Lorenzo Charles, who made the game-winning dunk to give North Carolina State the 1983 national championship, was killed when a bus he was driving crashed in Raleigh, N.C., a tour bus official said. Basketball Player. Whittenburg was despondent when discussing his teammate and friend with The Associated Press. "It's still kind of amazing to me that ... people are still talking about it," Charles said in an excerpt from his comments about the championship game on his N.C. State Web page. I don't really think that was the only great Final Four finish that has been played since then, but for some reason people just single out that game and talk about it. His jam of Dereck Whittenburg's desperation miss gave North Carolina State an improbable 54-52 … He was fifth on the team in scoring and second in rebounds per game (6.0). ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. "Twenty-eight years later, it's still with me. About Lorenzo Charles Lorenzo Charles was a member of the renowned NBA team 1985-86 Atlanta Hawks who played at the Small Forward position. ACC Commissioner John Swofford said Charles' play had an uplifting impact. Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. Charles is perhaps best known for making the game-winning dunk for the Wolfpack in the 1983 NCAA Championship game. There was sad news yesterday in the world of college basketball, as former N.C. State Wolfpack forward Lorenzo Charles passed away after a bus he was driving crashed along Interstate 40 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Before his death, Charles was rental bus driver who didn’t seek the fame that his one play brought him outside of the occasional appearance at NC State basketball games. The image of Jim Valvano looking for someone to hug has been etched in the sport for life and he has Charles to thank for that moment. Lorenzo Charles Dunk 1 - Canvas Art Print by Classic Canvas. Charles secured his spot in N.C. State lore in the final moments of that game in Albuquerque, N.M., to cap off an improbable run to the championship. As we mourn Charles death, let’s remember the good times that the 1983 NC State Wolfpack gave the world and “The Dunk” that gave the world a chance to celebrate the underdog. The Wolfpack eventually stunned Houston on Lorenzo Charles' dunk after a missed long jumper. Lorenzo Charles’ game-winning dunk, a delicate two-handed jam that smashed Phi Slama Jama’s national championship dreams, was the final … "But I heard someone say, I was talking to them on the phone about this, that Jimmy V finally found somebody to hug," Bailey told WRAL-TV. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Lorenzo Charles, the muscular forward whose last-second dunk gave underdog North Carolina State a stunning win in the 1983 national college championship game, was killed Monday when a bus he was driving crashed along a highway, a company official said. Lorenzo Charles, a forward on North Carolina State\'s 1983 national championship basketball team, was killed on Monday when the bus he was driving on Interstate 40 in Raleigh crashed. On NC State’s final possession, a bad pass from Thurl Bailey ended up in the hands of Derrick Wittenberg who heaved up a long three pointer that appeared headed for the hardwood floor. And then there’s Lorenzo Charles. It was his last-second slam dunk that won the Wolfpack the NCAA title nearly 30 years ago. He told KRIV-TV in Houston that he's never quite gotten over Charles' heroics. Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer that propelled Villanova to a 77-74 victory, or Lorenzo Charles’ dunk at the buzzer in 1983 that lifted North Carolina State to … The Wolfpack earned their way into the 1983 tournament after beating Virginia for the automatic bid from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Lorenzo Charles Charles in 1987 wearing a Irge Desio jersey Personal information Born November 25, 1963 Brooklyn, New York Died June 27, 2011 (aged 47) Raleigh, North Carolina Nationality American Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Listed weight 225 lb (102 kg) Career information High school Brooklyn Tech (Brooklyn, New York) College NC State (1981–1985) … "I remember when (it) first happened, I figured I would have my 15 minutes of fame and that would be it. Lorenzo Charles had just turned an airball into a dunk at the buzzer, and the Wolfpack had stunned supposedly unstoppable Houston 54-52, to be become one of the Cinderella stories in perpetuity for March. Then, out of nowhere, Charles leaps into the air for the dunk as time expired. RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s one of the most lasting images from the NCAA basketball tournament. "An awful, awful day.". Lorenzo Charles dunks to give North Carolina State a 54-52 win over Houston in the 1983 NCAA championship game in Albuquerque, N.M. Charles dies … ... Charles caught the ball in mid-air and came down with a dunk … ... One of the final speakers was Lorenzo Charles' niece, Ericka. A team that, Valvano would one day say, “taught us about dreams.” MORE: Help pick the greatest March Madness moment of all-time The N.C. State basketball star is most known for his play during the 1983 NCAA Tournament which featured a singular moment in the National Championship game that still lives to this very day. Here are teams that posted NCAA tournament wins with win percentages less than 58 percent: Team Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. Elite Coach general manager Brad Jackson said Charles, 47, worked for the company and was driving one of its buses on Interstate 40. However, when the game started Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack played nose to nose with the Cougars as they were deadlocked entering the final seconds of play. Valvano also became famous for his emotional burst onto the court afterward, running around almost in disbelief. Michael Young, director of basketball operations at Houston, was a member of the team that let a national championship slip away. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote. For the 2020 holiday season, returnable items shipped between October 1 and December 31 can be returned until January 31, 2021. The game was a heated affair but N.C. State pulled out the win and was set to face the University of Houston for the National Championship. Charles was drafted into the NBA by the Atlanta Hawks in 1984 but only played for one season before heading overseas to finish out the rest of his career in Italy and a myriad of other places. After close wins over Pepperdine and UNLV along with a blow-out defeat of Utah, they faced Virginia again for a chance to go to the Final Four and it was Charles who made two big late game free throws to help the send the Wolfpack onwards. "We just reconnected with him last week and our staff was stunned to hear this terrible news.". Charles averaged just 8.1 points per game in 1983. Their first opponent was Georgia who advanced to the Final Four in their first appearance in the tournament. The rear wheels of the bus were on an embankment, leaving the right front tire elevated from the road. They were the better and more dominate team during the season and some media members thought that the National Championship game was going to be a Phi Slamma Jamma rout. Robert Siegel speaks with Dereck Whittenburg about the death of Lorenzo Charles, a member of the NC State Wolfpack who made the 1983 NCAA national title-winning dunk. The players for Houston, the CBS announcers, and fans were shocked by what happened, the Wolfpack had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history. Police released little about the one-vehicle crash that took Charles' life. Current coach Mark Gottfried said his staff had just gotten acquainted with Charles and was saddened to hear the news. There was sad news yesterday in the world of college basketball, as former N.C. State Wolfpack forward Lorenzo Charles passed away after a bus he was driving crashed along Interstate 40 in Raleigh, North Carolina. You may be charged a restocking fee up to 50% of item's price for used or damaged returns and up to 100% for materially different item. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Lorenzo Charles, the muscular forward whose last-second dunk gave underdog North Carolina State a stunning win in the 1983 national college championship game, was killed Monday when a bus he was driving crashed along a highway, a company official said. Lorenzo Charles's put-back dunk at the buzzer gave N.C. State an upset win over Houston in the title game of the 1983 NCAA tournament. Thurl Bailey, one of Charles' teammates on the championship team, said it's tough to accept that the player who made the game-winning dunk is gone. On Friday, we remembered Lorenzo Charles, a member of the North Carolina State basketball team. "It's just an awful day," Whittenburg said. Lorenzo Charles scored the dunk heard 'round the world. Here we are and it is still a conversational piece. Part of HuffPost News. Associated Press writers Joedy McCreary in Raleigh and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report. Lorenzo Charles scored the game-winning basket in the championship game of the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Dereck Whittenburg heaved a last-second desperation shot that was caught short of the rim and dunked by Lorenzo Charles as time expired. Maybe because it was such a David and Goliath thing.". Lorenzo Charles is widely remembered solely for his game-winning dunk in the 1983 National Championship, but he actually played his best basketball in the years afterward. Charles finished his college career two years after the championship win with 1,535 total points - 15th on the school's scoring list - and his .575 shooting percentage in 1985 remains a school record for seniors. Many of us have seen Lorenzo Charles' game-winning dunk and the memorable image of Jim Valvano running recklessly around the court looking for a hug from Dereck Whittenburg. No passengers were aboard. Their semifinal win over Georgia sent them to the matchup with the Cougars, known as Phi Slamma Jamma in those years and led by stars Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. By a score of 54–52, NC State beat a top seeded University of Houston team that was on a 26-game winning streak and was led by future Basketball Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. He was a 1981 graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and played college basketball at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. North Carolina State University's Lorenzo Charles dunks winning basket in 1983 NCAA championship game against Houston, April 3, 1983. That dunk sent his coach, Jim Valvano, on that famous, arms-raised sprint across the court, and cemented Lorenzo as one of the most legendary players in NCAA basketball history. The basket broke a 52–52 tie at The Pit in Al… Sports > Basketball > Remembering Lorenzo Charles’ “Dunk”. Make sure this fits by entering your model number. RALEIGH — Lorenzo Charles, the basketball player who clinched N.C. State’s 1983 NCAA championship with a game-winning dunk, died Monday afternoon in a bus crash on Interstate 40. Charles' buzzer-beating dunk after catching a short 30-foot shot from Dereck Whittenburg gave the North Carolina State University Wolfpack the 54-52 victory over the heavily-favored Houston Cougars led by Akeem … The Dunk That Shocked The World. A message left on a phone listed to Lorenzo Charles wasn't immediately returned Monday night. During his sophomore season with the Wolfpack, Charles scored the game-winning set-back dunk off an airball shot Dereck Whittenburg in the final seconds of the championship game of the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Day, '' Gottfried said in a statement in a statement you to exercise your to... You to exercise your right to vote game ( 6.0 ) left on a phone listed to lorenzo,... Away with it today and then you called me Raleigh and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this.! 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