The NC State Wolfpack had one more comeback left in them in downing the heavily favored Houston Cougars 54-52 as Lorenzo Charles snatched Dereck Whittenburg's 35-foot airball shot and dunked it home for the victory for Jim Valvano's underdog team. Houston's star center Akeem Olajuwon won the Most Outstanding Player as the last player to date to earn this award while playing for a team that failed to win the national title.
Four Play-In Games For 48-Team Field
There were 52 teams in the field, including eight competing in a preliminary round to decide which schools would be the four No. 12 seeds. The tournament ran from March 2 to April 4, 1983 with the Final Four being played in The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
NC State No. 6 Seed In West
NC State was seeded sixth in the West Regional. And Valvano's team had a tough run right from the start. In the first round, the Wolfspack trailed 11th-seeded Pepperdine by six points with 24 seconds left in overtime before rallying to win 69-67 in double overtime. NC State then held off No. 3 seed UNLV 71-70 to reach the Sweet 16, where Valvano had his only comfortable win, 75-56 over Utah. In the West final, NC State ended Ralph Sampson's career with Virginia, beat the No. 4 team in the nation 63-62 for the second time in two weeks to reach the Final Four.
Facing Georgia In Semis, Houston Vs. Louisville In Top Showdown
NC State's opponent in the national semifinals was Georgia, which was the last team to date to advance to the Final Four in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after beating nationally ranked No. 3 St. John's and No. 8 North Carolina to win the East region. And the Wolfpack got past the Bulldogs, 67-60 to reach the NCAA final. And their opponent would be the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars, nicknamed Phi Slama Jama for their spectacular playing style. Akeem Olajuwon and Houston ran past the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (nicknamed "The Doctors of Dunk") 94-81 with the future NBA Hall of Famer Olajuwon collecting 21 points, 22 rebounds and eight blocks.
NC State Wins Slowed-Down Battle
In the final in The Pit, Houston worked well in going through Olajuwon, who ended with 20 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks. But the Cougars made just 10-for-19 from the free throw line and Clyde Drexler picked up his four fouls in the first half. Still, the Wolfpack trailed by four points with three minutes left before Dereck Whittenburg knocked down back-to-back jumpers to knot the game with two minutes to play. With the game winding down, Whittenburg tried and missed a 35-foot shot only to have Lorenzo Charles going up uncontested by Olajuwon to grab the ball and dunk the winner at the buzzer for a 54-52 win. That set off a frenzy, including Valvano memorably running around the court amazed. Charles had four points and seven rebounds while Thurl Bailey led the Wolfspack with 15 points and Whittenburg scored 14.
Cardiac Pack
The NC State Wolfpack lived up to their nickname of the "Cardiac Pack" as Valvano's men proved resilient down the stretch with seven wins in their last nine games after trailing with a minute left in the game.
NC State Takes Title No. 2
The 1983 crown was the second in school history for NC State, following the 1974 NCAA crown which came on a 76-64 win over Marquette with David "Skywalker" Thompson under Norm Sloan.
