The 1983 NC State team remains iconic, not least of all for Lorenzo Charles’ last-second dunk and Jim Valvano’s frantic effort to find someone, anyone, to hug after the Wolfpack took down mighty Houston.
That team was seeded #6, and pulled off one of the most magical runs in NCAA history.
State beat Pepperdine 69-67, in double overtime, then nipped UNLV, 71-70, had a breather against Utah, 75-56 before surviving Ralph Sampson and Virginia, 63-62.
In the Final Four, the Wolfpack knocked off Georgia,
67-60, before the immortal victory over Houston.
Aside from Charles, that team featured guards Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenberg, who played together for eight years between DeMatha and State, forward Thurl Bailey, and Cozell McQueen.
A 6-11 center out of Bennettsville, South Carolina, McQueen was a sophomore in 1983. He made a crucial shot to keep State alive against Pepperdine, and guarded Houston legend Hakeem Olajuwon about as effectively as he could.
The enduring memory of McQueen was him standing on the rim after the win over Houston, holding a Pack Power sign.
Sadly, McQueen died this week. He had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a brain cancer, in 2025, and more recently, meningitis and an intestinal obstruction.
That’s an awful lot for anyone to deal with.
In this video, we see a different side of McQueen. WRAL’s Jeff Gravley asks him how often he watches the championship game, and McQueen reveals that he never watches it.
When asked why, he says he’s an emotional guy and some of his teammates are no longer here (Quinton Leonard died in 2006, and Charles in 2011).
He almost starts to cry when he says it, and you can tell how much that team meant to him.
It’s sad, it’s touching, and it’ll probably stick with you for a while.
Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line
