NC State fans flock to Jimmy V’s grave on a Raleigh hoops pilgrimage

Just past noon Monday, a car pulled into Oakwood Cemetery and wound its way toward the back, stopping at a black granite stone.

The grave stood half-hidden by bouquets of red roses, a pot of geraniums, two basketballs, a half-drunk tallboy of beer and a brand-new sticker showing Raleigh’s new favorite slogan: Why not us?

And as the driver stepped out of his car, he closed his eyes and laid a hand on the chiseled letters that spelled Valvano, standing silently as if in prayer.

“It’s just so inspiring,” he said.

Over the last week, pilgrims from across North Carolina have flocked to Jim Valvano’s grave, paying tribute to the late N.C. State basketball coach whose story has grown almost mythical.

The Wolfpack coach who sprinted wildly across the court after his team’s unlikely 1983 championship, and who delivered the famous “Never give up” speech only weeks before dying of cancer, has collected fresh gifts of flowers, a new foam finger and a bag of Pack Snacks.

“Jimmy V!” shouted James Herring, pulling up in his Jeep. “Gonna get us another championship! I was there back in ‘83, when they were out on Hillsborough Street flipping cars.”

Breaking ‘the curse’

In a cemetery filled with governors, generals and other Raleigh luminaries, Valvano remains its greatest celebrity — even in losing years.

Oakwood’s executive director, Robin Simonton, said fans have long shown up wearing red sweatbands, asking for directions to Valvano’s stone and declaring, “We have to ask him to break the curse.”

Pallbearers at Oakwood funerals have been known to lay their boutonnieres at Jimmy V’s grave rather than those of the departed they have just laid to rest.

“There’s always rumors of tall men peeling themselves out of very small sports cars,” she said. “I love that people are participating in this pilgrimage. For a man who was larger than life, he would have gotten a kick out of it.”

But the hordes of fans are coming in even greater numbers thanks to the Wolfpack men’s underdog rush to the Final Four, which sent hundreds of fans back to Hillsborough Street Sunday night with uncanny resemblance to the crowds of ‘83, minus the car-flipping.

‘Fun to see it live on’

In an hour at lunchtime Monday, Valvano got four visitors taking snapshots.

“If not for him,” said Spencer Mobley, who drove from Benson, “there wouldn’t be the expectation that it could even be done.”

“It’s just fun to see it live on,” said Susan Craft, stopping to pay respects on an afternoon walk. “That’s why I like walking out here. The history is everywhere.”

Just down the hill from Valvano sits the grave of Lorenzo Charles, who scored the game-winning shot for the ‘83 Pack. His stone faces east while Valvano’s faces west, but the back side of Charles’ grave is decorated with a large Tuffy logo that his old coach could see.

The monument company that installed them both had offered to clean them if the team made this year’s Final Four. But the fans beat them to the job.

“He’s here,” said Simonton. “How fun is that? We’d rather him have upright and cheering from the stands. But he’s an iconic part of Oakwood.”

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