The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519757
MAY/JUNE 2024 ■ 31 throws at the end of games, most impor- tantly the two that Vinny Del Negro made in the 1987 ACC championship game to beat No. 2 North Carolina, and the deci- sive ones Lorenzo Charles made against Wake Forest and Virginia in the 1983 postseason. There are dunks galore that could be included. Damon Thornton's monster slam against Maryland 7-footer Mike Mardesich, for example, or Spud Webb's steal and twirling 360-degree breakaway at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. None of the above made the list. The 10 shots listed here were chosen for their impact, improbability and overall style. Feel free to debate. 1 PLAYER: Lorenzo Charles RESULT: NC State 54, Houston 52 DATE: April 4, 1983 There were 44 seconds remaining in the 1983 NCAA championship game between NC State and heavily favored Houston. The score was tied, 52-52, and the Cou- gars had just squandered a golden op- portunity to take the lead when freshman guard Alvin Franklin missed the front end of a one-and-one. The game had not gone as anyone ex- pected. Houston had run Louisville out of The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., two nights earlier with a variety of dunks and fast- break points. Houston coach Guy Lewis confidently claimed the team with the most dunks would win the game, an obvi- ous advantage for the Cougars with future NBA stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Jim Valvano said NC State might grab the opening tip and hold the ball until early Tuesday morning. It was a ruse. The Pack came out run- ning, and Thurl Bailey scored the game's first basket on a resounding dunk. NC State missed 15 shots in the first 10 min- utes but still managed to take a 33-25 lead into intermission, with Drexler inexpli- cably committing 4 fouls before halftime. Just after Houston scored the first 10 points of the second half, Lewis had to take his foot off the accelerator because his team was winded in the mile-high altitude. Sidney Lowe hit 3 second-half field goals to help NC State regroup. With 44 seconds to play, Valvano called timeout to set up a play the team had run at least three other times during the post- season: Lowe would drive to the basket and look out on the wings for an open shooter, with the option to go in for a lay- up or pass. Before Charles returned to the court, Valvano pulled him aside and said, "Lo, you haven't done anything this entire game. When are you going to wake up and do something?" Valvano hadn't expected Houston's zone press defense, and it showed dur- ing the worst possession of the season. The Wolfpack nearly threw the ball away three times, including on Bailey's pass to Dereck Whittenburg with four seconds to go. Nearly out of time, the senior guard launched a prayer from 28 feet. It came up a half-foot short, but Charles was awake and did something, dunking the errant shot as time expired for a 54-52 victory. State not only won the second national title in school history, it out-dunked Houston, 2-1. 2a PLAYER: David Thompson RESULT: NC State 87, Maryland 85 DATE: Jan. 14, 1973 and 2b PLAYER: David Thompson RESULT: — DATE: March 21, 1974 These two shots belong to Thompson, the greatest player in NC State and ACC basketball history, so there's no reason to separate them. The first came on Jan. 14, 1973, in a Super Bowl Sunday game at Maryland. Thompson, a relatively unknown sopho- more, was having a breakout day against the No. 2 Terps in front of ACC basket- ball's first nationally televised audience, some 30 million viewers. Thompson scored 37 points versus one of the best teams in the country, high- lighted by a tip-in of teammate Tom Bur- leson's missed 18-footer. The 6-foot-4 leaper swooped in over Maryland defend- ers Len Elmore and Tom McMillen, and made the winning basket. "I was determined to get that one," Thompson said after the game. "If I had to jump through the ceiling, I was going to get that one." And the player with the verified 44- inch vertical leap could have, too. His second all-time shot didn't even happen in a game. It was in practice Just the list of honorable mentions is impressive: Tom Gugliotta's game- winning three-pointer at Georgia Tech. Braxton Beverly's buzzer-beating three- pointer against Clemson, the only time the Wolfpack has won a home game on a last-second three. There's a slew of pressure-packed free O'Connell hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score in NC State's matchup against Virginia in the 2024 ACC Tournament semifinals. The Pack went on to win in overtime. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS