‘A cut above everybody else.’ Former NC State star David Thompson is honored

Monte Towe can appreciate a David Thompson statue standing outside Reynolds Coliseum.

Deserving? No question.

Towe was Thompson’s teammate for four years at N.C. State and the point guard on the 1974 Wolfpack team that captured the school’s first national basketball championship. As much as anyone, he can attest to Thompson’s greatness and his legacy as a two-time national player of the year and three-time All-America.

“What we all think about David is as the best player ever at N.C. State and the best player ever in the ACC,” Towe said Tuesday in an N&O interview. “I think (the statue) is recognizing that greatness and is a great tribute to David.”

In being immortalized with a statue at Reynolds, it appeared Thompson would forever be “grounded.” Thompson rarely had his feet on the ground, or so it seemed, in his incomparable career with the Wolfpack.

But when the statue was unveiled Wednesday outside Reynolds, Thompson’s likeness fittingly was atop a 44-inch-high pedestal -- matching his amazing vertical leap -- as if he was elevating for a shot.

“From the first time I saw him I knew he was different in the way he elevates, the way he scores, his competitive edge,” Towe said. “He was a cut above everybody else. He had greatness written all over him.”

Thompson’s statue is the first for a Wolfpack athlete, joining those of former Wolfpack coaches Everett Case, Kay Yow, Jim Valvano and Thompson’s coach, Norman Sloan.

“It really means a lot to be the first player,” Thompson said. “There’s only one first player. To be that one you’ve got to be special, and I’m grateful for them to choose me.”

Thompson was joined at the ceremony by NCSU chancellor Randy Woodson and athletic director Boo Corrigan. Later Wednesday was the Pack’s annual Heritage Game at Reynolds Coliseum as NCSU hosted Maryland Eastern Shore.

Several of Thompson’s teammates were on hand, along with such former ACC stars as UNC’s Phil Ford, Duke’s Randy Denton and Virginia’s Barry Parkhill.

“That means a lot. It shows the respect they had for me and my abilities, and I was always respectful of my opponents when we played,” Thompson said,

Towe and Thompson both came to NCSU in the fall of 1971 — Thompson from Shelby and Towe from Converse, Indiana. Together with Tom Burleson, Tim Stoddard, Morris Rivers, Joe Cafferky and others, they produced a golden age of basketball for an already storied Wolfpack program.

Thompson was named the ACC player of the year three times and scored 2,309 career points. One can only wonder if there would have been enough NIL money — if then allowed — to keep him in college.

“I always said I was born soon,” Thompson joked.

The Pack was 27-0 and ACC champion in 1972-73, then 30-1 and the ACC and national champs the next season when Thompson was a junior.

UCLA had won seven consecutive NCAA titles before losing to the Pack in the ‘74 NCAA semifinals in Greensboro, and would win again in 1975. But the Bruins, led by All-America Bill Walton, could not beat Thompson and the Wolfpack, who then topped Marquette in the national championship game.

Towe was the little guy at 5-foot-7 and Burleson the big man at 7-2. It’s easy to see why Thompson, always listed at 6-4 but perhaps a tad shorter, once referred to the ‘74 Pack as a “circus” team, jokingly saying,“We had the midget, the giant and the high-flying guy.”

“He was always an inspiration to me in the way he played and the way he handled himself and the way he competed,” Towe said. “I think it rubbed off on the whole team. He was just the best teammate you could have and the best person.”

Thompson had many memorable moments in Reynolds — good and bad. He scored 57 points in a game, then an ACC record. In an age of college basketball when dunking was not allowed, he did it anyway in his final home game in 1975, just for the fans.

“I tomahawked, windmill dunked,” he said. “I got a technical foul and a standing ovation. That was a pretty good way to go out.”

Then, there was the Great Fall. In an Eastern Regional game against Pittsburgh in 1974, Thompson was attempting to block a shot when he caught a foot on the shoulder of teammate Phil Spence — yes, that high off the ground — cartwheeled and landed on the back of his head and back in the lane.

“I thought David was dead,” Spence later said.

Reynolds was hushed. Thompson, his head bleeding, was rushed to a hospital. Said Towe: “We played on but with tears in our eyes.”

Thompson would return to Reynolds that day, a bandage around his head, as the old coliseum shook. Even the game was stopped as the players rushed over to see Thompson.

“I wanted to let them know I was OK but I also wanted them to win the game because I wanted to play again, against UCLA,” Thompson said.

But Towe also recalls another Thompson game at Reynolds. Playing on the freshman team, Thompson had 49 points, once hitting 13 straight shots, as the Pack ripped the North Carolina freshmen 99-73.

“And I think he fouled out with five minutes to go,” Towe said, laughing. “I wish there was film of that. It was one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen.”

Towe will not be at the statue unveiling Wednesday. At 70, he’s still coaching. But he said his thoughts will be with Thompson, the only Wolfpack men’s basketball player to have his jersey — No. 44 — retired.

“What a great honor,” Towe said. “It was just my pleasure to be his teammate. Congratulations to David. We all love him.”