The Wolfpacker

44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER T hroughout the 1964-65 regular season, junior forward Larry Worsley made lives miserable for the starters on NC State's basket- ball team. As a reserve player, he faced his team- mates in practice, often causing them to be on the receiving end of a chewing out from head coach Press Maravich that was normally reserved for his sideline towel. Then, during a magnificent weekend in March at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum, Worsley did the same thing to Virginia, Maryland and No. 8 Duke. The second- string forward came off the bench three times to help the Wolfpack win the 1965 ACC tournament championship. The slow-talking, slow-moving wing- man with the behind-the-head shooting motion became the first reserve to ever win the league tournament's Most Valu- able Player award, a distinction he held for nearly four decades until Duke sophomore Daniel Ewing did it in 2003. What made that award even more special was that it had just been renamed the Ever- ett Case Award, in honor of the Wolfpack's Hall of Fame coach who brought big-time basketball to the South and ignited passion for the game in the state of North Carolina that has yet to be extinguished. Case, who had planned to retire at the end of the season, had recruited and coached every player on the roster. But two games into the season, following a loss to Wake Forest, Case stepped down earlier than anticipated because of health prob- lems, turning the team over to Maravich, his handpicked successor. Maravich's style was a little different than Case's. He liked a pressing defense and a fastbreaking offense. The team with- out a star — the squad was built around frontcourt players Pete Coker and Larry Lakins and guards Billy Moffitt, Tommy Mattocks and Eddie Biedenbach — reeled off 11 straight wins after Maravich took over and won four of its final five regular- season contests. The Wolfpack finished second to Duke, coached by NC State graduate and Case protégé Vic Bubas, in the final ACC stand- ings. The Blue Devils handed Maravich two of his three losses as head coach, winning by double figures both times. The other setback following Case's resignation was a one-point loss to North Carolina in Raleigh. Worsley, a deadly shooter, was comfort- able in his role as the team's sixth man. He knew he was not as effective in a full-court game, and he sometimes was hindered by a lack of confidence. But, boy, could he shoot. "Coach said many times that he would rather see me shoot from 20 or 25 feet away than from four or five feet away," Worsley said. Biedenbach added: "Larry was a great outside shooter and our big men were able to feed him the ball. He could be a deadly shooter. Our guards were good at getting the big men the ball, and they were good at recognizing when Larry was open for the outside shot." In the opening game of the tournament, the second-seeded Wolfpack rolled to a 106-69 blowout of Virginia, much to the delight of the home crowd, which always gave the Wolfpack a postseason edge (the first 14 ACC tournaments were played at Reynolds). Worsley recorded 16 points off the bench and was just one of four double- digit scorers for the Wolfpack. The next day, Worsley helped the team overcome a second-half lead by the Ter- rapins, and his 15 points were an important part of the 76-67 victory. What Worsley did in the finals against the highly ranked Blue Devils, however, was the dream of every reserve who ever dribbled a basketball. Duke had won 17 of 18 games earlier in the season and was the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament. The Blue Devils had the ACC scoring champion in All-American Jack Marin and were the nation's highest scoring team. On a neutral court, the title game might have been no contest. Early in the game, the Wolfpack was in deep trouble, with Moffitt picking up three fouls in the first five minutes. Maravich sent in Worsley, and he be- came completely unstoppable, even by Duke's gadget defenses. With Lakins and Coker getting him open shots, Worsley made 14 of his 19 field goal attempts, scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Duke's Hack Tyson, a 6-10 forward, was unable to slow his 6-5 assignment down, even in a box-and-one defense. "The home crowd is what helped me," Worsley said. "If that game had been in Charlotte or Greensboro, I never would have been able to do what I did. I think that game had a lot to do with the ACC's decision to start moving it around to other places." But it was more than just an individual effort in a friendly venue. "To me, that showed what an unself- ish and smart basketball team we were," Biedenbach said. "Our guys had seen what Larry was capable of in practice, but I don't think Duke knew much about him. "He got the open shots and made them." Worsley had never scored more than 18 points in a game. "Going into the tail end of the season, I just had all the confidence in the world," said Worsley, who averaged 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds as a junior. The Wolfpack team celebrated its un- likely championship with Case. He had sat on the sidelines in his wheelchair for the title game, his first public appearance since retiring in December. Shortly after the buzzer sounded on the 91-85 victory, sports information director Frank Weedon prompted the players to go lift Case out of the wheelchair and let him help cut down the nets, an Indiana high school tradition that Case introduced to college basketball when he arrived at NC State in 1947. THE UNLIKELY HERO In 1965, Reserve Larry Worsley Helped NC State Basketball To A Surprising ACC Tournament Title WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Worsley and his teammates gathered in March for a 50-year reunion of their unlikely conference championship. PHOTO BY TIM PEELER Larry Worsley Age: 72 Living: Oak City, N.C. Occupation: Chemical sales rep- resentative Did you know? Worsley's 14 made field goals in the 1965 ACC Championship contest against Duke remains tied for third for the most made baskets by an NC State player in an ACC Tournament game. ? WHERE ARE THEY NOW

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