Jim Valvano
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James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. While the head coach at NC State, his team won the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball title against improbable odds. Valvano is remembered for his ecstatic celebration after winning the national championship game against the heavily favored
Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...
. Valvano is also remembered for an inspirational and memorable speech delivered at the 1993
ESPY Award The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...
s while terminally ill with cancer. Valvano implored the audience to laugh, think, and cry each day and announced the formation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research whose motto would be "Don't give up. Don't ever give up". He gave the speech less than two months before his death from
adenocarcinoma Adenocarcinoma (; plural adenocarcinomas or adenocarcinomata ; AC) is a type of cancerous tumor that can occur in several parts of the body. It is defined as neoplasia of epithelial tissue that has glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or ...
. The
ESPY Award The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...
s now include the
Jimmy V Award The Jimmy V Award (sometimes called the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance) is awarded as part of the ESPY Awards to "a deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination". The award is na ...
named in his honor. Each year, a college basketball event called the Jimmy V Classic is held in his honor and in support of cancer research.


Early years

Valvano was the middle child of Rocco and Angelina Valvano, and was of Italian descent. He was born in Corona,
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. Valvano was a three-sport athlete at Seaford High School in Seaford on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
and graduated in 1963. Football coach
Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi ( ; June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in Ame ...
was Valvano's role model. Valvano told an ESPY audience, on March 3, 1993, that he took some of Lombardi's inspirational speeches out of the book ''Commitment to Excellence'', and used them with his team. Valvano discussed how he planned to use Lombardi's speech to the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
in front of his Rutgers freshman basketball team prior to his first game as their coach. He also mentioned that he accidentally told his team to "fight for the Green Bay Packers."


College playing career

Valvano was a
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
in 1967, where he partnered with first-team All-American Bob Lloyd in the backcourt. Under the leadership of Valvano and Lloyd, Rutgers finished third in the 1967 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which was the last basketball tournament held at the third
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
. (The 1967 NCAA tournament field was just 23 teams and the NIT invited 14 teams.) He was named Senior Athlete of the Year at Rutgers in 1967, and graduated with a degree in English in 1967.


Coaching career

Following graduation, Valvano began his coaching career at Rutgers as the freshman coach and assistant for the varsity. His 19-year career as a head basketball coach began at
Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
for a season; he was then an assistant at
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
for two years. Following that, he was the head coach at Bucknell,
Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...
, and North Carolina State. Valvano coached the Iona Gaels team during their highly successful 1979–80 season and a victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament, only to lose a close game to powerhouse Georgetown in the second game of the tournament. Following Norm Sloan's departure to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, Valvano was hired at NC State on March 27, 1980, and made his debut on November 29, when the Wolfpack defeated UNC-Wilmington 83–59. During his ten seasons at NC State, Valvano's teams were the ACC's tournament champions in 1983 and 1987 and its regular season champions in 1985 and 1989. The Wolfpack won the NCAA championship in 1983, in addition to advancing to the NCAA Elite 8 in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
and 1986. "Coach V" was voted ACC Coach of the Year in 1989. Valvano became NC State's athletic director in 1986. His overall record at NC State was 209–114 () and his career record as a head coach was 346–210 (). Valvano is most recognized for his reaction of running around on the court looking for somebody to
hug A hug is a form of Affection, endearment, found in virtually all Communities, human communities, in which two or more people put their arms around the neck, back, under the armpits or waists of one another and hold each other closely. If more th ...
in the moments after the Wolfpack victory came after the game-winning shot in the 1983 NCAA finals. Dereck Whittenburg heaved a last-second desperation shot that was caught short of the rim and dunked by Lorenzo Charles as time expired.


Accusations of rules violations

In 1989, accusations of rules violations surfaced in the book ''Personal Fouls'' by Peter Golenbock. These accusations centered mostly on high school All-American Chris Washburn, who managed only a 470 out of 1600 on his
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
(with 400 being the starting score). A 1989 NCAA investigation cleared Valvano, but found that players sold shoes and game tickets. As a result, NC State placed its basketball program on probation for two years (the maximum) and was banned from participating in the 1990 NCAA tournament. The state-appointed Poole Commission issued a 32-page report that concluded that there were no major violations of NCAA regulations, and that Valvano and his staff's inadequate oversight of players' academic progress violated "the spirit, not the letter of the law." After this report, Valvano was forced to resign as the school's athletic director in October 1989, but remained as basketball coach through the 1989–90 season. Under subsequent pressure from the school's faculty and new chancellor, Valvano negotiated a settlement with NC State and resigned as basketball coach on April 7, 1990. Six separate entities investigated Valvano and the NC State basketball program including the NC State Faculty Senate, the North Carolina Attorney General, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the NC State Board of Trustees, and the NCAA. None of them found any evidence of recruiting violations or academic or financial impropriety on the part of Valvano or his staff. Dave Didion, the NCAA investigator handling Valvano's case, wrote a personal letter to Valvano, saying, among other things, "If I had a son, I would feel comfortable with you as his coach and encourage him to learn from you." A school investigation did reveal that Valvano's
student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...
s did not perform well in the classroom, as only 11 of the players that he coached prior to 1988 had maintained an average of C or better. Valvano's version of these events can be found in his 1991
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, ''Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead''.


After coaching

After his coaching career, Valvano was a broadcaster for
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
and
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...
, including a stint as a sideline reporter for the inaugural season of the
World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...
. In 1992, Valvano won a Cable ACE Award for Commentator/Analyst for NCAA basketball broadcasts. From time to time he was paired with basketball analyst
Dick Vitale Richard "Dick" John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadc ...
, dubbed the "Killer Vees", with similar voices and exuberant styles. The two even made a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
, playing the role of professional movers (V&V Movers), on an episode of ''
The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...
''. Valvano created JTV enterprises to guide many of his entrepreneurial endeavors. He gave hundreds of motivational speeches across the country and was a featured guest on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
'' and ''
Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...
''.


Cancer

In June 1992, Valvano was diagnosed with metastatic
adenocarcinoma Adenocarcinoma (; plural adenocarcinomas or adenocarcinomata ; AC) is a type of cancerous tumor that can occur in several parts of the body. It is defined as neoplasia of epithelial tissue that has glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or ...
, a type of glandular cancer that can spread to the bones. One of Valvano's most memorable motivational speeches was delivered at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum, less than 10 weeks before his death, during the 10-year commemoration of the 1983 NCAA championship. It was during this speech on February 21 that Valvano stressed the importance of hope, love, and persistence, and included his famous "Don't give up, don't ever give up" quotation.


ESPY speech

Eleven days later on Thursday, March 4, 1993, he spoke at the first
ESPY Award The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...
s at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, presented by ESPN. While accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, he announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. He announced that the foundation's motto would be "Don't Give Up...Don't Ever Give Up". During his speech, the teleprompter stated that he had thirty seconds left, to which Valvano responded, "That screen up there is flashing 30 seconds, like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going '30 seconds'". His speech included this statement:
To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.
Valvano's ESPY acceptance speech became legendary. He closed by saying that "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all." He received a standing ovation. Valvano's hair was expected to fall out with chemotherapy treatment, but it did not. Along with his ever-positive outlook, this masked to the public how serious his sickness was and the amount of pain he was dealing with. He preemptively had his head shaved and was prepared to use a variety of whimsical wigs on his broadcasts, but his own hair remained.


Yankees

New York native Valvano had always wanted to throw out the first pitch at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
. He had been given that honor for the 1993 season opener to be held on April 12, but he was too ill to do so. Coaching rival and friend
Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...
, one week removed from leading North Carolina to the national championship, substituted for Valvano.


Death

Valvano died at age 47 on April 28, 1993, less than two months after his famous ESPY speech, following a nearly year long battle with metastatic
adenocarcinoma Adenocarcinoma (; plural adenocarcinomas or adenocarcinomata ; AC) is a type of cancerous tumor that can occur in several parts of the body. It is defined as neoplasia of epithelial tissue that has glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or ...
of unknown origin. Valvano died at Duke University Medical Center in
Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
, 10 years to the month after winning the national championship in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament. He is buried in the Cedar Hill Section of Oakwood Cemetery in
Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
. His tombstone reads: "Take time every day to laugh, to think, to cry."


Legacy

In 1983, Valvano coined the phrase "survive and advance". A 1996
TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...
titled ''Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story'', starred
Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen he has received several accolades including three AACTA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. For his starring role as Jac ...
as Valvano. The movie was filmed in various locations including Wilmington, North Carolina, and on the campus of the
University of North Carolina Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington, or University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (UNC Wilmington or UNCW) is a Public university, public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Caroli ...
. In 1993, Valvano was inducted into the Rutgers Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1999, Valvano was inducted into both the Hall of Distinguished Alumni at Rutgers University and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2004, Valvano was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was named to the first class of the NC State Athletics Hall of Fame. On March 17, 2013, ESPN broadcast "Survive and Advance," a documentary on North Carolina State's 1983 championship run, as part of its '' 30 for 30 Volume II'' anthology series. Along with the 1983 season, it also covered the final months of his life during his battle with cancer. The documentary was first broadcast on the 30th anniversary of the Wolfpack's double overtime victory against Pepperdine in the first round of the 1983 NCAA tournament. On March 1, 2016, a book by John Feinstein titled ''The Legends Club:
Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...
,
Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021†...
, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry'' was released to glowing reviews. Krzyzewski arrived at Duke the same season as Valvano did at North Carolina State. In 2018, North Carolina State University's William Neal Reynolds Coliseum was renamed James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum in honor of Valvano. On August 12, 2023, Valvano was posthumously inducted into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
for his contributions to the game both on and off the court.


Personal life

Valvano married his high school sweetheart Pam and they had three daughters. His younger brother, Bob, is a sportscaster and former basketball coach.


Head coaching record


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament regional championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA tournament regions are the East, Midwest, South, and West. The winners of the four regions are awarded an NCAA Regiona ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links


V Foundation for Cancer Research
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valvano, Jim 1946 births 1993 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of Italian descent Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from Queens, New York Bucknell Bison men's basketball coaches Burials at Historic Oakwood Cemetery Deaths from cancer in North Carolina College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Deaths from cancer of unknown primary origin Iona Gaels athletic directors Iona Gaels men's basketball coaches Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's basketball coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NC State Wolfpack athletic directors NC State Wolfpack men's basketball coaches People from Corona, Queens People from Seaford, New York Point guards Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players UConn Huskies men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen