The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 ■ 41 With a full week off between the end of the ACC Tournament and the start of the NCAA Championship, Case believed Molodet's solid scoring and Shavlik's healing would give them a chance to beat Russell and the Dons in the 25-team NCAA Tournament. Disappointing Defeat In the first round, the Wolfpack drew Canisius, a private Jesuit school from Buf- falo, N.Y., that had won 15 of its last 16 games going into the tournament. As often happened for Case's teams in New York's Madison Square Garden, the Wolfpack was off its best game, with Shavlik still wearing a heavy leather brace on his left arm. Given his preference, Case would have gone straight to Philadelphia, where the tournament's second-round games were scheduled to be played. More important than Shavlik's injury, though, was the loss of Molodet for more than half of a game that lasted 60 minutes of game time. He was called for four first- half fouls, two for reaching in and two for charging. His 32-minute absence allowed Canisius to slow the game's tempo, to the disdain of the MSG crowd. While Shavlik played most of the second half with four fouls, Molodet fouled out five seconds into the first overtime. Shavlik and Maglio carried the Pack, which held the ball as much as possible in the first three overtimes. Regula- tion ended at 65-65, and both teams scored four points in the first extra period, two in the second and none in the third. Canisius had the ball on the final possession in the first three overtimes, but missed potential game- winners all three times. With 14 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime, State led 78-77 when Canisius fouled an obviously tired Maglio, who had played in all 60 minutes of the game. The 73-percent free throw shooter missed the front-end of the one-and-one opportunity, the Griffins rebounded the miss and found little-used substitute forward Fran Corcoran, who was in the game because three Canisius starters had fouled out. The fourth time was the charm, as Corco- ran made an unlikely jumper with four sec- onds to play, completing one of the biggest upsets in the 18-year history of the tourna- ment. San Francisco eventually won its second consecutive national title, and Case's best chance to win the trophy slipped through his fingers. "We had it and we let it get away," Case said afterward. "It was the greatest disap- pointment I've suffered in my 36 years in basketball. If I hadn't recognized the play- ers on the floor I wouldn't have believed this was the same State team. The boys were so high. "They wanted to do the right thing so badly that they did everything wrong." Making matters worse, the next season Case frenemy and North Carolina head coach Frank McGuire won the ACC's first NCAA title with back-to-back triple- overtime victories over Michigan State and Kansas. To this day, the 88-year-old Molodet can't forgive the game official, a longtime favorite of Case in Dixie Classic and ACC Tournament games, for calling those early fouls in the loss to Canisius. "I just can't forget that," Molodet said. "I didn't play much of the game because of four fouls, and I finally fouled out. Canisius was a good team, but they played over their head. "Then they have a guy who throws one up out of his [butt], and it was all over." Corcoran was a little-used substitute, who wasn't listed on the Griffins' roster in the pregame program. "It ended quickly, and miserably," Molo- det said. "I probably could've killed that official. That was a sad, sad day." The loss ended the college careers of Molodet, Shavlik, DiNardo and Dickman without the national title that Case was destined to never win. In his 94 career games, Molodet aver- aged 14.9 points and shot 73.5 percent from the foul line. He once made 16 free throws without a miss in a game against Wake Forest and ran his streak to 55 in a row at one point. Shavlik was the fifth overall pick of the 1956 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, two behind Russell. Molodet was the 62nd selection, taken in the eighth round by the Boston Celtics. He lasted until the final cuts, but opted to leave camp on the advice of Celtics coach Red Auerbach to return to NC State, where he completed his degree in industrial engineering and furniture manu- facturing. Life After Basketball Molodet eventually played for two years in the National Industrial League with the Akron Goodyears before beginning a long career in sales, in which he returned to North Carolina. He has lived in Raleigh, Greensboro and Asheville, while traveling as a sales representa- tive for sneaker com- pany Converse and toy-maker American Manufacturing and Foundry, selling pri- marily bicycles, tri- cycles and other such sports equipment. He and his wife of more than six decades returned to Greensboro about 12 years ago to be closer to family. Molodet still follows basketball, though his eyesight and mobility prevent him from watching too much in person or on televi- sion. He appreciates his time with Case, the man who brought him from the industrial Midwest for a college education, just like his brother George got as a wrestler in Illinois and his brother John got as a baseball player at Indiana. But basketball is not the same disciplined endeavor he remembers playing. Even as an up-and-down dribbler who ran Case's mo- tion offense to perfection, Molodet thinks the game can get out of control — fast. "It's a different world today," Molodet said. "It's all race-horsing." ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. VIC MOLODET Men's Basketball (1952-56) Age: 88 Living: Greensboro, N.C. Occupation: Retired from multiple sales positions Did You Know? Molodet, who was named a first-team All-American in 1956 by Con- verse, still ranks 12th in school history for scoring average (14.9), is 20th with 1,405 points and holds the program record with 16 consecutive made free throws in a game. " My present team is the fastest I've ever had at State. I match my guards against any in the country. " Everett Case on Molodet and John Maglio prior to the 1955-56 season