Sammy's Tap & Grill, a sports bar for North Carolina State fans, has had obvious problems for decades. It was because the school's basketball team wasn't winning very often. It didn't matter that one of the owners, David Harris, concocted a creative special menu to attract customers on game days. Very few people came.
“Everything has changed now,” Mr. Harris, 59, said the other day, but his smile, like those of his patrons, seems eternal. “Can you believe it?”
NC State's women's and men's basketball teams have both reached the Final Four. These are words few in Raleigh believed they would utter. And to hear them say it out loud this week was to hear the exhausted, sometimes tearful jubilation of a still-shocked and overjoyed fanbase.
After all, their neighbors are basketball royalty. Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, each about 40 miles apart, have won multiple national championships, with the North Carolina women's team winning them all in 1994. These two programs are one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball.
Arguably the greatest male player of all time, Michael Jordan played at UNC Duke and may rival Mike Krzyzewski, who won more games than any male coach in NCAA history.
Next up is North Carolina.
For years, students at Duke and UNC in Durham have referred to North Carolina State as their “little brother,” the less competitive, weaker sibling in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sometimes it feels like trash talk extends beyond sports. Duke University is a leading private university, and UNC is the state's public flagship, the state's oldest educational treasure, and a top school in its own right. North Carolina is known for its strong agriculture and engineering curriculum, but it doesn't have the national appeal of her two other states.
However, in the men's tournament, top-seeded UNC lost to Alabama in the Sweet 16. And No. 4 seed Duke lost to none other than North Carolina State last weekend.
North Carolina State freshman Tyler Sherman talked about both teams Tuesday while deciding whether to wear a gray or red Final Four T-shirt at the school's concession stand.
Still, it was a difficult journey for the Wolfpack. In the 1950s, NC State's men's team was considered the strongest in the ACC, and for the next 30 years, the rivalry between NC State and UNC was the biggest in North Carolina, says Tim, who wrote a book about the team. Peeler said. North Carolina won its last national title in 1983.
A major setback occurred in 1989. The NCAA placed the school's basketball team on probation for two years and banned them from the 1990 tournament for violations that included the unauthorized use of free tickets and sneakers given to players.
Around that time, Peeler said, ESPN was starting to take off and the rivalry between UNC and Duke was heating up, in part because of the high-profile coaches in the state.
NC State's women's team has been strong in recent years, but it hasn't been this far since 1998. As for the men's team, fans will agree that there have been some subpar seasons. This year's regular season was mediocre at best, finishing with 17 wins and 14 losses. There were whispers on campus that head coach Kevin Keatts might be fired.
To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the men's team needed to win the ACC Tournament, and the five-game winning streak was a feat for a team that had lost its final four games of the regular season. They've been winning since then, surprising fans by defeating Duke on Sunday.
“It's crazy,” said Norman Downer, a 2014 North Carolina State University graduate.
“It's surreal,” said sophomore Trey Austin, 21, one of hundreds of students proudly wearing red ACC championship shirts on campus this week.
“I've been waiting my whole life,” said Raleigh resident Bradley Turner, 26, who has spent more than $400 on Wolfpack merchandise in the past few days.
This was a joy they had never experienced. They said it was electric and fleeting, like catching a firefly in a bottle. The Wolfpack had arrived at that moment wearing shirts and carrying placards that said, “We believe,” emphasizing the surprise of the summit. “Why not us?”
Hundreds of people gathered on campus Tuesday to see off the women's team. Tuba and trumpets sounded. Some in the crowd had dyed their hair red. Fans chanted their hero's name as the players made their way to the buses.
“We love you Saniya!” one woman shouted, pointing at security guard Saniya Rivers.
They had heard from friends who went to Duke and UNC about the long lines for games, camping out for tickets and prime-time television broadcasts. They heard from alumni about the '70s and '80s, how NC State was a winning team back then, and how the tradition of cutting down netting as a memento of victories began.
All images and artifacts on the “Basketball History” wall at Amedeo's Italian Restaurant, where famed former North Carolina State men's coach Jim Valvano regularly dined, date from at least the 1980s. . The '83 championship sweater currently sells for about $75 on the vintage market.
Derek Wittenberg, who was a guard on the 1983 championship team, said in an interview that he has watched all of college basketball. But he said this run felt “absolutely incredible” to him.
(One Sports statistician predicts men's team has a chance They won nine straight elimination games and advanced to the Final Four with a score of 10,314 to 1. )
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Wittenberg, 63.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a UNC graduate who vividly remembers Wittenberg's play decades ago, said in an interview that he led both sides of the Wolf Pack. The third-seeded women's team will play South Carolina on Friday. The men will play against Purdue on Saturday.
“It's really hard to find anyone in North Carolina right now who doesn't belong at North Carolina State, no matter who their team is,” Cooper said.
Even the Duke fans on campus this week admitted they were still reeling from Sunday's loss and rooting for the underdog.
“It's kind of cool for them to come back,” Duke junior Tom Gigrich said of NC State. “Obviously the loss is disappointing. But at least UNC didn't beat us. And to be honest, I hope for the best for them.”
North Carolina State, the No. 11 seed in the men's tournament, is now the country's Cinderella team, led by DJ Barnes Jr., a 6-foot-9 center who won Lowry's heart with his balletic moves and cheerful demeanor. ing.
On Tuesday night in Raleigh, about 1,000 people lined up outside Applebee's to shake hands with Barnes and guard DJ Horn, the leading scorer at North Carolina State University.
Outside the restaurant, boys and girls scrawled “Wolfpack!” I scribbled in red chalk on the sidewalk and stared out the restaurant window, hoping to catch a glimpse. People were carrying basketballs to get autographs. Lily Mulhall, a freshman at North Carolina State University, said she brought hubcaps to get autographed. The reason is, it's a long story, but I thought it was good luck.
Only a small number of fans were allowed inside to meet the players. Few people seemed to care.
All that mattered was that they were here, smiling at the ridiculousness of the crowd size as the sun set.
Rumors spread that the players would soon be coming out the back door of the restaurant. Several fans had already gathered around it. One person climbed a tree to get a better look. They raised their phones, ready to snap and record it so they could remember it someday.
The boy asked his father if he could stay a little longer and watch the players. His father said it was okay.
Laurie had already been waiting for a scene like this for 40 years. How many 10 minutes were left?