The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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144 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER T here they were, standing in the spotlight of the arena where most of them became stars. Most likely, they will never get the chance to be on this configuration of Reyn- olds Coliseum again. After the coming basketball season, it will undergo a $40 million renovation that will make the court cozier and expand the lobby and remaining area into the Walk of Fame. Several of them have already earned the spot, whether or not they have been elected to the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame yet. They'll likely be there soon enough. On Oct. 17, head coach Mark Gottfried invited some of the legends of Wolfpack basketball back to the home that made them famous for a Throwback With the Pack evening. From 30-year-old Julius Hodge to 60-year- old Monte Towe, players who will remain forever young in the minds of State fans took to the court one more time. "Monte told me there was no way he would pass up the chance to play at Reynolds one more time," his wife said while he was accept- ing the game's Most Valuable Player award. Towe, who regularly made 25-foot jumpers as a college guard, made his first-ever three- pointers, something that wasn't introduced to the college game until more than a decade after his career ended, at Reynolds Coliseum. Dereck Whittenburg, Gottfried's director of player development and a member of the 1983 NCAA championship team, sprinted out last, the first time his creaky knees have moved so fast in ages. He slapped hands with everyone, even if it wasn't as hard as he used to during his playing days. Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe were together again, and a spot or two of gray did nothing to cool off or melt "Fire and Ice." So what if Corchiani had to result to an old-man hook shot in the lane? "All three of the shots I took went in," he said with a laugh. Monroe, looking like he could still be one of the top three shooting guards in the ACC, made a few smooth three-pointers, just like he did over four years at Reynolds when he took over from David Thompson as the greatest scorer in NC State history. And the one pass he tried to throw went out of bounds. "That kind of caught me off guard — he had never thrown it to me before," said Cor- chiani, who was the first guard in NCAA history to post 1,000 career assists. "Now you see why I was always passing it to him." Vinny Del Negro, back in the broadcast booth after five years of coaching in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Clippers, made a three-pointer on the wing. Ernie Myers and Cozell McQueen played, but neither climbed on top of the backboard when the game was over, as they did while their teammates cut down the nets in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 5, 1983. Tom Gugliotta, Todd Fuller and Kevin Thompson all suited up again, giving the Wolfpack a fearsome frontline unlike any- thing it has seen in recent years. No one, thankfully, wore a unitard. There were some absences, of course. Thompson was unable to attend because of a family illness. Tom Burleson wasn't able to be there, nor was Kenny Carr. But Eddie Biedenbach, Hawkeye Whitney and Chris Washburn — all extremely talented players in their time — were on the sidelines wishing they could have suited up, too. "What made it fun for me was that the game was actually competitive," Corchiani said. "Those guys can still play. It wasn't like a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game. Everybody was getting after it." Corchiani and Gugliotta had to endure jokes about not getting thrown out of the gym, referring to the embarrassing spectacle that happened during a game against Florida State in 2012, when the former teammates were escorted out of PNC Arena after being ejected by ACC official Karl Hess. On a night of only remembering the great things, Gugliotta and Corchiani revealed that they had reconciled with Hess. They haven't necessarily forgiven him for what happened, when he accused them of criticizing his calls in the game. Perhaps the biggest surprise about the rec- onciliation is that it occurred at the behest of Wolfpack baseball coach Elliott Avent, who happened to be looking at Hess' son as a base- ball prospect. While scouting the player in the summer of 2012, Avent asked Hess to call up the former Wolfpack superstars to talk it out. "He called me and we talked about it," Gugliotta said. "I don't agree with his reason- ing for what happened, but I understand why he thought he needed to do what he did. He doesn't have to worry about it anymore. "I'm not planning on sitting courtside any- time soon. I'll be 30 rows up." For Corchiani, it was the second time he had made up with an official after a public embarrassment. He also accepted the apology of official Rick Hartzell, an ACC official who inexplicably called Corchiani for walking late in a game against Georgetown in the 1989 NCAA East Region semifinals. The Wolfpack was trying to overcome a big deficit when Corchiani drove into the lane against Alonzo Mourning. Corchiani hit the basket as Hartzell blew his whistle and was heading to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game. But Hartzell waved off the basket and called Corchiani for travel. Billy Packer then, and now, said it was the "worst call in NCAA Tournament history." Two seasons later, when Corchiani was a senior, Hartzell pulled him aside before an exhibition game and apologized for the call. "After that, how could I not talk to Hess, too?" he said. "They are both really good offi- cials and first-class people, because they were willing to talk to us about what happened. It made me feel better about both situations." So all is square with Gugliotta, Corchiani and Hess, thanks to a little intervention from Avent. And all is right with the memories of greatness for those players who returned to Reynolds one more time. ■ ■ PACK PERSPECTIVE NC State Greats Get Another Chance To Play In Reynolds Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker. You may contact him at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Monte Towe, the starting point guard on NC State's 1974 national championship team, was the MVP of a throwback game featuring former Wolfpack basketball legends Oct. 17. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN The Wolfpacker is a publication of: Coman Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Offices are located at 324 Blackwell St., Ste. 1020, Durham, N.C. 27701. (919) 688-0218. The Wolfpacker (ISSN 0273-8945) is published bimonthly. A subscription is $39.95 for six issues. For advertising or subscription information, call (800) 421-7751 or write The Wolfpacker. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Wolfpacker, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Periodical mail postage paid at Durham, N.C. 27702 and additional offices. First-class postage is $14 extra per year. E-mail: thewolfpacker@comanpub.com • Web site: www.thewolfpacker.com