Team of Destiny

[McCall72]

2:12.... Pandemonium breaks out at my house that night. Good Lord, I can remember how crazy we went when Charles dunked that last two points in for State. Still get tears in my eyes thinking about it.

[heelsfantim]

I am simply HEARTBROKEN at the passing of Lorenzo Charles. A part of my teenagehood is gone!! I will NEVER, NEVER FORGET THIS GAME!! ONE OF THE BEST EVER!!

[Soulthinker2007]

I can't believe tha Lorenzo is gone. I saw that game on TV and it brings a lot of memories. He would be sorely missed by this fan of NC State.

[ricebiscuit]

The State of North Carolina.. we just lost a bit of our YOuth tonight.. God bless you Lo.. you were OUR FIGHTING CHANCE! Good bye young man. ;'-)

[gregdek]

Oh, Lo. Miss you already.

[toddky32]

R.I.P. Jimmy V that game was not only one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history but all of sports . Lorenzo Charles dunk will live forever if I'm not mistaken I think it was his only basket of the halph. Great Game and Post

[jaydee624]

I remember watching this game as a college freshman with a bunch of other basketball fans.When Lorenzo charles slammed home the game winner, off a miss.We were all looking at each other in a state of shock.

[Rexag]

I liked it and I am a native Houstonian but attend Texas A&M during those years of the Phi Slamma Jamma ugh! - UH was simply known by Aggies as "Cougar High" for their profound 4th tier academic ranking. The local hype was enough to bear thank God they didn't win. I shared your smile on that last shot!

[htn123]

26 YEARS ago, wow. I was there, first year, freshman year. I lived in Bragaw dorm in NC State. Man oh man, I was intensely watching that game with all of my room mates from begin to end.

After the game, the whole NCS went out to Hillsborough st. and build a HUGE bonfire in the middle of the street!!!. And we celebrated all night. I remembered I was wearing a wolfpack T-shirt and someone with a red paint bucket went around and pained #1 on everyone T-shirts. That was the time!!!!.

[pimpfang1]

the worst 44 seconds in history

[pimpfang1]

i hate this game. and i hate watching or talking about it. i almost cried when the cougars lost this game

[TacoBellManager]

They won it.

On the dunk.

[TheDisgruntledWriter]

rip jimmy v

[FlyTilDawn17]

Hakeem got punk'd. Way 2 b, Zo! After watching this live I jumped up & reached 10 ft 4 da 1st X n ma life as a hs frosh. IT WAS THE ADRENALINE, BABY!!! a la Vitale. In all fairness, I think the Cougars should have been given a timeout with 1.something lef on da clock. Phi Slama Jama greatest ensemble never 2 win it all thx 2'Heels,'Pack & Hoyas

[rexrockandroll]

THINKING OF THIS NIGHT, BRINGS TEARS TO THE EYS, BECAUSE V ISNT HERE WITH US TO CHECK IT OUT ANYMORE..BUT HE'S DEFINATLEY LOOKING DOWN ON US, EVEN THERE IS NO HEAVEN OR 'god'....

[thomasrosicky07]

explain...

[blue67ccm]

I simply cannot believe it's been 25 years. I watched every minute of this game and remember what I did when Lorenzo dunked the ball, remember the two phone calls I got after the game.....the single greatest game in my life when it comes to my favorite sports teams. It will never get any better. Remember, the Pack had eight consecutive "must-win" battles in order to get to the Houston game in the first place! I love you Jimmy V and the Cardiac Pack!!!

[CGold113]

valvano looks like a young dustin hoffman, lol

[dbneeld]

Born in '85, I would have loved to have seen this game!

[l3tth3wooki3win]

I was 10 when I saw this game and I still think it's the best Finals I ever saw. Funny what an impact this game has had to this day: Drexler tried to be a college coach at UH and lasted two years and Sidney Lowe is the head coach at NCSU now and is trying to bring them on par with Duke and UNC. I think Lowe is doomed since Roy and Coach K are ruthless on their rivals. I know I'm a Kansas fan.

[WolfPup35]

THE GREATEST 44 seconds in sports history!!

[huggyface]

It was certainly the greatest 44 secs. in Wolfpack history, no less! ;-) However, what Cinderella storyline team was the greatest upset...'83 NCSU, or '85 Villanova? I tend to prefer the Wolfpack team, sentimentally...but the 'Nova team was seeded 8th, the worst for a champion so far. You decide

[SFFOOL76]

Villanova had the luxury of being 8th seed in a 64 team bracket. NC ST. had to win the ACC TOURNEY to get in the NCAA tourney, the NC ST. was way more exciting.

[maxroachtribute]

there was one second left after the basket. Hey anything can happen.

[GoGatorz1215]

especially with clyde and hakeem

[stadem5]

sweet

[McCall72]

My dad broke the light fixture in our den with his head when Charles dunked those last two points in!! As a lifetime Wolfpacker living in NC at the time, let me tell you the saying the state of North Carolina went absolutely crazy that night is a tremendous understatement. GO PACK!

[uncdentist09]

God that game still give me chills at the end.

What a fekking game!

To bad Billy Packfudge had to ruin the call.

Less that, great game. Somewhere in heaven, Valvano is having a good time watching this.. Maybe when Dean Smiff goes to hell, he can take Packers job. Just hope Phil Ford does not drive Dean home one night, they both may die.

[huggyface]

LOL! How many damn times has "Philly" been to the 12-step program, anyway? He must've forgotten a few steps...maybe too drunk to climb LOL

[gymman1031]

Once must remember that what N.C. State accomplished during the latter parts of this season was incredible. We all know about their run in the NCAA Tournament to the title. However, did everyone know that, going into the ACC Tournament, N.C. State had 10 losses. The Wolf won 3 games in the ACC Tournament to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Had N.C. State not won the ACC Tournament, they most likely would not have made the NCAA Tournament and been able to have such a great run.

[gymman1031]

IMHO, the 1983 Phi Slama Jama team from Houston was the best team ever to not win a title.

[huggyface]

Or the 1999 Duke team that lost to damn UConn. The '99 Blue Devils were deeper than '83 Houston; at least Duke could shoot free throws.

[gymman1031]

Another team that was one of the greatest teams to not win a title was '91 UNLV, led by Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, and Anderson Hunt. They ran like crazy on offense and had a feared defense. In their '91 Final Four game against Duke, Coach K exposed the teams main weakness. That is, Augmon couldn't dribble with his off hand. They defended him in a way so that was the only hand he could dribble with.

[huggyface]

Of course! I remember that 91 UNLV team...they were undefeated before reaching the Final 4. They demolished Duke in the 1990 finale, and ironically Duke likely kept UNLV from being the 1st repeat champion since UCLA's dynasty under Wooden. I guess a year of maturity for the Duke players can make a world of difference. By the way I attended NCSU but like both Duke and the Pack...I just don't care much for the Heels, though I kinda like Roy Williams.

[gymman1031]

N.C. State is also the alma mater of David Thompson, hands-down the greatest player in ACC history! Do you agree?

[huggyface]

I was only 2 or 3 when he played at State; don't remember him 1st hand but I know he played on the 1974 title team though. I heard he was a very good player but alas I also read he had a cocaine problem like Chris Washburn did in the 80's. You may or may not agree but I tend to think Laettner and Battier (Duke of course) could give Thompson a little competition...I know more about them than Thompson, I guess.

[gymman1031]

The toughest player I have ever seen in the ACC was Bobby Hurley. That dude was just never intimidated and just refused to loose. Of course, he took a back seat to Laettner in the early-90's, but, IMHO, Bobby Hurley was just as, if not more, responsible for their dominance back then.

[huggyface]

Hurley sure enough was tough! And don't forget Grant Hill, of whom many consider to be the only Duke player to make much noise in the NBA...not that I really care about the pros anyway. College roundball rules. :-)

[itzjoeymac]

LOL... Laettner and Battier give DAVID SKYWALKER THOMPSON competition!!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!! David Thompson was miles and miles ahead of both those guys as an individual player. The teams those guys played on might have been competition but as individuals they are nowher near the same class as David Thompson. College and NBA HALL-OF-FAMER!!! DT scored over 70 points in an NBA game! Those guys are average in comparison. I will accept Michael Jordan or Len Bias ONLY.

[jlee32]

I am a UH student, and I love Coach Lewis for bringing my school into national prominence through his many years of hard work. However, this is by far the worst coaching job in NCAA Tournament history, if not the worst in the history of sports. If Coach Lewis had not ordered his team to hold onto the ball so long and had kept up the offensive power they had coming out of halftime with a 17-2 run, then they would have destroyed NC State.

[huggyface]

Houston? They still play basketball down there? I thought I might have heard that your town had a team at one time...what happened, all the good players decided they'd rather play at Duke or good 'ol NC State than stinking ass Houston? I guess Clyde Drexler, when he tried to coach your school, didn't even help return any magic to your "team." LOL

[seahowl]

I was at this game.  Seriously, I was 14 years old and I snuck in an open side door at The Pit.

[NCSTATEwolfpackBOI]

I will say one thing, like Jimmy would always say this team "Never gave up."

[gymman1031]

One must remember that, going into the game, most people thought that N.C. State was going to stall and go at an excruciatingly slow pace. However, everyone was in for a surprise. N.C. State went right at the Cougars and didn't slow it down much at all.

[gymman1031]

Guy Lewis slowed the game down after Houston built that 7 point lead. People say that, had he not done that, Houston would have blown N.C. State out of the building. That may have happened. However, take nothing away from N.C. State. They were on fire down the stretch and played championship basketball!!

[goncsupack2]

dude will you just shut up, we won the game

[gymman1031]

No! I will not shut up! Besides, didn't I give N.C. State credit for being on fire down the stretch and not going at a slow pace like people thought they would? Get some manners, my friend!!! Of course, N.C. State won the game!

[goncsupack2]

sorry, i missed that

[gymman1031]

That is cool! N.C. State played an awesome game. They were up 33-25 at the half. One must remember that Akeem had an awesome first half and single-handily kept Houston in the game. If not for Akeem's excellence, N.C. State might have had the game out of reach at halftime. You never know!

[higgy04]

Gary Bender with the call. Where was 'Hamburger'? I mean Brent Musburger? I always like the shot of Jimmy V running up and down the court at the end of the game. When did the three-point line come into effect in NCAA Basketball? Great clip.

[gymman1031]

It came into effect in the 1986-1987 season. That was the year that Steve Alford and Indiana won it all.

[canesfan29]

it was more UNC and their four corners offense that forced the shot clock than this game

[ccjordan]

That is a senseless comment. There is no way to know what the outcome would have been had the rules been different. You might as well go back and re-write history and change the outcome of games before the shot clock even existed or before dunking was allowed.

[bbbbbaaaaa]

Because of this game the shot clock was shortened and the rule for off-ball fouling was changed. Not to take anything away from Jimmy V and NC St. as he was using the rules to his advantage and I tip my hat to him for that but if this game was played with modern rules Houston would win huge.

[WolfPup35]

The shot clock was used to stop UNC and Dean Smith's jackass hold the ball forever tactic.

[huggyface]

That gray headed bastard's tactic is called, "4 corners"...I sure wish Valvano would've been right when he joked about outliving Dean. Dean Smith is a dickhead.

[adsfo]

thats not a truth. its purely speculation.

[IceCHIEF19]

was this before there was a shot clock?

[dkst0426]

Shot clock was 45 seconds back then

[dxiong31]

Greatest Game Ever!

[briansvoice]

How can I get a copy of this video if it is the original broadcast? One of the greatest games in history!

[McCall72]

ncca on demand dot com has this game on DVD. I just got it the other day. It doesn't have any extras though, just the game from the tip until Cozell McQueen is standing on top of the basket..

[RobynHode8]

Still one of the greatest final seconds in NCAA tournament history.