Many may say that Villanova's win over Georgetown in 1985 was the biggest upset in NCAA Championship game history...hogwash!!!...Villanova and Georgetown are both from the Big East and the Wildcats knew how to play the Hoyas as they already lost to them twice earlier in the season...
The greatest upset came in 1983 when the late Jim Valvano's N.C. State Wolfpack upset the dunking force of Houston...people often forget that N.C. State needed to win the ACC tournament to even secure a bid to The Big Dance...
The greatest upset is best remembered for Lorenzo Charles dunking home the winning points as the game clock expired...Charles' points would never have mattered if N.C. State guard Dereck Whittenberg was not off mark with his clock expiring heave...
Whittenberg, was the star of that Wolfpack team...he missed most of the conference games with a broken ankle which put the Pack on the outside of the bubble come ACC Tournament time...He was drafted in the third round by Phoenix Suns (51st overall) in the 1983 NBA Draft...by 1985 he was back at N.C. State serving as an assistant coach...he also served as an assistant at George Mason, West Virginia, Colorado, Long Beach State, and Georgia Tech...
Finally in 1999 he got his first head coaching chance when the Wagner Seahawks hired him...after four seasons and a record of 66-50, Whittenberg moved on to coach the Fordham Rams...he coached six full season and five games into this season before being fired...he put up a 69-112 mark while at Fordham...
1 comment:
I'll never forget this team.
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