RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- -
Most people remember Jim Valvano for leading North Carolina State to an unlikely men's basketball national championship a quarter-century ago, then scampering around the court in search of someone to hug.
Not Bobby Cremins.
"His legacy is not a national championship. His legacy is fighting cancer," the former Georgia Tech coach said Saturday. "His fight for cancer has transcended any kind of basketball legacy he had."
Now the names of Valvano and North Carolina State have been married again -- all in an effort to fight the disease that took his life. The charity golf tournament that bears Valvano's nickname is settling into its new home on the Wolfpack's campus.
Celebrities and sportspeople alike played practice rounds Saturday to practice for the following day's Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, with a roster of participants that includes former Boston Celtics coach and executive M.L. Carr, Carolina Hurricanes captain
Rod Brind'Amour, pro wrestler Bill Goldberg and actor Dennis Haskins -- better known as Mr. Belding from "Saved by the Bell."
After two years at Pinehurst and 13 years at a Cary country club, the event is being played at N.C. State's new on-campus golf course.
"What better venue for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic to be than at N.C. State?" said Nick Valvano, the CEO of The V Foundation and the late coach's brother.
Valvano said the foundation has raised $80 million since 1993 -- when it started during the coach's passionate speech during the ESPY awards -- and could hit $95 million by the end of the year.
It has given $60 million in grants for cancer research and expects to award $11 million this year, he said. Much of those proceeds are generated by the golf classic, which Valvano called "the soul of the event."
This year's tournament has even deeper significance for N.C. State because another of its basketball coaches, Hall of Fame women's coach Kay Yow, died in January after a two-decade fight with breast cancer.
Current men's coach Sidney Lowe, point guard on the Wolfpack's national championship team in 1983, played the course while dressed in pink slacks, the color of breast cancer awareness.
"It's Jimmy V and N.C. State. ... This is his home," Lowe said. "This is where it should be."
And of course, the event gives everyone a chance to trade tales about the animated coach -- even if they didn't know him personally.
Haskins -- who said he played one year of college basketball at Chattanooga -- said he didn't know Valvano, "but I feel like I did" after getting to know his widow, Pam, and sharing stories with analyst Billy Packer at a previous charity event.
"His legacy, as great as his basketball coaching skills were, is going to be what happened after his death," Haskins said. "Amazing stuff."
Cremins, one of Valvano's ACC rivals at Georgia Tech who now coaches at the College of Charleston, remembered how former North Carolina coach Dean Smith was a chronic late-arriver to the ACC meetings. Once, Valvano talked Cremins and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski into waiting in a men's room for 20 minutes until Smith showed up and they could be the ones to arrive late, for a change.
"Jimmy was someone, he could really make you laugh," Cremins said. "It's amazing that a person has done all of this from his grave."
Not Bobby Cremins.
"His legacy is not a national championship. His legacy is fighting cancer," the former Georgia Tech coach said Saturday. "His fight for cancer has transcended any kind of basketball legacy he had."
Now the names of Valvano and North Carolina State have been married again -- all in an effort to fight the disease that took his life. The charity golf tournament that bears Valvano's nickname is settling into its new home on the Wolfpack's campus.
Celebrities and sportspeople alike played practice rounds Saturday to practice for the following day's Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, with a roster of participants that includes former Boston Celtics coach and executive M.L. Carr, Carolina Hurricanes captain
Rod Brind'Amour, pro wrestler Bill Goldberg and actor Dennis Haskins -- better known as Mr. Belding from "Saved by the Bell."
After two years at Pinehurst and 13 years at a Cary country club, the event is being played at N.C. State's new on-campus golf course.
"What better venue for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic to be than at N.C. State?" said Nick Valvano, the CEO of The V Foundation and the late coach's brother.
Valvano said the foundation has raised $80 million since 1993 -- when it started during the coach's passionate speech during the ESPY awards -- and could hit $95 million by the end of the year.
It has given $60 million in grants for cancer research and expects to award $11 million this year, he said. Much of those proceeds are generated by the golf classic, which Valvano called "the soul of the event."
This year's tournament has even deeper significance for N.C. State because another of its basketball coaches, Hall of Fame women's coach Kay Yow, died in January after a two-decade fight with breast cancer.
Current men's coach Sidney Lowe, point guard on the Wolfpack's national championship team in 1983, played the course while dressed in pink slacks, the color of breast cancer awareness.
"It's Jimmy V and N.C. State. ... This is his home," Lowe said. "This is where it should be."
And of course, the event gives everyone a chance to trade tales about the animated coach -- even if they didn't know him personally.
Haskins -- who said he played one year of college basketball at Chattanooga -- said he didn't know Valvano, "but I feel like I did" after getting to know his widow, Pam, and sharing stories with analyst Billy Packer at a previous charity event.
"His legacy, as great as his basketball coaching skills were, is going to be what happened after his death," Haskins said. "Amazing stuff."
Cremins, one of Valvano's ACC rivals at Georgia Tech who now coaches at the College of Charleston, remembered how former North Carolina coach Dean Smith was a chronic late-arriver to the ACC meetings. Once, Valvano talked Cremins and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski into waiting in a men's room for 20 minutes until Smith showed up and they could be the ones to arrive late, for a change.
"Jimmy was someone, he could really make you laugh," Cremins said. "It's amazing that a person has done all of this from his grave."
