The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY/JUNE 2025 ■ 27 seemed primed to step up to the big time. The Wolfpack, however, was not. Sloan did not inherit a deep roster, and it grew even thinner when senior Eddie Biedenbach was forced to undergo back surgery before the season. But the next year, Sloan took his sec- ond team to the ACC title game, thanks to the infamous 12-10 semifinal win over Duke, in which center Billy Kretzer spent the majority of the game dribbling the ball at midcourt. JIM VALVANO 1980-81, 14-13 overall, 4-10 ACC, first-round loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, no postseason Valvano's inaugural team began with a bang, winning seven of its first nine games. Included in those victories were three of significance. First, Valvano won his initial matchup against the ACC's other new coach, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, in the consola- tion game of the Big Four Tournament in Greensboro. Then he took the Wolfpack to New York's Madison Square Garden for the ECAC Holiday Festival, where it beat his former team, Iona, 61-58, in the semifinals. The Pack also faced St. John's and its head coach Lou Carnesecca, one of Val- vano's heroes. NC State won that game, 64-55, to give Valvano his second con- secutive title in the ECAC event. Valvano's first Wolfpack team strug- gled in ACC play but edged Wake For- est, 66-65, in its regular-season finale to guarantee a winning campaign. The season ended with a narrow loss to North Carolina in the first round of the ACC Tournament. LES ROBINSON 1990-91, 20-11 overall, 8-6 ACC, semifinal loss to Duke in ACC Tournament, second-round loss to Oklahoma State in NCAA Tournament Robinson had played for Case in the early 1960s and got his start in coach- ing when he took charge of the Wolfpack freshman squad in 1964-65. The Pack beat Marquette in the first year of his return to Raleigh, and he won his initial meetings with Krzyzewski and North Carolina's Dean Smith, even though the Tar Heels and Blue Devils were both were ranked in the top 10. NC State finished with a winning ACC record and advanced to the league tour- nament semifinals, where it lost to Duke. After that year, however, Robinson never managed to get over the recruiting and academic restrictions from the NCAA probation he inherited from Valvano, and he subsequently stepped down after five consecutive losing seasons. HERB SENDEK 1996-97, 17-15 regular season, 4-12 ACC, lost in ACC Tournament final to North Carolina, lost in second round of National Invitation Tournament At 33, Sendek was the ACC's youngest coach when NC State hired him away from Miami (Ohio). The school had loosened almost all of the recruiting and academic restrictions that hampered Robinson, and Sendek managed to put together a four-player recruiting class that included forwards Damon Thorn- ton, Tim Wells and Andre McCullum, along with guard Justin Gainey. Playing a rough-and-tumble defen- sive style necessitated by a thin roster, Sendek and his team began and ended strong during the season. The Pack struggled during the ACC regular season but did score a 60-59 overtime victory against second-ranked Wake Forest, led by senior Tim Duncan. That victory helped propel the Pack to an impressive finish that included three consecutive wins in the ACC Tourna- ment and a victory against Southwest Missouri State in the NIT. SIDNEY LOWE 2006-07, 20-16 overall, 5-11 ACC, lost in ACC Tournament final to North Carolina, lost in third round of NIT to West Virginia As a player, Lowe had orchestrated the Wolfpack's run to the 1983 NCAA title with fellow seniors Dereck Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey. He then embarked on a long NBA career as a player, broadcaster and coach. At the time he was hired, Lowe was an assistant with the Detroit Pistons. He thrilled Wolfpack fans by beating No. 3 North Carolina in his first contest against the Tar Heels, but perhaps even more important, he led his team to a 7-2 record against in-state opponents during the regular season. In the opening round of the ACC Tour- nament, the Wolfpack upset No. 21 Duke, 85-80, to kick off a run to the champi- onship game. The Pack fell, 89-80, to North Carolina in the final, but earned a berth in the NIT, where it beat Drexel and Marist in the first two rounds. MARK GOTTFRIED 2011-12, 24-13 overall, 9-7 ACC, lost to North Carolina in ACC Tournament semifinals, lost to Kansas in NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals Gottfried had previously coached at Alabama and was working at ESPN when he was hired to take over the Wolf- pack. Led by future professional play- ers Richard Howell, C.J. Leslie and Scott Wood, the Pack exceeded expectations throughout the season, finishing with a 9-7 ACC record. Gottfried's team beat Boston College and Virginia in the ACC Tournament before losing to North Carolina in the semifinals. An invitation to the NCAA Tournament followed, with Gottfried joining Robinson and Maravich as the only first-year Wolfpack coaches to qualify for the NCAA field. NC State downed both San Diego State and Georgetown to advance to the Sweet 16, where it fell to Kansas. Gottfried's 24 wins were the most for a first-year NC State coach since Case had 26 in his inaugural year. KEVIN KEATTS 2017-18, 21-12, 11-7 ACC, third overall, lost to Boston College in first round of ACC Tournament, lost to Seton Hall in first round of NCAA Tournament Keatts could not have gotten off to a more promising start. In his fifth game, the Pack beat No. 2 Arizona, the highest- ranked team ever defeated by a first-year coach since the beginning of the Associ- ated Press media college basketball poll. Six weeks later, he did it again, topping No. 2 Duke. Keatts also beat North Carolina and Wake Forest the first time he and his team faced them, becoming the first NC State coach in 100 years to win his inau- gural games against those in-state rivals. In all, the Wolfpack defeated five Associ- ated Press Top 25 teams and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where its season ended abruptly with a first-round loss to Seton Hall. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.