The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/470359
MARCH 2015 ■ 81 ■ PACK PAST first two days of the tournament, was on hand for the championship game to present the trophy. But not before he was hoisted by the players to cut down the nets — a tradition Case had introduced to college basketball in 1947 — one last time. "It was such a spectacular and fright- ening moment," Coker recalled. "He had gotten so frail, and we thought we might break a bone or something just by lifting him up there. Thank God he was able to get through it." Getting Together Again The surviving members of the 1965 team will gather in early March for a 50th an- niversary reunion, attending the Syracuse game at PNC Arena. There will be those unable to attend. Case died of cancer a little over a year after the 1965 championship. Maravich, after coaching Pete at LSU, spent six years in Baton Rouge and three more as head coach at Appalachian State. He died in 1987. Players Lakins, Moffitt and Billy Kretzer have all passed away. Biedenbach, who organized the event, expects more than a dozen surviving varsity and junior varsity players from that team to gather, share sto- ries and maybe play a little golf. It wasn't a team of superstars. Worsley was perhaps the unlikeliest hero to win the Case Award. But the 1964-65 team will always be remembered because it gave Case one final chance to etch his name just a little deeper into the history of college basketball. ■ GREGORY D. MILLER, CPA SANDRA A. MILLER, CPA REBECCA A. RHODES, CPA Serving the accounting needs of small businesses and individuals throughout Southeastern North Carolina since 1993. • Tax Planning and Prepara on • Accoun ng and Audi ng Services • Small Business Consul ng Wilmington, NC 265 Racine Drive 910-452-5260 Burgaw, NC 105 East Fremont Street 910-259-4644 www.millercocpas.com We're Pack Proud! Tim Peeler, author of the newly released Legends of NC State Basketball, is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Case posted a record of 377-134 (.737) — the best of any Pack mentor to date — and put to- gether five ACC championship teams (1954-56, '59 and '65) in his 18 years at NC State. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS