Jim Valvano

http://jimmyv.org/rememberingjim/espy.cfm Jim Valvano accepting the ESPY Award in 1993,

I had never heard of him before. Well, that is a bit of a white lie. I guess I knew that he had once been the backcourt mate of Rutgers’ All-American Bob Lloyd, but that was no particular distinction. I was seventeen and he was twenty-three. Not a big age difference, and we found ourselves sitting next to each other on the bus ride from New Brunswick, New Jersey to Easton, Pennsylvania. I was a cub writer for the Rutgers Daily Targum and he was the cub coach for the Rutgers freshman team. Yes, there were freshman teams in the 1960’s. Those were the days. His name was Jim Valvano and he was hilarious, bright and erudite. Wow! He just blew my socks off on that ride quoting from Shakespeare, talking about how to stop some silly Lafayette frosh and drinking milk. Plain milk. No soda. No juice. No beer in a container like so many other people in those days. Just milk. I knew at that moment that I would be reading about him for years into the future and I did. Some good. Some bad. All interesting.

Valvano coached the freshman team at his alma mater for a few years and then was an assistant basketball coach. He went on to the University of Connecticut as an assistant coach under Dee Rowe. He was then the head coach at Johns Hopkins and Bucknell before taking over a virtually listless Iona program and bringing it to national celebrity with the recruitment of Jeff Ruland over Kentucky. Yes, Valvano was able to recruit Ruland over Kentucky and led his team to a Top 5 national ranking.

He then went on to North Carolina State, where in ten seasons he appeared in eight NCAA tournaments, including the miraculous 1983 National Championship win over a highly favored Houston team. He was twice voted ACC Coach of the Year and had a career record of 346-212.

But that, unfortunately, is not where the story begins. In the early 1990’s, Valvano contracted bone cancer. And appropriately, he was told about the bone cancer at Duke University Hospital. His big rival at NC State. Of course, he heard the horrible words with his normal laughter and a joke about Duke. He then engaged in his personal battle of a lifetime. He showed courage, strength and fortitude beyond that experienced by most individuals.

At the time, he was an analyst with ESPN and a good one at that. He continued on with that gig even with the cancer. He was severely weakened and forced to seek treatment, but he fought right to the end of his ten-month battle with the disease. When he died at the age of 47 on April 28, 1993, it was probably the first time in his life that he had been defeated. But in the process, he helped to start the V Foundation for cancer research. Right up until the end, he campaigned for money to save lives and specifically, children’s lives. He knew that the money that he collected by his public speaking and by the Foundation would not save him, but he wanted to impact the lives of others going forward.

The V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. It has raised millions upon millions upon millions of dollars out of its small office in Cary, North Carolina. It sponsors such events as a pre-season basketball tournament, a golf tournament in North Carolina and a gala in New York City.

Valvano envisioned all of these events in his last days on this earth. Clearly, his spirit lives on through the Foundation and if even one life can be saved by the monies donated, he will have considered his life to be a success. A more important success than some NCAA win which led to the National Championship. Valvano was and remains a true hero.