NC State needed a miracle run in the ACC Tournament to even have a chance at qualifying for March Madness. Three weeks later, the Wolfpack show no signs of slowing down, dancing their way into the Elite Eight.
Sound familiar? It should.
Kevin Keatts’ NC State team still has to win two more games to reach the same pedestal as Jim Valvano’s 1983 national champion Wolfpack, but the similarities in their Cinderella runs are there.
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Valvano’s team, too, went into the ACC Tournament with their backs against the wall, needing some magic to keep their season alive. As The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy put it in his written history of the moment, the 1983 ACC Tournament “is where the real miracle occurred.”
The same could be said for Keatts’ 2024 NC State squad, which caught fire during a five-day, five-game run in Washington, D.C. to ignite an improbable NCAA Tournament push.
Comparing NC State’s Final Four run to Jim Valvano’s 1983 national championship team
| 2024 | 1983 | |
| 17-14 | Regular season record | 17-10 |
| 9-11 | ACC Record | 8-6 |
| 10th (of 15) | ACC rank | 4th (of 8) |
The way that each NC State team arrived at their respective miracle runs was wildly different.
Valvano’s 1983 team had national championship aspirations but an injury to their leading scorer Dereck Whittenburg, who averaged 17.5 points per game but suffered a broken foot with 17 games left in the season, derailed their momentum.
The Wolfpack struggled at first but eventually rallied without Whittenburg, winning 10 of their final 17 games, including a monster 41-point victory over Wake Forest to close the season. That gave NC State the hope it needed to pull off an ACC Tournament run in desperation.
Keatts’ 2024 squad was a completely different story. NC State crashed its way into the ACC Tournament, closing the season on a four-game losing streak to drop to 10th place in the conference. That meant it needed to win five games in a row — something it hadn’t done all season — to win the ACC Championship and punch an NCAA Tournament ticket.
And yet, two different paths lead to the same result, as both the 1983 and 2024 NC State Wolfpack were eventually crowned ACC Tournament champions.
NC State’s 1983 NCAA Tournament run
- Round of 64: Win vs. Pepperdine, 69-67 (2OT)
- Round of 32: Win vs. UNLV, 71-70
- Sweet 16: Win vs. Utah, 75-56
- Elite Eight: Win vs. Virginia, 63-62
- Final Four: Win vs. Georgia, 67-60
- National Championship: Win vs. Houston, 54-52
NC State’s 1983 NCAA Tournament run is widely considered to be one of the best Cinderella stories in sports history. Four of its six victories in the tournament were by two points or fewer.
The Wolfpack needed double overtime just to get out of the first round against Pepperdine. They defeated UNLV in the second round, completing a double-digit comeback in the second half behind a game-winner from Thurl Bailey with four seconds to play.
NC State’s only easy win came against Utah in the Sweet 16, winning by 19 points. It had to take down Virginia again in the Elite Eight, escaping with a one-point win on two made free throws from Lorenzo Charles.
The Wolfpack handled business against Georgia in the Final Four before a David vs. Goliath matchup against Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Houston in the national championship.
As the story goes, Charles threw down a game-winning dunk off Whittenburg’s long-range heave to win the NCAA title.
NC State’s 2024 NCAA Tournament run
- Round of 64: Win vs. Texas Tech, 80-67
- Round of 32: Win vs. Oakland, 79-73 (OT)
- Sweet 16: Win vs. Marquette, 66-58
- Elite Eight: Win vs. Duke, 76-64
- Final Four: TBD vs. Purdue
The 2024 Wolfpack are making noise as the sixth No. 11 seed in NCAA history to reach the Final Four.
Despite being underdogs against No. 6 Texas Tech, NC State made it look easy as it cruised to a 13-point victory in the Round of 64. The Wolfpack were expecting a tough second-round matchup against No. 3 Kentucky, but No. 14 Oakland did the dirty work for them in the first round.
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NC State brought an end to Oakland’s short-lived March Madness saga, coming away with an electrifying overtime win to keep its season alive. The Wolfpack’s toughest test came in the Sweet 16 against No. 2 Marquette, and they passed with flying colors. NC State led for the majority of the game, looking like the better team despite being underdogs once again.
It was a similar song and dance against No. 4 Duke in the Elite Eight. Despite trailing at the half, the Wolfpack outscored the Blue Devils 55-37 in the second half to run away with the game.
Now, the Wolfpack will face off against No. 1 Purdue to see if Keatts’ squad can keep the momentum rolling and eventually match Valvano’s inspiring and unexpected 1983 national championship.
