There can’t be many people out there who haven’t heard of the phrase ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ and sometimes in sporting circles the stars just seem to align for a group of players and they then go on to achieve what had otherwise been thought of as the impossible.
One such case in point was NC State’s Cinderella run to the 1983 NCAA Championship under coach Jim Valvano, and nobody in college basketball could have forseen the March Madness that would eventually take place after his arrival – not least the players themselves as former NBA star Thurl Bailey explained as he looked back to the 1983 run with Betway Insider.
“I appreciate the fact that even young people now understand that was a moment in history that will have its place cemented in history, if you will, as one of the greatest finishes in any sport, not just basketball. There’s so many memories of that time, and I think the biggest one that stands out, is not even the championship game. It’s some of the things that led up to that championship with our team. A coach that came in who didn’t even recruit a lot of us, and told us that he was going to win a national championship, and we thought he was crazy as we looked at our team, and he never stopped believing. Jim Valvano was able to get us to understand and believe that we could achieve something great. That kind of story doesn’t happen, especially in sports, all the time. I think it’s a great kind of a microcosm of life, that there’s so much we can do together when we have belief in each other, and we have someone that believes in us.”
That wasn’t always the case though as Bailey goes on to explain, until Valvano properly got his feet under the desk, there was massive uncertainty in the camp, even to the point where Bailey – like others – we’re considering just leaving or potentially following Norm Sloan – but that first meeting in the cafeteria hooked everyone and the seeds of success were sown.
“We had our arms crossed, and we had our head down when he walked into the room, because we really, really didn’t want to hear it. He walks in there and talks about how he’s going to win the national championship, and if he can get us to see what he’s seeing and dream what we he’s been dreaming, then it could be possible. He hooked a lot of us after that because he was so enthusiastic about it. He felt like if you decided you didn’t want to be there then you’re going to miss something incredible. That’s how he built it. That’s how he sold it to us. We all stayed, and it took us a couple of years, but the thing I can say about coach Valvano was he always walked the walk. He didn’t just talk it, he believed it, and he made you believe it.”
Valvano’s methods could easily be described as unorthodox and having recalled a story from one of their first practices where the players basically just climbed a ladder and cut down the nets for two hours of complete awkwardness, he doubts anyone else in the game would still do these sorts of things.
But it bonded the group, gave them a vision and gave them a taste of belonging at a national championship as winners – and that’s how history will forever remember them and as we look set to enter April, North Carolina coach Hubert Davis is the next destined for the record books as he’s set to become only the second head coach in NCAA history to make a Final Four as a player and coach in a Final Four with their alma mater following on from Kansas’ Dick Harp.
With milestones set to be made after North Carolina ended Saint Peter’s own Cinderella run last weekend, Thurl Bailey will have appreciated the passion in Davis’ voice as he spoke after that win.
“Well, it was really emotional toward the end of the game when we can finally settle in and realize that these guys are going to a Final Four. It was something that I just desperately wanted for them. This is probably the most nervous I was before a game, because I just really wanted them to go to the Final Four. And it’s something that we had talked about at the beginning of the season. And then in the huddle I told them that it’s not a hope, it’s not a dream anymore, it’s a reality. And for these guys to have this experience, to be able to go to the Final Four, brings so much joy to my heart.”
The twists and turns aren’t over yet.
This is a paid guest post.