If ever there was a “must read” article, this one is it. You can’t buy press this good. Something special is brewing in Raleigh, win or lose tomorrow afternoon. Sit back and feel the magic, and tell the kids your own stories about 1974, 1983, 1987, and every other moment of NC State’s proud basketball heritage. Tear-jerking excerpt:
As the latest upset wound to a conclusion Saturday, assistant coach Monty Towe leaned over and whispered in Lowe’s ear, “Happy birthday, Jimmy V.”
Since returning to his alma mater as head coach last spring, Lowe has paid more than one visit to Valvano’s grave site in Raleigh. When I talked to Lowe last week on the phone, he referred to V in the present tense, speaking with genuine affection for his former coach. Even before Towe whispered in his ear, Jimmy V was on Lowe’s mind in the final seconds.
“He would be very proud of these guys,” Lowe said of Valvano. “Their passion and the way they’ve been playing.”
V would be very proud of his former point guard, too. All he’s done in his first year in Raleigh is take the lowest-seeded team ever to the final of this august event. A No. 10 seed had never won a game in the ACC tourney before, much less three.
V would no doubt love the player meetings the Pack have held before every game this tournament, too. He’d love to hear Gavin Grant’s description of the message before the Pack played Duke on Thursday night: “Don’t come out and let anybody punk you.” Might not be soaring oratory, but it’s solid playground pragmatism.
Hat tip to SFN commenter “wayofthemaster.”
