If casual sports fans know only one thing about NC State, chances are they’re probably most familiar with the 1983 “Survive and Advance” men’s basketball national championship team.
That is thanks to its standing as one of the most improbable championship teams in the history of any sport, the 30 for 30 documentary that immortalized it forever and made it accessible to a whole new generation of fans, and of course its legendary leader whose name now dons the facility that houses the NC State Hall of Fame, James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum.
It was only right that the unforgettable squad finally — after months of waiting due to Hurricane Florence postponing the original ceremony in September — had its turn to officially be inducted into the NC State athletics Hall of Fame Saturday night, and that it happened at the site where so many of its triumphs occurred.
“One of the most memorable and iconic teams in college basketball history, not just NC State,” was how director of athletics Debbie Yow remembered the squad.
Fellow 2018 Hall of Fame inductee and longtime PGA golfer Tim Clark remembered that even when he arrived at NC State in 1996 that team was still “almost all anybody spoke about.”
It was a highlight for many of the 1983 players to celebrate the honor at the “building where our fearless leader, Jim Valvano, showed us all and everyone watching how ordinary people can do extraordinary things every day,” which is what Terry Gannon, now an NBC sportscaster who spoke for the entire induction class at the ceremony, called it during his speech.
He then reminded everyone they were standing inside of the same walls where, among other things, the Pack “took down Michael Jordan and Dean Smith in 1983 — and to this day, that is the loudest I’ve ever heard an arena get … and I’ve been in a few arenas.”
According to Gannon, it also was where 5,000 people once showed up to watch the team practice and the birthplace of students camping out before games — even though it’s “a school down the road” that’s known for it now.
Each Hall of Fame inductee had their own memories come flooding back, but the common thread among the basketball players seemed to involve Reynolds and its historic atmosphere. The piped-in smoke during the pre-ceremony reception Saturday was perhaps an unintended nostalgic touch for many who remember the building in its heyday.
“It’s a story that will never get old,” 1983 center Thurl Bailey explained. “When you’re a part of something like that and your legacy is on the wall here at NC State, it’s special.”
But to have that wall his team is immortalized on be at Reynolds makes it even more special for him. Bailey noted the fondest memory about his time at NC State was The Old Barn and “how this place was rocking, just rocking, especially when we went up against our rivals.”
“This is where it happened, this is where four great years of my life were spent,” he continued. “To have a guy like Jim Valvano come in my second year and tell us about his dreams to win a championship, and to buy in to that and to go through all the ups and downs and end up being a national champion in the way that we did it, there’s no question, it’s always good to be back here and be in the place where it all began.
“I see the changes, but it’s still a beautiful place with beautiful memories in it.”
Although fellow 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Rodney Monroe, the basketball program’s all-time leading scorer, was not a part of that 1983 team, he had just as many positive memories of the arena where he donned the red and white.
“I never played to get into the Hall of Fame, I just played and did the best that I could do,” he said. “To finally have this happen, it’s an awesome feeling.
“Reynolds was always one of the best places to play in — the way the fans were set up was great, they were up close and on you compared to some of the other venues we played in; it was a great atmosphere. I don’t remember the record we had the four years I played here, but it had to be pretty good.”
With the end of Yow’s tenure as AD quickly approaching — Boo Corrigan takes over April 30 — the ceremony also served as a fitting, unofficial tribute to send her off with.
After all, it was Yow who oversaw the start of the NC State Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2012, and correctly located it inside of a renovated Reynolds Coliseum, making it one of the building’s centerpieces upon completion.
On Saturday night, Reynolds hosted a grand celebration as the school's most iconic team rightfully took its official, permanent place among the all-time greats, along with Monroe, Clark — the first golfer to be enshrined — swimming and diving coach/athletic director Willis Casey, Olympic gold medalist and national champion swimmer Cullen Jones, and women’s basketball All-American Trudi Lacey as the last class honored under Yow.
The entire night could be summed up in one comment overheard from a Wolfpack fan to Yow, thanking her for all she’s done: “You won’t remember us, but we’ll never forget you.”
The 2018 Class (in addition to the 1983 team)
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