The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Dickey's suggestions again. Dickey saw Towe play football and bas- ketball in Converse, Ind., and called Sloan. When assistant coach Art Musselman first laid eyes on Towe, he called Sloan in Ra- leigh and said "We can't take him — he's a midget." Sloan couldn't break another promise to Dickey, so he agreed to sign Towe, who eventually became one of the toughest guards in ACC history. When the Wolfpack beat Marquette in the national title game, head coach Al McGuire gave Towe more credit than either Thompson or Burleson. Thompson and Towe arrived together, along with five other freshmen in the fall of 1971. Thompson's talent was already leg- endary, and the freshman team frequently drew as many — or more — spectators as the varsity team. There was the trouble of the NCAA pro- bation that kept the Wolfpack from par- ticipating in the 1973 NCAA Tournament. Among the relatively minor infractions that were discovered by a lengthy investigation included the matter of a couple of concert tickets to see the Jackson Five at Dorton Arena, an illegal tryout and free accommo- dations for Thompson while he attended a summer camp at NC State. The illegal tryout charge was the result of Biedenbach, the assistant coach, playing in a pickup game with Thompson — after he had signed his letter of intent. A UNC football player from Raleigh happened to be in the game as well, and he reported back to the basketball staff in Chapel Hill they better be prepared to face the best basketball player he had ever seen. The NCAA somehow heard of the game and determined it was a tryout, even though Thompson was already signed and mostly delivered to NC State. The charge about his free night's stay was because he did not pay for sleeping on the floor of a central campus dormitory with two high school friends from Shelby. Even though both NC State and UCLA finished the 1973 season with undefeated records, they could not meet in the NCAA Tournament. So Sloan and Wooden came up with a plan for a nationally televised, early-season game in St. Louis. The Bruins rolled through the second half of that game and won going away. That loss, however, was the inspiration that the Wolfpack needed to secure a Final Four rematch. Burleson learned what he needed to do to slow down Walton, and Thompson was humbled by Marcus Wil- kes. The national semifinal game unfolded differently. The Wolfpack captured the Big Four Tournament, a four-team playoff between NC State, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest played in Greensboro, and com- pleted its second consecutive undefeated ACC season, something that has not been repeated since. By winning the ACC regular-season title, the Pack earned a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack managed to win championship in the best game in league history because it was rested, while Maryland coach Left Driesell had played his starters throughout his team's quarter- final and semifinal victories. The Pack earned a huge advantage by playing its first two NCAA Tournament games in Reynolds Coliseum, a bid that was earned a year before the season began. It meant that Sloan's team did not have to leave the state in the postseason. Those two games were important to the lore of the Wolfpack's championship. After beating Providence, the Wolfpack played a rough-and-tumble squad from Pittsburgh. While trying to block a shot in the first half, Thompson elevated himself above everyone — and tripped over the shoulder of teammate Phil Spence. He landed on his neck and was unconscious on the floor for more than 10 minutes,. Reynolds Coliseum went as silent as it has ever been in the 65 years since the doors opened. Thompson spent less than an hour at Rex Hospital, getting 15 stitches in his scalp, before he returned to Reynolds to let his teammates — and a fearful Wolfpack fan base — know he was all right. Just five days later, Thompson was suited up to play for the Wolfpack, something that likely would not happen today for a player who suffered a significant head injury. It's probably the least remembered part of the build up to the game that Thompson was sewn together like a scarecrow. That's because he refused to go on the floor of the Greensboro Coliseum for the Final Four semifinal contest with UCLA with the bald spot from where his head had been shaved — as well as all those stitches — showing on national television. He also didn't want to exude any signs of weakness in the rematch against Walton. Team trainer Herman Bunch found a sponge in his medical bag and a magic marker in the locker room. He glued the sponge to the back of Thompson's neck, colored it as best he could and made the hairline look natural. Thompson went out and played perhaps the most important game of his life — and the most important game in NC State bas- ketball history — with his bald spot hidden. He scored 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made a defensive play in the second overtime that helped the Wolfpack erase a seven-point deficit with two minutes re- maining, to end UCLA's stranglehold over college basketball, 80-77. Two days later, the Pack topped Marquette, 76-64, for the national title. For many reasons, the 1973-74 NC State basketball team has been overlooked over the years, even though it may be the best team in ACC basketball history. The 1982- 83 NCAA championship team was a much better story because of its Cinderella run, for the tragic demise of both head coach Jim Valvano and Lorenzo Charles, who made the game-winning dunk, and most recently because it was remembered in the often- aired ESPN "30-for-30" special made by Dereck Whittenburg, a member of that team. But the '74 team changed college bas- ketball. After the ACC title game, Wolfpack athletic director Willis Casey took over the NCAA's basketball championship commit- tee and helped push through legislation that expanded the postseason tournament and allowed more than one team per conference. Thompson was already in the last group of freshmen who were not eligible to play in their first year on campus. And soon af- ter his career ended, the dunk was restored to college basketball, though it did not stop him from dunking on a breakaway in his final home game at Reynolds Coliseum, the day his No. 44 became the only men's bas- ketball jersey to ever be retired at NC State. Forty years later, no one has ever matched what he and his teammates did for NC State, for the ACC and for college basketball. ■ You may contact Tim Peeler at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. David Thompson, who was a three-time All-American during his college career, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1974 NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY ED CARAM 28-31.1974 BKB Anniversary.indd 30 2/25/14 4:10 PM