A Cold, Snowy Day in April (Updated 11:50AM)

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For those of you in the newer generation that don’t remember a time when State was one of the premier programs of both the ACC and nation, and may be content with our rightful place in the shadow of our Triangle neighbors (because that’s the way it’s always been), here’s a look back to a time when State basketball took a backseat to no one (thanks to SFN member NCStatePride for finding this).

“Trees will tapdance, elephants will drive in the Indianapolis 500, and Orson Wells will skip lunch before North Carolina State finds a way to beat Houston.”

In April 1983, State had won its ninth ACC title and then its second national title inside a decade, which was on pace with Carolina and well ahead of Duke. Keep that in mind the next time anyone tries to tell you State basketball can’t return to what it once was.

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The following is a posting from NCStatePride that was written simultaneously with the above post to give an editorial for our younger fans. Enjoy.

Trees will tap dance, elephants will drive the Indianapolis 500, and Orsen Wells will skip lunch before North Carolina State finds a way to beat Houston. –Washington Post, April 4, 1983

Jimmy Valvano gave a speech to the North Carolina General Assembly after their 54-52 victory over Houston on April 4, 1983.  At the time, Jimmy Valvano regaled the General Assembly with stories and jokes about his 1983 squad’s unlikely appearance in the Championship game.

Jimmy Valvano would develop a reputation as being charming and charismatic.  David Letterman is remembered as stating that Jimmy Valvano was the only man he felt could walk onto his stage and take control of an interview. At one point he interrupts Letterman, who wants to move on with his show and hit a commercial break, and Valvano talks him down, dismisses the show to a commercial break, and convinces the audience that rather than letting him off stage, they really want to hear to end of his story.

This History…

In January of 1983, NC State was 9-7 and Valvano recalls having a vision in the locker room that the Wolfpack would go the rest of the season, win the ACC Title, and the National Championship, and finally get to meet the President of the United States.  A sports reporter was overheard saying:

It’s going to be a snowy day in April when that happens.

The average temperature in April in North Carolina was 71 degrees during the day.

As we all know, Valvano went on a 7-3 run to finish out the regular season a solid 17-10, finishing on two losses to UVA and Maryland, but finally marking the season with a stunning 130-89 victory over Wake Forest.

Before the beginning of post-season play, Derek Whittenburg warned the press:

“Watch Out.  We ain’t dead yet.  Dead teams don’t score 130 points and shoot 60 percent for the game.”

It’s worth noting that with a 17-10 season, NC State won the ACC and NCAA titles (9 games) beating six teams by barely two baskets.  NC State never won pretty, but they survived and advanced.  It’s easy to get worn down by what NC State has had to suffer for the past several years.  When NC State was put under probation and Jimmy Valvano forced to leave, much to the dismay of the fan base, our rivals on Tobacco Road didn’t wait around for us to get our house in order.  They did what any good program is supposed to do.  They did what you would expect them to do: they continued to win.  What NC State failed to do is rebuild.  There are volumes upon volumes of articles, forum posts, and blogs discussing what NC State’s problems are and why we had them, but the fact is that NC State has had nothing to keep its fan base energized.

The Experience…

Personally, I, NCStatePride, grew up in the last 80’s and 90’s, attending NC State in fall of 2004.  I grew up listening to people talk about how amazing Carolina is and how unstoppable Duke is.  Hey, you can’t blame them for speaking the truth.  They are good programs.  What has been heart wrenching is hearing the whole world tell you that the team you feel loyal to is a has-been.  In a recent discussion on StateFansNation’s forums, I recent joked that if NC State were a car, it would be a Buick Grand National… a fine machine that in its day was a powerhouse, but is barely even recognizable today and really only admired by those who are interested in relics.  That is where NC State is.  We admire NC State for its history and for the machine we see underneath the facts, but in the end we are just admiring a relic of what power use to be.

So do we just give up on it?  The facts are the facts and the numbers are what they are.  As many people are convinced these days, if it’s not in the numbers, it’s not there.  When NC State has found itself “relevant” in the last 20 years, it was either due to making the Sweet Sixteen or upsetting a highly ranked rival, that use to be an equal, and reading the commentary in the paper the following morning stating that NC State really pulled off the impossible.  I wish I could remember when the “impossible” being achieved was a National Championship.

Hope and Dreams…

But despite what the “facts” are, NC State has what other Universities don’t have: the spirit of the greats that came before us.  We have the hope that Jimmy Valvano brought to the hardwood each and every single night.  We have the fighting chance of knowing that on any given night, if the players and coaches just believe hard enough, they have already won the game.

We have the distinct advantage over everyone else, Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, and anyone else we face… that we are NC State and if we have a dream, we have a hope.  And if we have a hope, we have a chance.

Jimmy Valvano left us so much more than titles and records.  Jimmy Valvano left us the sheer will to go on.  He left us the motivation to keep pushing on and never accept where we are currently standing.  Even when the media and our rivals are keeping us down, Valvano taught us that we should never give up… don’t ever give up.  Because of what Jimmy Valvano left, we can look at our Wolfpack and despite what the numbers are, we can know that there is still a chance and if we give up on that chance, we are giving up on what makes us powerful, what makes our opponents fear us, and what has brought victory in countless games in the past… our hopes and our dreams.

By the way…

On Monday, April 18th, 1983, snow began to fall on the hallowed grounds of NC State…

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41 Responses to A Cold, Snowy Day in April (Updated 11:50AM)

  1. smfrank 01/25/2011 at 2:45 PM #

    One of my favorite memories watching the Wolfpack was a game against Wake Forest – I think early Feb 2003. We were absolutely dominated in the first half. But you could see towards the end of the half, we were figuring the game out. The score didn’t really change much and we still went into halftime with a 16 point deficit. But, watching Julius Hodge walk off that court at halftime – you could see in his eyes – that this wasn’t how it was going to be. At that moment, his eyes were made of steel. I watched that and smiled – told my brother – you watch, we’re going to destroy them in the 2nd half. Coming out of the lockerroom, Hodge’s eyes hadn’t budged, straight focused. BAM! We won by 5.

    Now that is what I’m talking about son! Let’s get this done tonight, let’s have some fire!

  2. Wolfy__79 01/25/2011 at 2:47 PM #

    i’ve always love hearing jimmy v.. what always sticks out to me is a game i watched in 88 (i think?) when nc state was down to either wk/dk or unc by 18 points with less than 5 minutes to play! fire and ice took over and came back. it was amazing and highlights that it’s not just talk or great motivation!

  3. Wolfy__79 01/25/2011 at 2:51 PM #

    lorenzo brown is our player with that fire.. he just has not come into his own (too selfish). when he gets it together, mark my words.. he will be our most prolific scorer 🙂

    our passionate fan base has been living off inspiring moments for far too long. the main thing i like about Sidney Lowe is that he operates under that as well (oops, i just made an argument for SL).

  4. swamppack 01/25/2011 at 2:59 PM #

    I live in the Wilmington N.C. area and remember it snowing hard the saturday night State beat Georgia in the final four in ’83. Don,t forget to share with the younger fans, kids and grandkids the State/Maryland match-ups from the past. Lefty Drisell battling Norm Sloan, clash of the plaid blazers. Then it was Lefty doing battle with Valvano. Cole Fieldhouse, Reynolds Colisium. Classic. Some of the most competitive games college basketball will ever see. Even as a die-hard State fan it just did not seem to hurt when Maryland won thier share of the meetings. State and Maryland used to parallel each other very closely as programs that always had to earn thier respect and accomplished that task often with exciting, heart-felt victories. Sadly since 1991/92 Maryland has been left to go it alone and a fine job they’ve done. I have not seen many collapses in sports like we are going through with State b-ball. It’s like a sad movie.

  5. Texpack 01/25/2011 at 3:13 PM #

    I’ll have to watch the video at home since youtube is blocked at work. My Dad graduated in ’50 so he was there for some of the great years under Coach Case. I was on a five year plan that ended in 1984 and a HOZE Squad member so I watched almost every minute of the ’82-’83 home season from directly behind the State bench. We even took a road trip to NJ to watch us play WVU in the Meadowlands over Christmas break.

    What I really enjoyed though was going to practice in Reynolds and watching V at work. He would go over the game plan with the team. Talk about the opposition, practice situations, and mostly have a lot of fun with his team.

    We will reclaim our rightful place in the upper tier of ACC Basketball. I refuse to give up hope or to abdicate the spot that is rightfully ours to programs that were after thoughts in ACC Basketball for decades.

  6. wufpup76 01/25/2011 at 3:47 PM #

    “I’m fairly convinced our teams our cursed, and the only way to lift that curse is to give the man’s memory what it deserves…ideally, having the court named after him.

    This man represents all that is good about NC State. God rest his soul.”

    Couldn’t have said it better myself.

    The man (still) is unbelievable. There was a good point made though about honoring Case, Sloan and Valvano … we should find a way to do that. HWSNBN is honored in the media as the greatest coach in America, yet NCSU can’t see fit prop up it’s legends and roots. This truly is America.

  7. wolfman 01/25/2011 at 4:30 PM #

    To anyone who would quote the success of Dean or K, just remember that they were also both under seige by their respective fanbases for their first few years (similar to someone else I can think of), and look how they ended up. That is all.

  8. tjfoose1 01/25/2011 at 4:37 PM #

    Sid may coach in the same conference, but when it comes to coaching college basketball, he’s not even close to the same league as K or Dean. Reality can bite.

  9. 61Packer 01/25/2011 at 4:46 PM #

    Wolfy__79, I’m with you on the # of teams in the league. After USC left in ’71, we should’ve brought VT in and held the line there. If I had my way, Miami, FSU, GT and FSU would be gone, poof! The ACC has always been a basketball league, and bringing in FSU killed the league in football. Now that FSU is a mere mortal again, the league is in shambles football-wise and saddled with divisions that fans hate. To wit: we’ll play South Alabama and Central Michigan THREE TIMES while we don’t play Duke. This is insane, and I believe that if enough college administrators felt the same as I, this would be changed.

    Expansion has ruined the ACC Tourney. Nobody gives a flip about going to opening day anymore with 5 through 12 playing, and too often it’s in Florida or Atlanta. At least put the tourney in Greensboro permanently, and I’d like to see only the top 8 teams participate. To make that work, all teams should play each other twice during the season. The fans would embrace that and it would make money. Expansion has created not one but FOUR Les Robinson invitational games. Enough!

  10. 61Packer 01/25/2011 at 4:47 PM #

    Excuse my mistake in the last post. I meant South Carolina, not USC.

  11. VaWolf82 01/25/2011 at 4:59 PM #

    With the expanded NCAAT format, there is nothing that you can do to make the ACCT meaningful again. It is only life and death for the bubble teams that need wins to make the NCAAT.

  12. wolfman 01/25/2011 at 5:39 PM #

    tj, only time will tell. My point is that at the respective times, their fan bases had the same opinion of them as many Pack fans now have of Sid. Certainly no one foresaw the extent of their success.

  13. swamppack 01/25/2011 at 5:49 PM #

    Diluting the product by expanding in search of more revenue does just that, dilutes the product. That goes for leagues, schedules, tournaments, all of it. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” just isn’t good enough for some people.

  14. pack44fan 01/25/2011 at 6:03 PM #

    It is a shame that a once proud program has fallen so low. I think DY actually has a vision for the athletic department, something that has been missing for years. I just don’t see NCSU being satisfied with being mediocre any more, and that is music to my ears.

  15. bleedingred08 01/25/2011 at 6:49 PM #

    Interesting point that Coach V makes during his speech about the players not being able to visit the President because of an NCAA rule considering the fact that President Obama actually practiced with Carolina’s team during his campaign run

  16. DC_wolf 01/25/2011 at 9:04 PM #

    I love StateFans for posting this & I love everyone who dropped in to post (even if you dissed the current state of affairs). You posted because you love NCSU and you care about Wolfpack Nation. Thanks for the blast from the past & GO PACK!

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