Charles Was in Right Place at Right Time

There’s no bronze statue of Lorenzo Charles on the North Carolina State campus, but not many there have forgotten what he did 16 years ago tonight.

He made sure the Wolfpack would become what is still one of the most remarkable teams ever to win an NCAA basketball championship. This one seems right out of “Hoosiers.”

North Carolina State finished its season 26-10 and to get that many victories it needed to win its last 10 games. And in seven of those 10, just as in the national title game against heavily favored Houston, the Wolfpack was down and out and needed miracle finishes.

And so it was in the championship game at Albuquerque. Wolfpack guard Derek Whittenburg was struggling with the ball on the perimeter, trying to get off a last shot with the score tied, 52-52.Finally, he threw up a wild 30-foot jump shot with two seconds left.

It wasn’t close, but at that instant, time, reason and logic were suspended.

Suddenly, seven-foot center Akeem (now known as Hakeem) Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and all their rebounding teammates had disappeared . . . and there, waiting for the easy putback, was the 6-7 Charles, who scored an uncontested dunk.

North Carolina State had won the national championship.

The hyperactive coach, Jim Valvano, went nuts, of course.

“You think that was a freak play?” he shouted at writers. “I can’t believe you said that! That play’s in my emergency scoring series!”

Lorenzo Charles had a brief career in the NBA. A recent call to the North Carolina State sports information office yielded this: Charles, at 38, is still playing pro basketball, in Uruguay.

Jim Valvano died of cancer in 1993.

Also on this date: In 1937, Byron Nelson shot a last-round 66 to win the Masters by two strokes over Ralph Guldahl. . . . In 1974, Hank Aaron, inching closer to breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, hit his 714th in Cincinnati against Jack Billingham.