Georgia basketball: Reliving the Bulldog’s run through the 1983 Elite Eight

Jim Valvano and the 1982-83 NC State Wolfpack

Where were we? Oh yes, like Bugs Bunny, I was on my way to “Albakoikie” but made a “left toin.” This was before the days of GPS, and all we had were confusing upside down Warner Brothers Looney Tunes road maps. I would beg forgiveness, but this ain’t my fault.

Awaiting Georgia basketball in New Mexico was another team from the Tarheel State. For you youngsters out there, it was not Duke. The state to the north of Georgia is also home to another pretty solid basketball school, North Carolina State and their Wolfpack.

NC State was home to my likely cousin Tim Stoddard, the only man to win an NCAA Division I basketball title and a World Series ring, thank you very much. Tim, why don’t you ever return my calls? Oh, that’s right. No one will give me your phone number.

The 1983 NC State Wolfpack included starters Thurl Bailey, Lorenzo Charles, Cozell McQueen, Dereck Whittenburg and Sidney Lowe. Each was drafted by NBA teams and had pro careers as a player and/or coach.

But the 1983 NC State lightning rod was head coach Jim Valvano, who may be one of the most beloved human beings to ever grace this earth. As a coach and broadcaster, Valvano’s humor, humility and easy-going nature endeared him to even those who were not ardent fans of basketball.

This is not to demean a much-beloved Hugh Durham. But Hugh was “hard-wired” and intense, as is the mold of most successful roundball coaches. I like to think that current Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean bears many of Valvano’s attributes: a quick wit, ready smile and demonstrated, conspicuous love for his players.