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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Lucas: The Jimmy V
December 6, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Tuesday was a night to remember a fierce competitor who has made a worldwide impact.
By Adam Lucas
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN—Tuesday night was a loss.
Tuesday night was a frustrating, 87-76 Tar Heel loss to a very good Connecticut team. Carolina simply missed too many shots to beat a potent offensive opponent, closing to within six with eight minutes to play, but too many missed jumpers on the way to a 7-for-20 performance from three-point range plus getting beaten on the backboards (43-33 was the final tally) was too much to overcome.
It's much easier to reconcile a loss like this while already having wins over Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State in hand. Come back to Chapel Hill, take exams, regroup, and get ready for Kentucky and Oklahoma, two more formidable challenges before Christmas. "Connecticut is a really good basketball team," Hubert Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "And we are, too."
Nothing happened on Tuesday that would eliminate that from being true. So Tuesday was a loss. But not a season-ending loss. Not even really a loss that makes you feel any differently about the possibilities this season might hold.
But Tuesday was also the Jimmy V Classic. It's been almost a quarter of a century since Carolina played in this event, and that's too long. It's too long because it's a centerpiece of December college basketball, and it's played in the country's biggest media market…and because it's in honor of Jim Valvano, and Carolina basketball knows about Jim Valvano. It was perfect that this was a 9 p.m. game, because when Valvano first arrived in Raleigh, he frequently talked about his dream of coaching "the 9:00 game at the Garden." Well, Jimmy V, on Tuesday your name was emblazoned at midcourt for the 9:00 game at the Garden.
We've reached the point that a lot of you know him as a character rather than a coach. And that means you probably don't remember what it was like for Carolina and NC State to be the fiercest of rivals—yes, more fierce than Carolina and Duke—and for the Wolfpack to be coached by one of the most dynamic people in sports.
If you missed it, I'm sorry. It means you missed Spud Webb against Kenny Smith, and you missed Washburn and Shackleford, and you missed Fire and Ice, and man, you missed some characters.
You also missed an era when there were no Duke fans. I know, I know, it sounds like heaven. But hear me out—State fans were that era's version of Duke fans. It's just that it was different because State fans actually lived here, and they were in your schools and at your family reunions and at church on Sunday morning after Dinah Shore had given out the Holly Farms Player of the Game Award on Saturday afternoon.
The 1987 ACC Tournament championship remains one of the most dismal days of my sports fan life…because State and Jimmy V inexplicably beat the (previously 14-0 in the ACC regular season) Tar Heels, and I knew I would have to go to school the next day and face all the State fans. Carolina was indisputably and consistently better than NC State throughout the 1980s. But those games always made you nervous, because of Jimmy V. He was an all-time character, yes, and he would have owned the year 2023, would have been a social media darling. But he could also coach.
Those 1980s and 1990s games felt much closer on Tuesday night than they have at any recent Carolina-NC State games. Maybe it was playing the speech. Maybe it was the giant Jimmy V logo at midcourt. Maybe it was sitting one seat over from Bob Valvano.
And do you know what was the first thing Valvano said when he approached the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast location?
"How's the big fella?"
No one knows better than the Valvano family—Bob is a stage four cancer survivor—that cancer makes little things like team allegiances seem insignificant. So it makes sense that his first question would be about Eric Montross.
When I was growing up, Jim Valvano and his family lived around the corner from us in Cary. One of his daughters, Jamie, was my very occasional babysitter. If she had been successful in converting me, well, I don't like to think about it. When the Pack won the national championship in 1983—my father will still tell you that rooting for the local team that year is one of his biggest sporting regrets—the Valvano family put a big, red number-one on their front door. Low key was not really Jim Valvano's style.
It seemed like an incredible achievement, and to a little kid, it felt like being at the center of the sporting universe to be that close to a championship. Someone in my neighborhood had been on television! Imagine one day being able to be that close to such an everlasting moment.
Funny thing, though. Here we are, 40 years after that game in Albuquerque, and no one talked much about Lorenzo Charles or Dereck Whittenburg or Terry Gannon. But Tuesday night was filled with stories about the over $350 million the V Foundation has raised for cancer research, and about the spirit with which Jim Valvano infused that organization before his death just two months after the ESPYs speech.
It was right there on the shooting shirts Carolina wore during pregame, which featured Valvano's "Don't Ever Give Up" line on the back.
There was a time when it would have been impossible that any part of a Tar Heel uniform would have included a Jim Valvano quote. Jimmy V, in all likelihood, would've loved this. Remember, this is the same man who stole the ball after the buzzer when Carolina beat NC State in the final game at Carmichael Auditorium in 1986, raced down the court, and made a layup just so he could claim eternal bragging rights for the final basket ever at Carmichael. Now the Tar Heels were wearing his quote on their uniforms.
Tuesday's game was important. Carolina will make a late-night flight home, get into bed around 4 a.m., study for exams, and use the loss to find ways to get better. There will be plenty more opportunities to talk about this year's Tar Heels, and about improving the rebounding, and getting more consistent from the perimeter, and tightening up the defense.
But this is our one chance this year to talk about Jimmy V. He was not just a character. He was a coach, he was a competitor, he was a father, he was a husband. He was funny and he was a leader and he had some flaws, too. There was a time that, to a kid at Farmington Woods Elementary School, him being the NC State head basketball coach seemed like the biggest flaw anyone could ever have, the defining trait of any human being. Father of my babysitter, a guy we saw driving around the neighborhood who would wave happily at kids on their bikes? Nah. He was a Wolfpacker. It was irredeemable.
Turns out it really didn't matter. Because Jim Valvano died at the age of 47. And on Tuesday night, an entire arena fell silent while the people inside listened to him give a speech that happened 30 years ago. The organization founded in his honor has raised hundreds of millions and inspired countless millions. An entire Carolina basketball team wore his quote on their shirts. Everyone, Tar Heels included, knows someone in a fight against this disease. And if Jim Valvano helped make even one of those fights better, gave even one of those people hope, then, well..I'm trying...this isn't easy...Go Pack.
He would have had an incredible amount of fun at this event, shaking hands and looking for people to hug and, of course, telling stories. Some of them might have even been at least partially true. Hey, look at the Tar Heels out there. Did he ever tell you the one about the last game at Carmichael?
Learn more about the V Foundation here.
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN—Tuesday night was a loss.
Tuesday night was a frustrating, 87-76 Tar Heel loss to a very good Connecticut team. Carolina simply missed too many shots to beat a potent offensive opponent, closing to within six with eight minutes to play, but too many missed jumpers on the way to a 7-for-20 performance from three-point range plus getting beaten on the backboards (43-33 was the final tally) was too much to overcome.
It's much easier to reconcile a loss like this while already having wins over Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State in hand. Come back to Chapel Hill, take exams, regroup, and get ready for Kentucky and Oklahoma, two more formidable challenges before Christmas. "Connecticut is a really good basketball team," Hubert Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "And we are, too."
Nothing happened on Tuesday that would eliminate that from being true. So Tuesday was a loss. But not a season-ending loss. Not even really a loss that makes you feel any differently about the possibilities this season might hold.
But Tuesday was also the Jimmy V Classic. It's been almost a quarter of a century since Carolina played in this event, and that's too long. It's too long because it's a centerpiece of December college basketball, and it's played in the country's biggest media market…and because it's in honor of Jim Valvano, and Carolina basketball knows about Jim Valvano. It was perfect that this was a 9 p.m. game, because when Valvano first arrived in Raleigh, he frequently talked about his dream of coaching "the 9:00 game at the Garden." Well, Jimmy V, on Tuesday your name was emblazoned at midcourt for the 9:00 game at the Garden.
We've reached the point that a lot of you know him as a character rather than a coach. And that means you probably don't remember what it was like for Carolina and NC State to be the fiercest of rivals—yes, more fierce than Carolina and Duke—and for the Wolfpack to be coached by one of the most dynamic people in sports.
If you missed it, I'm sorry. It means you missed Spud Webb against Kenny Smith, and you missed Washburn and Shackleford, and you missed Fire and Ice, and man, you missed some characters.
You also missed an era when there were no Duke fans. I know, I know, it sounds like heaven. But hear me out—State fans were that era's version of Duke fans. It's just that it was different because State fans actually lived here, and they were in your schools and at your family reunions and at church on Sunday morning after Dinah Shore had given out the Holly Farms Player of the Game Award on Saturday afternoon.
The 1987 ACC Tournament championship remains one of the most dismal days of my sports fan life…because State and Jimmy V inexplicably beat the (previously 14-0 in the ACC regular season) Tar Heels, and I knew I would have to go to school the next day and face all the State fans. Carolina was indisputably and consistently better than NC State throughout the 1980s. But those games always made you nervous, because of Jimmy V. He was an all-time character, yes, and he would have owned the year 2023, would have been a social media darling. But he could also coach.
Those 1980s and 1990s games felt much closer on Tuesday night than they have at any recent Carolina-NC State games. Maybe it was playing the speech. Maybe it was the giant Jimmy V logo at midcourt. Maybe it was sitting one seat over from Bob Valvano.
And do you know what was the first thing Valvano said when he approached the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast location?
"How's the big fella?"
No one knows better than the Valvano family—Bob is a stage four cancer survivor—that cancer makes little things like team allegiances seem insignificant. So it makes sense that his first question would be about Eric Montross.
When I was growing up, Jim Valvano and his family lived around the corner from us in Cary. One of his daughters, Jamie, was my very occasional babysitter. If she had been successful in converting me, well, I don't like to think about it. When the Pack won the national championship in 1983—my father will still tell you that rooting for the local team that year is one of his biggest sporting regrets—the Valvano family put a big, red number-one on their front door. Low key was not really Jim Valvano's style.
It seemed like an incredible achievement, and to a little kid, it felt like being at the center of the sporting universe to be that close to a championship. Someone in my neighborhood had been on television! Imagine one day being able to be that close to such an everlasting moment.
Funny thing, though. Here we are, 40 years after that game in Albuquerque, and no one talked much about Lorenzo Charles or Dereck Whittenburg or Terry Gannon. But Tuesday night was filled with stories about the over $350 million the V Foundation has raised for cancer research, and about the spirit with which Jim Valvano infused that organization before his death just two months after the ESPYs speech.
It was right there on the shooting shirts Carolina wore during pregame, which featured Valvano's "Don't Ever Give Up" line on the back.
There was a time when it would have been impossible that any part of a Tar Heel uniform would have included a Jim Valvano quote. Jimmy V, in all likelihood, would've loved this. Remember, this is the same man who stole the ball after the buzzer when Carolina beat NC State in the final game at Carmichael Auditorium in 1986, raced down the court, and made a layup just so he could claim eternal bragging rights for the final basket ever at Carmichael. Now the Tar Heels were wearing his quote on their uniforms.
Tuesday's game was important. Carolina will make a late-night flight home, get into bed around 4 a.m., study for exams, and use the loss to find ways to get better. There will be plenty more opportunities to talk about this year's Tar Heels, and about improving the rebounding, and getting more consistent from the perimeter, and tightening up the defense.
But this is our one chance this year to talk about Jimmy V. He was not just a character. He was a coach, he was a competitor, he was a father, he was a husband. He was funny and he was a leader and he had some flaws, too. There was a time that, to a kid at Farmington Woods Elementary School, him being the NC State head basketball coach seemed like the biggest flaw anyone could ever have, the defining trait of any human being. Father of my babysitter, a guy we saw driving around the neighborhood who would wave happily at kids on their bikes? Nah. He was a Wolfpacker. It was irredeemable.
Turns out it really didn't matter. Because Jim Valvano died at the age of 47. And on Tuesday night, an entire arena fell silent while the people inside listened to him give a speech that happened 30 years ago. The organization founded in his honor has raised hundreds of millions and inspired countless millions. An entire Carolina basketball team wore his quote on their shirts. Everyone, Tar Heels included, knows someone in a fight against this disease. And if Jim Valvano helped make even one of those fights better, gave even one of those people hope, then, well..I'm trying...this isn't easy...Go Pack.
He would have had an incredible amount of fun at this event, shaking hands and looking for people to hug and, of course, telling stories. Some of them might have even been at least partially true. Hey, look at the Tar Heels out there. Did he ever tell you the one about the last game at Carmichael?
Learn more about the V Foundation here.
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