That avid Wolfpack fan happened to be me. May 12 or 13 . With just four seconds left, Dereck Whittenburg ended up with the ball at the top of the key, shot -- or passed, depending on who you ask -- the ball up with a prayer well beyond the three-point line for only Lorenzo Charles to catch it and dunk the ball as time expired, sending the Pack to a 54-52 victory. At the time, I didnt realize the magnitude, Charles said in a 1996 interview with The Daily News of New York. Worthy was a strong contender for Rookie of the Year when he broke his leg late in the season, therefore missing the rest of the season and the playoffs. Here's everything you need to know about the schedule and tip-off time for the 2023 men's NCAA Championship game: Tip-off in the national title game between UConn and San Diego State is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. They sold 100 or so hats before the Final Four games and then went into the arena and watched some great basketball. This result directly led to the start of the Battle for the Bluegrass annual basketball series between the two schools that November.[4]. The Wolfpack defenders would let the Cougars employ their slowdown strategy of passing it around. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. NCAA basketball champions from 2023 to 1939, College basketball dictionary: 51 terms defined, 2024 Selection Sunday: Date, schedule, TV times, 2024 March Madness: Men's NCAA tournament schedule, dates, 2023 NCAA bracket: Scores, stats, for March Madness mens tournament, Johnson, Paul appointed to NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Committee, How often fans picked the right NCAA men's champion, every year since 2014, Latest bracket, schedule and scores for the men's tournament, 1 thing to know from every one of the 67 March Madness games, UConn's 2023 title run has cemented its status as a blue blood if it wasn't already, How much experience coaches have when they reach their first Final Four, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Massachusetts-Lowell (27-7) Don Doucette. The Louisville vs. Houston semi-final was a matchup of the #1 vs. #2 team. 1 in the nation. Whittenburg, a 6-1 senior who missed 14 games during the season with a foot injury, drilled in two straight jumpers from long range to finally tie the score 52-52 with 1:59 remaining. NC State led at halftime by a score of 3325. By the time the game tipped off, all 300 Phi Slama Jama hats were sold out. Not only did the Wolfpack lead 3325, but Houston's Clyde Drexler picked up four first-half fouls. You did not start seeing this kind of thing until Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were winning championships during the 1990s and being shown celebrating in the locker room wearing championship hats post championship game, Abramssaid. tournament. He said many times that he immediately knew it would fall short. Houston nearly got the turnover it was looking for when Whittenburg made an errant pass to Gannon that Drexler nearly came away with before the sophomore regained control of the ball. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. Do you have a blog? Then the Wolfpacks outside shooting game came alive, with Whittenburg, Gannon and Sidney Lowe all connecting from more than 20 feet out. Valvano's strategy was to foul Franklin once he got the ball back, and Whittenburg did exactly that with 1:05 left in regulation. Trying to keep the ball moving, as he had been double teamed as soon as he received the pass, Bailey looked back toward Whittenburg, who was approximately thirty feet away from the hoop near midcourt. The 76ers completed one of the most dominating playoff runs in league history with a 121 mark after league and NBA Finals MVP Moses promised "Fo', fo', fo" (as in "four, four, four"four wins to win round 1, four wins to win round 2, etc. Once again it was a pulsating comeback for the Wolfpack, something that has marked most of its games in postseason play. By Tim Layden. Once again, this enabled the Wolfpack to return to their standby strategy of extending the game. Defensive Player of the Year. Previous Season Next Season. finals, Charles sealed a 71-70 victory in an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game against Wake Forest with a 3-point play. Christopher Cross' "All Right" accompanied the highlight montage at the end of CBS' broadcast of the championship game. He was 47. The following game was voted No. Houston couldnt make its foul shots and N.C. State capitalized. 1st seed in the West, 2nd best league record. Being a proud NC State alum, I started to communicate back and forth withAbrams on the hat to learn more about the history behind it. The Wolfpack won their 10th game in a row to finish the season 26-10, with six of those season-ending victories by four points or less. In 1983, their string of stirring NCAA Tournament victories earned them a well-deserved nickname, the "Cardiac 'Pack." Tied at 52 with 44 seconds remaining, NC State held the ball for a final shot attempt. That lack of faith in the Cardiac Pack, a 7.5-point underdog, lasted all the way up until the game, with the proof in the hats NC State players wore after the game. It's there!Packer: OHHHHH! Whittenburg and Lowe were a part - and a significant part -- of what might have been the greatest class of basketball . The final second ticked off the clock before Houston could inbound the ball, and with that, the game ended, and the Wolfpack were the national champions. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Charles then played professionally in Europe and South America and for minor league teams. In the early 2000s, he coached the Fargo-Moorhead Beez, a North Dakota team in the Continental Basketball Association. It determined the national champion for the 198283 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Whittenburgoh that's a long ways. When asked if he would have given Coach Valvano the hug that he was famously and frantically looking for when rushing the court after the Wolfpack had won,Abrams said absolutely, but he had not made it onto the floor yet. The Wolfpack, who were not expecting the defensive adjustment, were forced to deviate and began passing the ball around just to keep the Cougars from stealing it. Both teams shot poorly, with North Carolina State hitting 23-for-59 for 39 percent. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. More AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/MarchMadness, FILE - In this April 4, 1983, file photo, Houston's Renaldo Thomas holds his head after losing 54-52 to North Carolina State in the championship game of the NCAA college basketball championship game in Albuquerque, N.M. (Larry Reese/Houston Chronicle via AP, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball. ET (8:20 p.m. local time) on Monday, April 3. Despite the loss, Olajuwon was named Tournament MOP as he collected 41 points, 40 rebounds, and 15 blocked shots in the Final Four alone. The Wolfpack became the first team to win the NCAA Tournament with at least 10 losses. Find out more. Even though NC State won the championship, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was named the Most Outstanding Player. After their previous four final meetings, they beat the Lakers for the first time in NBA Finals history. In the final game, played in Albuquerque, New Mexico, NC State led at halftime by a score of 3325. RALEIGH, N.C. -- During NC State's miraculous run to the National Championship Game in 1983, very few college basketball fans across the country believed the Wolfpack would actually finish the job. Houston's free throw shooting was very suspect entering the game, which worked greatly in NC State's favor as they were able to rally back and even the score at 52 in the final two minutes. Abramscontests that this is the first time a team in both college and professional sports history that celebrated right after a championship game wearing championship hats. Selection Sunday for March Madness 2024 is Sunday, March 17, when the 68-team fields for the men's and women's NCAA DI basketball tournaments will be released. It also introduced a new theme music (composed by Allyson Bellink) for the CBS Sports coverage of the NBA, used an introduction of the NBA arenas (similar to the Boston Garden) until the 1989 Playoffs and later revived the second theme beginning in the 1989 Finals.[2]. Bailey threw what Whittenburg would later call a "poor fundamental" overhanded pass which Houston's Benny Anders, guarding Whittenburg on the play, was in position to steal. Houston entered Monday nights game as a seven-point favorite, and many thought that was being generous. The 76ers would steamroll through the playoffs, sweeping the New York Knicks 40 in the conference semifinals, before overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. Akeem Olajuwon of Houston was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, becoming the last player to date to earn this award while playing for a team that failed to win the national title. The 1983 NCAA tournament ended with NC State's Cinderella title thanks to a 54-52 upset win against No. Two other members of the Houston slam-dunk fraternity, 6-7 Clyde Drexler and 6-9 Larry Micheaux, contributed little. Georgia advanced to the Final Four in its first NCAA tournament appearance. Their first championship was in 1974, when they defeated the Marquette Warriors. Watch the final 44 seconds of the 1983 National Championship Game, where NC State's Lorenzo Charles threw down a buzzer-beating dunk to lift the Wolfpack to the title. As Charles stuffed the ball through the basket and the final second ticked off, N.C. State players leaped into the air, while Houston played slumped to the floor in disbelief. Until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays in a 4-1 sweep, this was the last time for 25 years that a team from Philadelphia in the Big Four leagues won their league's championship. College Basketball Scores UNLV 77, Duke 79 , Kentucky 103, Duke 104 , Notre Dame 91, UConn 89 , Texas A&M 63, Stanford 62 NCAA Tournament (Mulkey was also an assistant coach on Louisiana Tech's 1988 championship team). Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners. Drexler, the Cougars leading scorer during the season, hit only one of five shots from the field and scored four points after picking up four personal fouls in the first half. The Wolfpack did not assure themselves of a tournament bid until they upset Virginia in the championship game of the ACC tournament. Wisconsin 71, Kentucky 64, 2015. North Carolina State became the first team in tournament history to win six games en route to the title (the tournament being 32 teams or fewer prior to 1979, and all champions from 1979 to 1982 had first-round byes). MORE:Watch UConn vs. San Diego State live on Fubo. 1982-83 NC State Wolfpack Men's Roster and Stats Previous Season Next Season Record: 26-10 (8-6, 4th in ACC MBB ) Rank: 16th in the Final AP Poll Coach: Jim Valvano More School Info NCAA Champion ACC Tourney Champ NC State (Men's) School History Roster & Stats Polls, Schedule & Results On this page: Roster Per Game Team and Opponent Stats Per Game Since the game was played in Albuquerque, players had to deal with the city's mile-high altitude. To date, this remains the last time a player from the losing team was named Most Outstanding Player. N.C. State is the second straight ACC team to win the title, following North Carolina last season. Springfield, Mass. Most Valuable Player. The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 198283 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. Group A Group B . Jim Nantz will be on the call for the last time in his legendary Final Four career alongside analysts Bill Raftery and Grant Hill. In their circle of friends back home, the group of four were now legends. The game was played on April 4, 1983, at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico and paired top-ranked, #1 seed Midwest Regional Champions, the Houston Cougars, and sixteenth-ranked, #6 seed West Regional Champions, the NC State Wolfpack. Some may be wondering why the game is starting at such a late hour. That was the key in the late stages. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. NC State sophomore guard Terry Gannon drew a controversial charging foul against Drexler to put him at four and leave him one foul away from disqualification; replays showed, and Drexler maintained later, that Gannon had appeared to grab Drexler's legs and pull him down with him and thus should have been called for a defensive foul. That loss in the semifinals in 1974 to the Wolfpack ended UCLAs run of seven straight national championships. Drexler, Clyde., Eggers, Kerry. Abrams compared it to when the Los Angeles Dodgers were deemed the founders of the high five when players Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke did it at Dodger Stadium on October 2, 1977, the last day of the regular season. Lewis decided to move from the man-to-man defense his team had been running the whole game to a half court zone trap defense. Record: 28-8 (12-2, 1st in ACC MBB ) Rank: 8th in the Final AP Poll. Houston, meanwhile, hit 21-of-55 for 38.2 percent. Notable events [ edit] Even so, the boys figured the hardest part would be to sell the NC State hats as they had no chance in beating heavily favored Houston. The Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 0 to . The plan was to sell enough of these hats outside of The Pit (arena) where the basketball tournament was being held to cover their travel, hotel and food expenses. "I was impressed with the weapons N.C. State had . Players from both sides cried openly. The following double-digit seeds won games: Here are the tournament leaders, with games in parentheses (minimum three games): Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners. For viewers looking to live stream the NCAA Tournament final, there are several options, including NCAA March Madness Live, Paramount+ and Fubo, which offers a free trial. They figured ifNC State could somehow pull off the upset, they could at least sell off the remaining hats in their possession. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Full game: Jim Valvano, NC State defeat Houston in 1983 National Championship, NC State's Cinderella title thanks to a 54-52 upset win against No. Trying to keep the ball moving, as he had been double teamed as soon as he received the pass, Bailey looked back toward Whittenburg, who was approximately thirty feet away from the hoop near midcourt. The clock, meanwhile, had ticked down to five seconds and Whittenburg was still standing a significant distance from the goal, Once he regained control, Whittenburg turned and launched a desperation shot to try and win the game for NC State. On the other side, San Diego State has fended off College of Charleston, Furman, Alabama, Creighton and FAU to make it this far. Since Franklin was the youngest player on the Houston squad, everyone on the NC State side felt he could not handle the pressure of the moment with a potential championship at stake. But the Badgers were 35-3 and had revenge on . Another historically significant game in this tournament was the Mideast Regional final between Kentucky and Louisville, in-state rivals that had not played one another in basketball since the 1959 NCAA tournament, and had not played in the regular season since 1922. The game will be contested at NRG Stadium in Houston, Tex. That gave the Cougars a 42-35 lead, their biggest advantage. Once he regained control, Whittenburg turned and launched a desperation shot, later claimed by Whittenburg to be a pass, to try and win the game for NC State. Houston, known for its shot-blocking and explosive dunking ability, had its 26-game winning streak snapped. Following his coaching career, Valvano served as a commentator for ESPN and ABC Sports prior to his diagnosis with metastatic adenocarcinoma in 1992. On what would be the last Houston possession, Valvano called for his players to back off and let freshman guard Alvin Franklin bring the ball up the court. Like the clutch performances of Michael Jordan for the University of North Carolina the year before and Christian Laettner for Duke in 1992, Charless game-winner has become emblematic of the N.C.A.A. [2][3] The #1 ranked Houston Cougars (nicknamed Phi Slama Jama) vs. #2 the Louisville Cardinals (nicknamed "The Doctors of Dunk") was considered likely to produce the national champion. Eleven years ago I wrote a . But the Wolfpack surprisingly played run-and-gun at the outset and, when Houston ran with it, the Pack slowed it down. Still, Clyde Drexlers two free throws with 3:19 remaining had the Cougars up 52-46. NC State vs. Virginia. The Wolfpack then passed it around to drain down the clock, almost turning it over to Houston on a couple of dangerous passes. Date: Sunday, April 2 . If Whittenburg had not attempted to do so in this case, Anders may have gotten the steal and a game-winning breakaway layup. It was a really cool experience to share with friends thatI still keep in touch with to this day.". Anyone can read what you share. Led by head coach Dan Hurley and star forward Adama Sanogo, the team has won by double digits in each of its five NCAA Tournament games against Iona, Saint Mary's, Arkansas, Gonzaga and Miami. As he watched the shot, Olajuwon said he knew the shot was going to come up short but he also did not want to go for the ball too early because of the potential for goaltending. Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, becoming the last player to date to earn this award while playing for a team that failed to win the national title. Here are the programs which have won the NCAA men's basketball championship: Year Champion (Record) Coach Score Runner-Up Site title game replays; . To begin the season, the Women of Troy earned 13 straight wins, including four 100+ scoring games. It was NC State's second NCAA championship. The 1993 NCAA tournament is best remembered for Chris Webber's ill-fated timeout that cost Michigan in the national championship game against North Carolina. With Baileys outside shooting doing the damage, the Wolfpack looked good at intermission. No purchase necessary, see. By that time,Abrams and the boys got to Albuquerque from Southern California to watch the Final Four,which was down to Houston, Louisville, Georgia and NC State. National championship game [ edit] In the final game, played in Albuquerque, New Mexico, NC State led at halftime by a score of 33-25. 75-72. Olajuwon hesitated in fear of a goaltending call, allowing Lorenzo Charles to catch the ball and dunk it for the 5452 victory. North Carolina State led Houston by 10 points late in the first half and was in front 33-25 at the intermission. So in the off-season, the 76ers acquired Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets in an effort to counter Abdul-Jabbar, in addition to providing some offense and rebounding to the team. Prior to the playoffs, Malone predicted the team would win in four games in each of the three rounds, ending it with the statement Fo, Fo, Fo. The Cougars, a notoriously poor foul shooting team with a 61.4 percent averaging entering the game, made only 10 of 19 from the free throw line. NC State defeated Houston 54-52.Subscribe now to be updated on the latest videos: http://www.youtube.com/marchmadness?sub_confirmation=1March Madness 365 podcast with Andy Katz: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/march-madness-365-with-andy-katz/id1325823631Connect with March Madness:Follow March Madness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marchmadnessLike March Madness on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCAAMarchMadnessFollow March Madness on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marchmadness NC. The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1982-83 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs.It was the last NBA Championship Series completed before June 1. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Sam Jarden is a content producer at Sporting News. Dick Stockton and Bill Russell were the commentators and Brent Musburger was the host, with Kevin Loughery as a pre-game, halftime and post-game analyst. UNC Tar Heels Men's. Roster and Stats. Can they make it 5 out of 5 on Monday night? As he watched the shot, Olajuwon said he knew the shot was going to come up short but he also did not want to go for the ball too early because of the potential for goaltending. [overlapping Bender, voice breaking] They won it! The ball eventually wound up in the hands of guard Sidney Lowe, who gave it to forward and fellow senior Thurl Bailey in the corner. The program also boasts a perfect 4-0 record in previous championship game appearances. After the game, the UCLA students left the arena and went back to their hotel room. They did the same in the NCAA playoffs. North Carolina State jumped to a 6-0 lead. Lorenzo Charles, whose dunk in the final seconds of the 1983 National Collegiate Athletic Association national championship game propelled North Carolina State University to victory over. VILLANOVA'S HISTORIC UPSET OF GEORGETOWN in the 1985 NCAA championship game remains one of college basketball's most memorable and compelling moments. and pick the tournaments for a $10,000 cash prize or start a pool and compete against friends. 1987 The men's basketball tournament at the 1983 Pan American Games was held from August 15 to August 27, 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela. A panel of Associated Press sports writers voted in March 2020 on the top 10 mens basketball games in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Thirty-eightyears ago, a group of four college students (Abrams, Greg Nathanson, Tom Murphy and Jim Bulgarides) from the University of California (UCLA) traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to watch the 1983 Final Four. USC guard Cynthia Cooper (second from left) and Cheryl Miller (third from left) argue with a referee during the NCAA women's national championship game against Louisiana Tech at the Norfolk Scope arena in Norfolk, Virginia, on April 3, 1983. Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was named Most Outstanding Player despite the Cougars not winning the title. In fact, a few weeks later low and behold, the latest Sports Illustrated cover featured the NC State big man Thurl Bailey wearing their championship painter cap front and center with guards Dereck Whittenburg and Sidney Lowe holding the NCAA Championship trophy. 1982-83. 1982-83 UNC Tar Heels Men's Roster and Stats. Russell would later resurface as a color analyst on TBS until 1986. In beating Houston, they became the first team to win a national championship after losing 10 games. The men of Phi Slama Jama had put on an awesome show of speed and slam dunks in demolishing No. The Huskies and the Aztecs will face off on Monday night with a championship on the line. Houston outrebounded State 44-34, with McQueen, a 6-11 sophomore, leading the winners with 12. NC State became the first team to win six NCAA tournament games to win the championship. Since the game was played in Albuquerque, players had to deal with the city's mile-high altitude. Charles played two more years at N.C. State, finishing with 1,535 points. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Coach: Dean Smith. . Abramsand the boys were sitting not too far from the action and decided to rush the court after the game ended on the last-second shot. Young missed all four of his foul shots. Thomas Bonk, a former Houston Post sportswriter came up with the nickname, Phi Slama Jama, due to the University of Houstons slam dunking, explosive and fast-breaking style of play. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. The ball eventually wound up in the hands of guard Sidney Lowe, who gave it to forward and fellow senior Thurl Bailey in the corner. North Carolina State had taken time out with 44 seconds left and went into a stall in an effort to get the last shot. The theory proved correct as Franklin missed the free throw, and the Wolfpack grabbed the rebound. [7] Houston was hampered by foul trouble that plagued star Clyde Drexler, who picked up three fouls early in the first half yet was begging to stay in the game. Lewis decided to move from the man-to-man defense his team had been running the whole game to a half court zone trap defense. He was the 41st pick in the 1985 National Basketball Association draft, by the Atlanta Hawks. In college basketball at the time, the game clock continued to run after a made field goal, and the Wolfpack likely would not have had time even to inbound the ball. If Whittenburg had not attempted to do so in this case, Anders may have gotten the steal and a game-winning breakaway layup. Not only did this plan work, but these four college kids would end up stamping their names in both college and professional championship sports history forever. The 76ers lost their first two Finals meetings with the Lakers in 1980 and 1982. UCLA has won the most championships in the history of men's college basketball, with 11 wins since 1939.
