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
