The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543694
26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER he name Chris Washburn evokes strong memories and emotions from the NC State faithful. The 6-foot-11 center from Hickory, N.C., was the great- est recruiting coup of Hall of Fame head coach Jim Val- vano in his 10-year career in Raleigh. Pur- sued by every basketball-playing school in the country — a story told in great detail by Sports Illustrated — Washburn was the coach's biggest blessing and the beginning of his downfall. Washburn arrived on NC State's cam- pus, after two years at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy and one year at Laurin- burg (N.C.) Institute, as an oversized, im- mature kid with unimaginable basketball potential. He was a mobile big man with the skills of a 6-5 guard. Everyone who ever saw him play knew it. He debuted at Reynolds Coliseum when he was still at Laurinburg, in a game against Louisburg Junior College, which featured Wash- burn's future teammate Nate McMillan. The game was sold out. McMillan out- played Washburn in the contest, which only heightened the expectations for Valvano's program when they arrived to- gether in the fall of 1984, two short sea- sons after Valvano led the Wolfpack on one of the unlikeliest postseason runs in college basketball history, culminating in a 54-52 victory over Houston in the 1983 NCAA championship game. Valvano, like everyone else, desperately wanted Washburn. The coach and his as- sistant, Tom Abatemarco, sent him 278 handwritten notes encouraging him to play for the Wolfpack. After Washburn committed to Valvano's program, the coach excitedly sent other schools a message during a conversation with local reporters before the 1984-85 season: "If you are going to get us, you better get us now." That prediction proved to be true on a couple of different levels. The Wolfpack followed its miracle championship with a seventh-place finish in the ACC, a 19-14 overall record and a disappointing appear- ance in the National Invitation Tourna- ment. The next season, however, began a long string of events that made Washburn a difficult name to hear for Wolfpack fans. Even after he became the school's second- highest NBA draft pick (the third overall selection of the Golden State Warriors), shenanigans on and off the court ended up with him being banned for life from the NBA and derailed what could have been the greatest professional career in school history. Washburn, who has returned to his home state, recently worked with South Carolina-based writer Ron Chepesiuk on a memoir, "Out of Bounds: From Broken NBA Dreams to Redemption" (© Chris Washburn/Ron Chepesiuk, 2025, Wild- Blue Press). Throughout the book, Washburn tries to be brutally frank about his exploits and experiences at NC State, which include his introduction to hard drugs by one-time Maryland All-American Len Bias, who T CHRIS CHRIS WASHBURN'S WASHBURN'S JOURNEY JOURNEY In An Unflinching New Memoir, The Former Wolfpack Star Details His Struggles And Successes