The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546417
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026 ■ 49 Some regular students can't even do their work. People just say if you're from South Carolina, you're a dummy and you don't know what you're doing. "If you come from a big city or some- thing, people give you the benefit of the doubt. They don't know if you are dumb or not." 'He Was Our Biggest Problem' McQueen was actually born in Paris, where his father was serving in the U.S. Army. The first 18 months of his life, he bounced from France to Fayetteville, N.C., to Fort Benning, Ga., before per- manently landing in the Palmetto State. McQueen's incoming class as a fresh- man included Charles, Terry Gannon, Alvin Battle, Walter "Dinky" Proctor, G e o rge M c C l a i n and Mike Warren. Their maturation as sophomores, es- pecially in the ab- sence of injured se- nior guard Dereck Whittenburg, is the often-uncredited reason the team was at its peak in the second half of the championship season. By the end of his second season, Mc- Queen was brimming with confidence. His ascent began in a Feb. 19 victory against North Carolina. In the second half, no one on the Wolfpack could hit the front end of a one-and-one, to the consterna- tion of Valvano. "Can anyone here make a free throw?" he despairingly asked. McQueen, a 57.6 percent shooter that season, raised his hand. Sure enough, he drained a pair of foul shots to seal the landmark 70-63 victory, Valvano's first over the Tar Heels. McQueen never let the gravity of the Wolfpack's desperate times get the best of him. One of the favorite stories of those who covered the '83 team was seeing him out late at night before the Wolfpack was to face Virginia and its All-America cen- ter Ralph Sampson in the NCAA East Regional championship game in Ogden, Utah. He was found enjoying what there was of the Mormon-tinted nightlife. "Cozell," one of them asked, "aren't you worried about playing Ralph tomor- row? Shouldn't you be back in the room?" McQueen didn't break stride as he said, "Let Ralph worry about me." Apparently, Sampson didn't worry enough, even though he outscored Mc- Queen 23-0 the next afternoon. When the game was on the line, after Cavaliers forward Tim Mullen missed a shot that would have given his team the lead with just seconds to play, McQueen boxed Sampson completely out of the picture and grabbed the rebound that secured the Wolfpack's trip to the Final Four. After that game, a reporter asked Mc- Queen to name the ACC's best center. McQueen thought for a minute and de- clared that he was. "What about Ralph Sampson?" asked the incredulous re- porter of the Cavaliers' three-time na- tional player of the year. "Ralph ain't in the ACC anymore," McQueen said. In the final, Houston's Olajuwon played well early on before McQueen shut him down in the second half. The 7-foot All- America center made just 1 field goal and 2 free throws in the game's final 14 minutes, and McQueen outrebounded him after intermission 9-7. Following the game, McQueen was the first player Houston coach Guy Lewis mentioned. "He knows how to play defense," Lewis said. "In the last 10 minutes, he was our biggest problem." Understanding His Role Throughout his career, McQueen played his best against the best. As a senior, he was tasked to defend Southern Methodist All-American and Olympic team member Jon Koncak, who had just run over Okla- homa center Wayman Tisdale (Koncak had 22 points, 11 rebounds) and North Carolina's Brad Daugherty (31 points, 9 rebounds). He and the No. 4-ranked Mus- tangs were eager to quell a rowdy sold-out crowd at Reynolds Coliseum. It didn't happen. McQueen's defense held Koncak to 5 points and 3 rebounds in a thrilling 82-78 overtime victory. "I take a lot of pride in my defense," Mc- Queen said. "And I think today was one of the best defensive games I've ever played. "There's nobody I can't play against." That's what was beautiful about Mc- Queen. He had no idea he was supposed to be intimidated by big-name opponents. "Nothing Cozell does surprises me, not after I saw him get 25 rebounds in the [1983] Final Four," Valvano said after the SMU win. McQueen's teammates, who collec- tively were with him on almost a daily basis the last few months as his health turned downward, appreciated the way he han- dled the most pressure-filled situations. "The thing about Co is he's some- one who didn't know any better," All-ACC point guard Sidney Lowe re- called. "When he stepped on the floor against Ralph, Co thought he was bet- ter. Consequently, he played that way. T h e g rea t t h i n g about him was that he always under- stood his game and his role, to rebound and play defense. "He was always unselfish in that way. He didn't care about scoring." Like Charles Shackleford, McQueen was most remembered by some for punching-bag stories told about him by Valvano and others. He was much more, however, on the basis of his performance and playing within his talent boundaries. McQueen was a fourth-round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1985 NBA Draft, the 91st overall selection, but did not survive training camp because of his offensive limitations. McQueen played professionally for a decade, mostly overseas — even in his "native" France. He logged just three games in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons in 1987. After retirement, he settled back in Raleigh with his family and attended every gathering of the '83 teammates, including the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April 2019. McQueen, his face contorted into a furious scowl every time he was called for a foul, was always a fan favorite and a top-five center in program history, even if Valvano and his teammates gave him a hard time every now and then. He was invincible in that way. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. " The thing about Co is he's someone who didn't know any better. When he stepped on the floor against Ralph [Sampson], Co thought he was better. Consequently, he played that way. " Sidney Lowe on his former teammate McQueen