The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1306549
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 ■ 47 everyone to go wherever they wanted! He wasn't just new — he was crazy new! But he basically put the ball back in our court with what he was about to say. "I know," he said, "that I am going to win a national championship." "Wow, that's a bold and selfish thing to say at your first meeting with your new team," I thought. For a short guy, he was aiming high, above the rim — he aimed to win it all! Everyone who plays college basketball wants to win a national championship. But Coach V sounded different when he in- sisted he had dreamt about it. That was not a euphemism. "I know how it looks," he said. "I've seen it. I know it's going to happen soon. If I can get you guys to see what I'm seeing, the dreams I'm dreaming …" This coach may as well have been George Psalmanazar, the 17th century con man who invented a fictional culture, alphabet and lan- guage. Yet thousands believed his wild tales. Wild Tales Vs. Tar Heels The reality for us was that 30 minutes down the road, in Chapel Hill, were the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC had future Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith. It had James Worthy and Sam Perkins and Matt Doherty. It also had another guy named Mi- chael Jordan. Michael hadn't fully arrived on the scene that year — that would come later — but if anybody was going to win a championship, it would be that team. Yet here was Coach V, speaking of the Promised Land, or Shangri-La, Utopia or Formosa for all we knew. As he spoke, his words started to sink in. More accurately, they penetrated my very being. He made you feel like if you didn't go along for that ride, you'd regret it the rest of your life. He wasn't just trying to sell us something that every other school was aspiring to. He was speaking to us. We couldn't help but intensely listen. He gave off that vibe of anticipation, a feeling that we were about to get started. He said we were there to get our college degrees, and he meant it, just like he meant everything else he said. In the basketball sense, he said everything had to be geared toward being a champion. "I promise that if you stay, not a day will go by without me reminding you of those goals." he said. Jimmy V was speaking in a strange and exotic language. We were mesmerized. Nobody left the locker room. Nobody left NC State, either. Not only us as players, but millions of others would come to know the dreams he saw. Mom: 'You Are Not Coming Home!' It's a traumatic experience for a college player to leave home, because you put so much trust in your coach. You practically put your life in his hands as he helps you make the transition. For some of us, changing coaches was disconcerting. Valvano arrived just after Dereck Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe and I had played our freshman season. The upper- classmen were on their way out when Norm Sloan left; they understood, in a sense. But for those of us who had recently been re- cruited, it was devastating. I immediately called home when I found out. "Mom, Coach Sloan left us," I said. "I don't know what to do. I think I'm going to come home." She said in response: "Son, you may be going somewhere, but you're definitely not coming home. You went there to get an education — and that's what you're going to do. That education will serve you well. Just look where you're coming from. There aren't many kids from here that are mak- ing anything of themselves, but you could be that kid. So get your education. Sit and listen to whoever they hire to be the new coach. Who knows, you may like the guy." "OK, Mom," I said. Back-talking wasn't my strong point. Fielding back-talk wasn't hers. ■ In his first team meeting after being hired by NC State, head coach Jim Valvano told Dereck Whittenburg (right) and the rest of the Wolfpack that he was going to win a national championship. PHOTO BY GREG HATEM Bailey (right) and Sidney Lowe (left) were recruited by Valvano's predecessor, Norm Sloan, but decided to stick around and were a big part of the Wolfpack's magical championship run. PHOTO BY GREG HATEM