The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1043000
90 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER W hether they played with a lim‑ ited lineup, against difficult odds or in the face of an unfor‑ tunate call, NC State's 1988‑89 men's basketball team exceeded its nearly insurmountable circumstances. In the face of an NCAA investigation, there was some doubt about how Jim Val‑ vano's team would perform on the court, whether it might fall apart or draw closer together. However, there was little doubt inside the team locker room — Valvano's teams always thrived in the face of adversity. Nothing exhibited that more than an icy Saturday afternoon in mid‑February three decades ago, when only a handful of play‑ ers and a limited coaching staff made it to Atlanta for a men's basketball game against Georgia Tech. Valvano had to leave a few players, managers and other team personnel behind because a classic southern ice storm shut down Raleigh‑Durham International Air‑ port the night the Wolfpack was supposed to leave for their nationally televised con‑ test against the 13th‑ranked Yellow Jackets. Two charter flights out of RDU were canceled because of the icy conditions, forcing Valvano and his staff to scramble for 14 seats on a mid‑Saturday morning commercial flight for the 12:15 contest. The coach and his bare‑bones squad — all dressed in their uniforms, taped and ready to play — landed at Hartsfield In‑ ternational Airport 25 minutes before the scheduled tip‑off. That's barely enough time to change concourses at Hartsfield, let alone make through Atlanta traffic for a basketball game. The ACC and television gave the Wolf‑ pack an extra half hour to get to the game, A Few Good Men Jim Valvano's 1988-89 Squad Overcame Many Obstacles To Win NC State's Last ACC Regular Season Title