Wolfpack ‘pay tribute’ to ’83 team, on to Elite 8

• Adam Teicher, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterMar 29, 2024, 10:59 PM ET Close Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
  • Joined ESPN in 2013

DALLAS– None of this year’s NC State players were born in 1983 when the Wolfpack last went on their unlikely go to the guys’s NCAA competition championship. But they know the history.

“I’m fully conscious,”guard Casey Morsell stated. “We admire that group which group all throughout the year. Those guys have actually been important to us by returning, giving us feedback, providing us different things that we could do to be much better. So we definitely value them, and we honor them simply by going out and trying to win.”This season’s Wolfpack are ending up being like the 1983 team. An apparently unlikely team, as an 11-seed, to make a deep run in the NCAA competition when it began, the Wolfpack moved into Sunday’s Elite 8 South Regional game by beating second-seeded Marquette 67-58.

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1 Associated They will play the Duke, which defeated Houston 54-51 later Friday. NC State beat Houston in the 1983 title game on a last-second shot.NC State also won the NCAA championship in 1974 led by the legendary David Thompson.Coach Kevin Keatts referred to members of both groups as huge siblings, uncles and”perhaps a few of them even granddads “to the existing players.”Our ’83 group [

and] our ’74 group have been significant,”Keatts stated.”We do not have to discuss that history now due to the fact that we commemorate it the whole time. It’s been discussed given that I’ve been here, and it’s going to be talked about as long as we ever are going to remember. It’s not one of those things where we have to point to it and say,’ Here’s what took place in’ 83, here’s what took place in ’74.’We discuss the terrific David Thompson. Obviously we had his statue revealed for him this year. Those guys are always around. ” Kam Woods of the North Carolina State Wolfpack commemorates as they defeat the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Sweet 16.( Picture by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)This NC State team had to win five games in

five days to win the ACC tournament just to get approved for the NCAA tournament– beating Duke along the method. It has actually now won 3 extra games in the tournament by dominating Marquette.The Wolfpack held the Golden Eagles to 4-of-31 shooting from 3-point variety and outrebounded them 42-35. Those are stats that might get NC State to its first Last Four in 41 years if it can duplicate them Sunday.”Why not us?”center DJ Burns asked. “We get a great deal of disrespect. People still do not think we’re supposed to

be here, however we’re going to keep attempting to crash the party.”