but it had to have been a two.

    The three-pointer became a permanent fixture in 1987.

  21. TNCSU 06/18/2007 at 6:59 AM #

    Thanks Noah,
    Maybe it was a two, but it was from 3 point range deep in the left corner, and it was either ’85 or ’86 because I was still in Owen Dorm. Either way, a very disappointing loss.

  22. Rick 06/18/2007 at 7:46 AM #

    “^btw, when I say surprised – I mean my own memories were a little off.”

    When the media talks about something enough you start to doubt even your owm memory.

  23. noah 06/18/2007 at 9:47 AM #

    We lost 72-70 at home to Dook in 1986, that must have been it. We beat them 89-71 the year before at home.

  24. redfred2 06/20/2007 at 7:12 PM #

    packfanstk, that is some great stuff on you-tube. Nate McMillian is one of all time favorites, and in the line of Gugliotta and Del Negro, another one of those players who bloomed under Valvano.

  25. bTHEredterror 06/28/2007 at 2:55 AM #

    Wasn’t ’83 an experimental year for the ACC with the 19’9″ three point line in ACC play. I seem to remember Whittenberg using the line when it cut through the free throw circle.

    Some of you will snicker, but as a Pirates fan, I curse and spit every time Sid friggin Bream slides in and Spanky misses the tag by inches. And they find a way to replay it umpteen times a year, too. Every time I look at it, I remember thinking Barry had Sid and his plastic knees cold.

    Kenny King running forever without an Eagle in sight was kind of devastating for me as a 7 year old in 1980.

    And as far as State goes, the Hoya Heist was certainly painful, but strangely enough, the toughest loss for me was the Buckeye game in Columbus. Three QB sneaks and TA into the pile? And I worked with a couple of Buckeye Fans at the time, too. Though fully grown and emotionally stable (depending on who you ask) at the time, I was sucker-punched by the excruciating spectacle. For me, that game encapsulates the Amato era, so close and yet so inexplicably far.

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