 Valvano in 1982 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1946-03-10)March 10, 1946 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 28, 1993(1993-04-28) (aged 47) Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1964–1967 | Rutgers |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1967–1969 | Rutgers (assistant) |
| 1969–1970 | Johns Hopkins |
| 1970–1972 | Connecticut (assistant) |
| 1972–1975 | Bucknell |
| 1975–1980 | Iona |
| 1980–1990 | NC State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1977–1980 | Iona |
| 1986–1989 | NC State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 346–210 |
| Tournaments | 12–8 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| NCAA Division I tournament (1983) NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (1983) 2ACC tournament (1983,1987) 2 ACC regular season (1985, 1989) | |
| Awards | |
| ACC Coach of The Year (1989) Arthur Ashe Courage Award (1993) | |
James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamedJimmy V, was an Americancollege basketball player, coach, and broadcaster.[1][2] Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating atNC State. While the head coach at NC State, his team won the1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball title against improbable odds.[3][4][5] Valvano is remembered for his ecstatic celebration after winning the national championship game against the heavily favoredHouston Cougars.
Valvano is also remembered for an inspirational and memorable speech delivered at the 1993ESPY Awards while terminally ill with cancer. Valvano implored the audience to laugh, think, and cry each day and announced the formation of TheV Foundation for Cancer Research whose motto would be "Don't give up. Don't ever give up".[6] He gave the speech less than two months before his death fromadenocarcinoma.[7] TheESPY Awards now include theJimmy V Award named in his honor. Each year, a college basketball event called theJimmy V Classic is held in his honor and in support of cancer research.
Valvano was the middle child of Rocco and Angelina Valvano, and was of Italian descent. He was born inCorona,Queens,New York.[8] Valvano was a three-sport athlete atSeaford High School inSeaford onLong Island and graduated in 1963.[9]
Football coachVince Lombardi was Valvano's role model. Valvano told anESPY audience, on March 3, 1993, that he took some of Lombardi's inspirational speeches out of the bookCommitment to Excellence, and used them with his team. Valvano discussed how he planned to use Lombardi's speech to theGreen Bay Packers in front of his Rutgers freshman basketball team prior to his first game as their coach. He also mentioned that he accidentally told his team to "fight for the Green Bay Packers."
Valvano was apoint guard atRutgers University in 1967, where he partnered with first-team All-AmericanBob Lloyd in the backcourt. Under the leadership of Valvano and Lloyd, Rutgers finished third in the1967 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which was the last basketball tournament held at the thirdMadison Square Garden. (The1967 NCAA tournament field was just 23 teams and the NIT invited 14 teams.) He was named Senior Athlete of the Year at Rutgers in 1967, and graduated with a degree in English in 1967.
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Following graduation, Valvano began his coaching career at Rutgers as the freshman coach and assistant for the varsity.[9] His 19-year career as a head basketball coach began atJohns Hopkins inBaltimore for a season; he was then an assistant atConnecticut for two years. Following that, he was the head coach atBucknell,Iona, andNorth Carolina State. Valvano coached the Iona Gaels team during their highly successful 1979–80 season and a victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament, only to lose a close game to powerhouse Georgetown in the second game of the tournament. FollowingNorm Sloan's departure toFlorida, Valvano was hired at NC State on March 27, 1980, and made his debut on November 29, when the Wolfpack defeatedUNC-Wilmington 83–59.[10] During his ten seasons at NC State, Valvano's teams were the ACC's tournament champions in 1983 and 1987 and its regular season champions in 1985 and 1989. The Wolfpack won the NCAA championship in 1983,[11] in addition to advancing to the NCAA Elite 8 in1985 and1986. "Coach V" was voted ACC Coach of the Year in 1989. Valvano became NC State's athletic director in 1986. His overall record at NC State was 209–114 (.647) and his career record as a head coach was 346–210 (.622).
Valvano is most recognized for his reaction of running around on the court looking for somebody tohug in the moments after the Wolfpack victory came after the game-winning shot in the1983 NCAA finals.Dereck Whittenburg heaved a last-second desperation shot that was caught short of the rim and dunked byLorenzo Charles as time expired.[3][4]
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In 1989, accusations of rules violations surfaced in the bookPersonal Fouls byPeter Golenbock. These accusations centered mostly on high school All-AmericanChris Washburn, who managed only a 470 out of 1600 on hisSAT (with 400 being the starting score).[12] A 1989 NCAA investigation cleared Valvano, but found that players sold shoes and game tickets. As a result, NC State placed its basketball program on probation for two years (the maximum) and was banned from participating in the 1990 NCAA tournament. The state-appointed Poole Commission issued a 32-page report that concluded that there were no major violations of NCAA regulations, and that Valvano and his staff's inadequate oversight of players' academic progress violated "the spirit, not the letter of the law."
After this report, Valvano was forced to resign as the school's athletic director in October 1989, but remained as basketball coach through the1989–90 season.[13] Under subsequent pressure from the school's faculty and new chancellor, Valvano negotiated a settlement with NC State and resigned as basketball coach on April 7, 1990. Six separate entities investigated Valvano and the NC State basketball program including the NC State Faculty Senate, the North Carolina Attorney General, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the NC State Board of Trustees, and the NCAA. None of them found any evidence of recruiting violations or academic or financial impropriety on the part of Valvano or his staff. Dave Didion, the NCAA investigator handling Valvano's case, wrote a personal letter to Valvano, saying, among other things, "If I had a son, I would feel comfortable with you as his coach and encourage him to learn from you."[14] A school investigation did reveal that Valvano'sstudent-athletes did not perform well in the classroom, as only 11 of the players that he coached prior to 1988 had maintained an average of C or better.[15]
Valvano's version of these events can be found in his 1991autobiography,Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead.
After his coaching career, Valvano was abroadcaster forESPN andABC Sports,[16] including a stint as a sideline reporter for the inaugural season of theWorld League of American Football. In 1992, Valvano won aCable ACE Award for Commentator/Analyst for NCAA basketball broadcasts. From time to time he was paired with basketball analystDick Vitale, dubbed the "Killer Vees", with similar voices and exuberant styles. The two even made acameo appearance, playing the role of professional movers (V&V Movers), on an episode ofThe Cosby Show.
Valvano created JTV enterprises to guide many of his entrepreneurial endeavors. He gave hundreds of motivational speeches across the country and was a featured guest onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson andLate Night with David Letterman.
In June 1992, Valvano was diagnosed with metastaticadenocarcinoma, a type of glandular cancer that can spread to the bones.[1][7][9][17][18]
One of Valvano's most memorable motivational speeches was delivered at NC State'sReynolds Coliseum, less than 10 weeks before his death, during the 10-year commemoration of the 1983 NCAA championship.[19] It was during this speech on February 21 that Valvano stressed the importance of hope, dreams, love, and persistence, and included his famous "Don't give up, don't ever give up" quotation.
Eleven days later on Thursday, March 4, 1993, he spoke at the firstESPY Awards atMadison Square Garden,[20] presented by ESPN.[21] While accepting the inauguralArthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, he announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.[22] He announced that the foundation's motto would be "Don't Give Up...Don't Ever Give Up". During his speech, the teleprompter stated that he had thirty seconds left, to which Valvano responded, "That screen up there is flashing 30 seconds, like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going '30 seconds'". His speech included this statement:
To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.[23]
Valvano's ESPY acceptance speech became legendary. He closed by saying that "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all." He received a standing ovation.
Valvano's hair was expected to fall out with chemotherapy treatment, but it did not. Along with his ever-positive outlook, this masked to the public how serious his sickness was and the amount of pain he was dealing with.[1][17] He preemptively had his head shaved and was prepared to use a variety of whimsical wigs on his broadcasts, but his own hair remained.[7]
New York native Valvano had always wanted to throw out the first pitch atYankee Stadium. He had been given that honor for the 1993 season opener to be held on April 12,[24][25] but he was too ill to do so. Coaching rival and friendDean Smith, one week removed from leading North Carolina to the national championship, substituted for Valvano.[26]
Valvano died at age 47 on April 28, 1993 atDuke University Medical Center inDurham, North Carolina, less than two months after his famous ESPY speech, following a nearly year long battle with metastaticadenocarcinoma of unknown origin. He died 10 years to the month after winning the national championship in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.[2][8][27][9] He is buried in the Cedar Hill Section ofOakwood Cemetery inRaleigh. His tombstone reads: "Take time every day to laugh, to think, to cry."
In 1983, Valvano coined the phrase "survive and advance".[28] A 1996TV movie titledNever Give Up: The Jimmy V Story, starredAnthony LaPaglia as Valvano. The movie was filmed in various locations includingWilmington, North Carolina, and on the campus of theUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington.
In 1993, Valvano was inducted into the Rutgers Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1999, Valvano was inducted into both the Hall of Distinguished Alumni at Rutgers University and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2004, Valvano was inducted into theNational Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was named to the first class of the NC State Athletics Hall of Fame.[29]
On March 17, 2013, ESPN broadcast "Survive and Advance," a documentary on North Carolina State's 1983 championship run, as part of its30 for 30 Volume II anthology series. Along with the 1983 season, it also covered the final months of his life during his battle with cancer. The documentary was first broadcast on the 30th anniversary of the Wolfpack's double overtime victory againstPepperdine in the first round of the 1983 NCAA tournament.
On March 1, 2016, a book byJohn Feinstein titledThe Legends Club:Dean Smith,Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry was released to glowing reviews.[30] Krzyzewski arrived at Duke the same season as Valvano did at North Carolina State.
In 2018, North Carolina State University's William Neal Reynolds Coliseum was renamed James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum in honor of Valvano.[31][32]
On August 12, 2023, Valvano was posthumously inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game both on and off the court.[33]
Valvano married his high school sweetheart Pam and they had three daughters. His younger brother,Bob, is a sportscaster and former basketball coach.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins Blue Jays(Middle Atlantic Conference)(1969–1970) | |||||||||
| 1969–70 | Johns Hopkins | 10–9 | |||||||
| Johns Hopkins: | 10–9 | ||||||||
| Bucknell Bison(Middle Atlantic Conference)(1972–1975) | |||||||||
| 1972–73 | Bucknell | 11–14 | 6–4 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1973–74 | Bucknell | 8–16 | 2–8 | T–5th | |||||
| 1974–75 | Bucknell | 14–12 | 4–4 | T–3rd | |||||
| Bucknell: | 33–42 | 12–16 | |||||||
| Iona Gaels(NCAA Division I independent)(1975–1980) | |||||||||
| 1975–76 | Iona | 11–15 | |||||||
| 1976–77 | Iona | 15–10 | |||||||
| 1977–78 | Iona | 17–10 | |||||||
| 1978–79 | Iona | 23–6 | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||||
| 1979–80 | Iona | 28–4 | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||||
| Iona: | 94–45 | ||||||||
| NC State Wolfpack(Atlantic Coast Conference)(1980–1990) | |||||||||
| 1980–81 | NC State | 14–13 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1981–82 | NC State | 22–10 | 7–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1982–83 | NC State | 26–10 | 8–6 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I champion | ||||
| 1983–84 | NC State | 19–14 | 4–10 | 7th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1984–85 | NC State | 23–10 | 9–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 1985–86 | NC State | 21–13 | 7–7 | T–4th | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 1986–87 | NC State | 20–15 | 6–8 | 6th | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1987–88 | NC State | 24–8 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1988–89 | NC State | 22–9 | 10–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 1989–90 | NC State | 18–12 | 6–8 | T–5th | |||||
| NC State: | 209–114 | 71–69 | |||||||
| Total: | 346–210 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
