NC State basketball

2023 - 2 - 23

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Image courtesy of "Raleigh News & Observer"

NC State basketball honors Sidney Lowe, 1983 national champs ... (Raleigh News & Observer)

Sidney Lowe, who won NCAA championship with NC State in 1983 and later coached Wolfpack, returned to PNC Arena for the first time Wednesday.

“It was great to have Sidney Lowe back, it really was,” Keatts said after the Pack’s 90-74 win. Also lost have been Lorenzo Charles, who had “Destiny’s Dunk” to beat Houston in the NCAA championship game, former player Quinton Leonard and assistant coach Ed McLean. Former guard Terry Gannon, who has a busy schedule as a sportscaster with NBC and the Golf Channel, was able to return again. But the Pack could not reach the NCAA tournament, and Lowe stepped down after five seasons, accepting a buyout in March 2011 as Debbie Yow, then the AD, looked to make a change after a 15-16 season. Lowe was back in the NBA, again an assistant coach. The NBA was taking its All-Star Game break, giving Lowe and Thurl Bailey, a former NBA player and now broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz, the chance to get back. The Pack reached the ACC tournament final in 2007, Lowe’s first season, winning 20 games and going to the third round of the NIT. “Sidney has been really good to me. It’s great to feel loved, to feel the love from our fans.” With Lowe at point guard, the Wolfpack beat ‘em all — North Carolina with Michael Jordan, Virginia with Ralph Sampson, Houston with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon — in first winning an ACC championship, then the national championship. “To get back here and see these guys and see familiar faces, to feel the love from the university, it’s great. Former athletic director Lee Fowler, after first trying to hire such head coaches as Rick Barnes, John Calipari and John Beilein, turned to Lowe, then an assistant coach in the NBA.

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Image courtesy of "Inside Pack Sports"

WILSON: Finding Parallels Between Forty Years Ago and Now (Inside Pack Sports)

With the legacy of the 1983 NCAA National Championship team on full display in NC State's latest home game, this begs the question -- is this the year the ...

In 2023, one of the common reoccurring themes that all of the players constantly tell the media is how strong their bond and their love is for one another. At this point of the season, the Wolfpack is firmly in a position where it doesn’t have to win the ACC Tournament in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, unlike the 1983 squad. Then, of course, there’s Bailey, one of the largest icons -- figuratively and literally -- in NC State history. But there’s an even bigger aspect of both of these teams that can be the difference maker down the stretch. Out of those three, Smith is the least experienced when it comes to the college game, but he shines as one of the most talented players in the ACC. There’s a bit of a stretch in one aspect of this parallel, but in 2023, the Wolfpack definitely has a prominent three-headed monster with Jarkel Joiner, Terquavion Smith, and D.J. Or, in other words, one of the key facets of Burns’ skillset and Keatts’ offensive philosophy. It’s also worth remembering the chemistry between Whittenburg and Lowe in the backcourt, cultivated through years of shared time from DeMatha Catholic High before arriving in Raleigh. Dereck Whittenburg’s prayer of a deep shot in the closing seconds of the title game versus Houston. Who are the facets of the Wolfpack’s centerpiece... First, take a look at the man at the top. The former team will be able to revel in the 50th anniversary of cutting down the nets next season, but for right now, the nostalgia goggles are focused directly on the latter.

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