The Wolfpacker

March-April 2024

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER idway through November, Phil Spence's phone rang, popping up a familiar name of one of his NC State team- mates from the 1974 NCAA championship team. It happens all the time, ringing and pinging with the sound of an old-school pinball machine. The members of the Wolfpack's greatest and most remembered ath- letic team are in touch on almost a daily basis, either by a text chain or Sunday morning mini-sermons delivered by the tallest cross in the pulpit, Tommy Bur- leson, and scored by the ultimate scor- ing deejay, David Thompson. On this particular morning, the caller on the other end of the line was the only college roommate Spence ever had, Morris "Moe" Rivers, the lightning- fast guard from New York who arrived in Raleigh with Spence just in time to break a dynasty. "Hey, Phil, did Paula get the birthday cards I sent?" Rivers asked, making sure Spence's wife got her annual delivery. For the next few minutes, the two twine-tight teammates talked and laughed, as they always did when they were together. Rivers had beaten cancer before he retired to Eutawville, S.C., but A BASKETBALL BROTHERHOOD Fifty Years After Winning It All, The Members Of NC State's 1974 NCAA Championship Team Still Share An Enduring Bond M Fifty years ago, NC State won its first NCAA men's basketball championship with a 76-64 victory over Marquette on March 25, 1974, in a game played in the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. PHOTO BY ED CARAM

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