By Tim Gardner
North Carolina State University’s 1974 National Collegiate Basketball Championship team on which High Country and Avery County native Tommy Burleson starred was honored during a 50th Anniversary reunion ceremony hosted by the school last weekend.
The official highlight of that reunion was when the university celebrated that historic team throughout its game versus Atlantic Coast Conference rival Boston College last Saturday, February 24 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, particularly when the 1974 team members still living were introduced to the crowd of 14,642 at halftime.
Leading up to the game, members of the 1974 Wolfpack team also attended one of the current 2023-24 NC State team’s practices and connected with the present players, coaches, and other staff members. The current team returned the favor by defeating Boston College 81-70.
This season’s NC State team gave a special honor to the 1974 team by its players wearing throwback game uniforms during the Boston College game, which were exact replicas of the same home jerseys worn by the 1973-74 season team. They featured “STATE” in all capital, red, and bold letters across the front of their jerseys.
“Myself and the rest of our 1974 National Champions are most grateful to NC State University, its athletics department, and its basketball program for all honoring our team,” Burleson said. “It was a wonderful and fun reunion and we especially enjoyed visiting with each other and being introduced to the home crowd during State’s game as well as attending the practice of this season’s Wolfpack team.
“One of the greatest milestones in my life was the opportunity to attend NC State University and play basketball for the Wolfpack. And of course, playing on a national championship team is one of my most cherished accomplishments.”
Current NC State head coach Kevin Keatts made the following remarks about the celebration reunion of NC State’s 1974 National Champions: “I’m so happy that we could honor the ‘74 team. It’s amazing that after fifty years you get to see the bond that those players still have. It was a special honor for players from that NC State national championship team to come to one of our practices and hang out with our current players. And it was especially satisfying that our current team played one of our best games of the season in defeating Boston College while we honored the ’74 national champs.”
The 7-foot, 2-inch All-American senior center Burleson (listed at 7-4 by NC State for publicity purposes of having the tallest collegiate player), along with his fellow-legends, 6-4 All-American junior forward and ACC and National Player of The Year David Thompson, and 5-7 junior point guard Monte Towe, another all-star, led NC State to a 30-1 record that 1973-’74 season. The Wolfpack also won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season (with a perfect 12-0 mark) and tournament championships in addition to the national title.
The Wolfpack beat defending National Champion, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 80-77 in double overtime in the 1974 national semi-finals (March 23) enroute to winning the National Title with a 76-64 win over Marquette two nights later (March 25). The victory over UCLA avenged the Wolfpack’s lone loss of the season (84-66), to the same Bruins, played on the St. Louis, Missouri Arena’s neutral court.
NC State’s other 1973-74 team starters were 6-7 junior forward Tim Stoddard and 6-1 junior shooting guard Moe Rivers. The rest of that team’s roster with each player’s height and class year listed included: 6-8 sophomore forward Phil Spence; 6-5 senior forward Greg Hawkins; 6-8 senior forward Steve Nuce; 6-5 sophomore forward Jerry Hunt; 6-3 junior guard Mark Moeller; 6-5 junior guard Craig Kuszmaul; 6-0 sophomore guard Dwight Johnson; 6-2 freshman guard Bruce Dayhuff; 6-11 freshman Center Bill Lake; 6-10 sophomore center Steve Smith; 6-10 freshman Center Mike Buurma; and 6-9 freshman center Ken Gehring.
That NC State team has been declared by many experts and other knowledgeable observers to be the best ever in the rich and storied history of what has consistently been college basketball’s top conference, the Atlantic Coast, and some have also called it the best collegiate team ever.
Another legendary college basketball figure, Norman Sloan, was head coach of NC State’s 1973-74 national championship team. He won more than 600 games in his coaching career, including 266 at NC State. Sloan’s 1973-1974 assistant coaches were Eddie Biedenbach, Art Musselman, and Sam Esposito.
Burleson returned to Avery County to live following his professional playing career. Sloan and Esposito also moved to the Newland area of Avery County during their later years and lived there until they passed away in 2003 and 2018, respectively.
Burleson averaged 18.1 points per game and scored 562 total for the 1973-74 season. He shot 51.6 percent from the field (228 of 442) and also grabbed 12.2 rebounds per game (377 total). He was chosen to the All-Final Four Team and to the All-ACC Second team besides being named to its All-American team.
He also was a member of the 1972 United States Olympic Team and the 1973 World University Games Team, the latter of which claimed the Championship Gold Medal. Following his college career, he played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for four clubs–Seattle Supersonics, Kansas City Kings, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls.
Burleson played prep basketball at Newland High School, then following the consolidation of Newland, Crossnore, and Cranberry, at Avery County High School. He was a high school All-American, the 1970 State of North Carolina Prep Player of The Year, and still the only player to be named to the North Carolina All-State High School team three times (once at Newland High and twice at Avery High). He led the Avery High Vikings to a third-place finish in the 1969 State Tournament his junior season.
More about Burleson and that 1974 National Championship team can be found in a feature story in the March High Country Magazine that will soon be available in many stores, restaurants, and other locations in Avery, Watauga, Ashe, and Mitchell counties.