@Landon

The Team Nestled in Tobacco Road

If you go to Raleigh, North Carolina and go to the Lenovo center you will see a banner hanging from the ceiling. That banner would tell a story of a magical run in the 1982-1983 collage basketball season. The NC State Wolfpack faced a tuff a road ahead after having a decent season they would have to face an incredibly difficult ACC tournament schedule. The pack was 26-10 an 8-6 in ACC play which put them 4th in the league. First they had to play a very good wake forest team and barely pulled it out with a final score of 70-71. Shortly after they played the number five ranked team in the country the university of North Carolina with the greatest basketball player ever Michael Jordan. But the Pack somehow used their magic and pulled out a 91-81 win in overtime. UNC had beat them twice that year and were huge favorites. In the ACC championship game they had to play Virginia. Virginia was ranked second in the nation and was absolutely dominating the competition. But something was different in the air and against all odds State won the game 81-78 and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament they would not slow down making an unbelievable run to the final four. In the final four they would comfortably beat Georgia 67-60 and advance to the championship. Once there, they found themselves tied with number one ranked Houston with only 20 seconds to go. After passing the ball around and almost getting it stolen, a 30 footer is chucked up. It flows through the air like a kite and is a horrible airball. But the rebound would be call caught, and dunked for a last second buzzer beater to win the 1983 national championship and submit the “ cinderella story “ forever. That banner represents the story of the 83 team and how you should believe in your team no matter what. “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Jimmy Valvano

CBB