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

1983 Final Four and today’s Georgia Bulldogs

Back to Albuquerque. On April 2, 1983, Georgia basketball’s Cinderella season came to an end. They trailed 33-22 at the half and tried to claw back, outscoring the Wolfpack 38-34 in the second half, but it was not enough. North Carolina State won 67-60.

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What followed is perhaps the most electrifying final game in NCAA history. The other Cinderella, NC State, beat the heavily favored Houston Cougars led by Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon on a buzzer-beater that made Jim Valvano one of the most sought after person of anywhere for the remainder of his life.

The sheer joy he displayed that night won the hearts of the world. Valvano is most famous for his courage and humor as he faced terminal cancer. At the 1993 ESPY Awards, two months before he died, Valvano gave one of the most inspirational speeches of all time. His legacy lives on with the Jimmy V Foundation, which raises millions annually for cancer research.

The Georgia basketball world wants a dominant basketball program so badly we can taste it. In this era of one and done stars that is a difficult feat to achieve outside of the states of North Carolina, Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, etc.

Yet Georgia is a talent-rich basketball state. Give Tom Crean his chance. Building a winning culture takes time, and he has done it elsewhere. As we watch him at work we can enjoy the wit, humor and charm that liken him to “Jimmy V.”

And cheers to Durham, Fleming, Banks, Crosby, Heard, Fair and a supporting cast who gave us the most special 1983 memories for which every Georgia fan can be proud.