“Survive and advance” is a term most associated with the NC State Wolfpack’s 1983 national championship team, a squad that has been immortalized for going on the most memorable Cinderella run in NCAA Tournament history. Just over four decades later, the 2024 Wolfpack may be channeling their legendary predecessors.
NC State has made the Final Four as an 11-seed, knocking off a hated Tobacco Road enemy in No. 4 Duke to reach the national semifinals for the first time since ‘83. This was yet another thrilling victory in March as D.J. Horne, D.J. Burns, and company have become the darlings of this year’s tournament. What is happening with Kevin Keatts’ team right now would’ve been a pipe dream two weeks ago as they had slim hope of even sniffing an NCAA tourney bid. Now they are just a handful of teams who still have their dancing shoes on.
Now before you throw rocks at me for even invoking the late Jim Valvano’s beloved ‘83 championship team, there are some striking parallels between the past and the present.
The ‘83 team struggled at times throughout ACC play, as they were severely affected by a mid-season injury to team captain Dereck Whittenburg. This year’s team sputtered down the stretch of ACC play, losing seven of its last nine regular season games. The ‘83 team finished the regular season with 10 losses and needed to win the notoriously cutthroat ACC Tournament to have a shot at the NCAA’s. This year’s team finished the campaign with 14 losses and needed a miracle run through the ACC tourney to make the Big Dance.
The ‘83 Pack managed to survive a tough ACC tourney in Atlanta, defeating Wake Forest, Michael Jordan’s North Carolina, and Ralph Sampson’s Virginia in three consecutive days to punch its ticket to the NCAA tourney. The ‘24 Pack went to the ACC tourney in Washington D.C. and managed to win five games in five days to secure their spot in the field of 68. And in the opening weekend, the ‘83 club had to gut out an overtime affair against a mid-major, knocking off Pepperdine 69-67 in double OT. This current squad just had to fend off Horizon League champion Oakland in a 79-73 OT thriller in the second round. And finally, the ‘83 Wolfpack had to once again upset an ACC rival in Virginia in the Elite Eight to get to the Final Four. This year’s team faced Duke in the Elite Eight and well, you get the point by now.
Will we be getting a ‘30 for 30’ on 2024 NC State several years down the road? Well, that’s for the team to decide as they still have a ways to go before they can officially claim a piece of college basketball history. The Pack are still longshots to win the national championship, but they can at least look to their own past for some inspiration.
Who knows, maybe D.J. Burns can play the role of Lorenzo Charles in the championship game.