Before the viewing of the latest ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, a sure-fire NC State fan must-see called "Survive and Advance," NCSU athletics director Debbie Yow told The Wolfpacker that even though she had not seen the piece, she knew the film was destined to be good.

Her confidence was primarily based on director Jonathan Hock, whose previous contribution to the 30 for 30 series included the exceptionally well-received "The Best That Never Was" about talented running back Marcus Dupree, whose knee injuries kept him from reaching his immense potential during his brief but tumultuous career.

Yow's suspicion was well-founded. Once the documentary laid the necessary background information and began intertwining the 1983 team's run through the ACC and NCAA Tournaments with its head Jim Valvano's inspirational battle with cancer 10 years later, Hock's film gripped the assembled crowd at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh Monday night and will likely do the same to a national audience Sunday at 9 p.m., on ESPN when it is premiered.

Hock had a lot going for him while directing "Survive and Advance." First and foremost, the exciting run to a national title and Valvano's heroic battle with cancer are narrated by a collection of excellent storytellers. The cast starts withDereck Whittenburg, who played the central role in the feature among the former players on the team, and he is capably joined by Sidney Lowe, Thurl Bailey, Terry Gannon, Ernie Myers and Cozell McQueen.

The players, mixing humor and emotional moments, did an impressive job recapping their journey together, and their camaraderie comes across as genuine and sincere. Hock's decision to film a reunion of sorts with many players on the team going over their postseason triumphs in the casual setting of a restaurant was one of the best decisions made during the documentary.

Then there were was Valvano, the ultimate storyteller. Even though his passing was 20 years ago, he still carried the documentary.

Whittenburg and Hock started working on this project after the former Wolfpack standout watched ESPN's documentary on Michigan's famous Fab Five, which premiered in 2011. Whittenburg's first thought after watching "Fab Five" was that the 1983 squad had a pretty good story to tell itself.

Not long after Whittenburg reached out to Hock, Lorenzo Charles, the hero of the championship game, tragically died in a bus accident. Charles' death and funeral leads off the documentary.

With Valvano and Charles' passing, Whittenburg is the only remaining member of that fateful play in Albuquerque, N.M., and thus appropriately he is the chief narrator of the documentary. An impressive cast of figures who were in NC State's path that March of 1983, including former Pedderdine coach Jim Harrick, former Virginia assistant coach Dave Odom, Virginia star Ralph Sampson, then-UNC assistant Roy Williams and a host of Houston players, including Hakeem Olajuwon, also contributed to the film.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski additionally was able to effectively add some poignant reflection on Valvano and help define his legacy both in the ACC and with his Jimmy V Foundation that has raised over $120 million for cancer research since it was started in 1993.

"Survive and Advance" succeeds in taking a well-known event and documenting it in a way that has probably not been seen, heard or read before. It achieves an impressive accomplishment of drawing viewers into a story they already know the ending and leave them with a new perspective of not only about what happened in 1983, but how it's impact extended long past the final buzzer.

In Valvano's ESPY Awards speech shortly before he died, he encouraged us to laugh, think and cry every day of our lives. There is a chance, especially NC State fans, will accomplish all those emotions when they watch "Survive and Advance."

- Matt Carter

Most everybody already knows the story about NC State's improbable run to the 1983 NCAA Championship. The team wasn't even listed in the national rankings when they headed to the ACC Tournament, but they were able to triumph in Atlanta, Ga., against a pair of top-five foes in a trio of games that were decided by a total of 11 points.

They nabbed the league's automatic bid to the big dance, and rattled off the requisite six wins needed to cut down the nets, once again despite some country-mile-long odds and several close games.

That championship run is a story for the ages, but while telling it in, "Survive and Advance," director Johnathan Hock focuses on more than just basketball. Seamlessly weaved throughout the film is the story of high school teammates Dereck Whittenburg and Sidney Lowe, who were both seniors on that squad, and the legend of the coach who wouldn't give up, Jim Valvano.

Hock draws this incredible, underlying parallel of Valvano's fight with cancer and the team's quest to survive and advance in March and into early April. Despite the odds, the coach would not give in and he never lost hope in either battle.

Hock also tells the tragic tale of Lorenzo Charles, who slammed down the final bucket of the season to clinch the national title over heavily favored Houston, but passed away in June of 2011.

In telling the two stories of what the team has lost, the film shows and details everything that roster had together under their ultra-charismatic coach - a bond that couldn't be broken, belief in each other and, although there was not an individual that was the best at anything by himself, when that group of men came together and played the No. 1 team in the nation on that April 4, they proved that they were the best team in the country.

"Survive and Advance" is about more than just basketball, and although it will take you up and down a roller coaster of emotions, chances are you will learn something new and see the story that everybody already knows from a different perspective.

- Ryan Tice