A Season Inside Read Online Free PDF Page A

then the show’s anchor, was madly in love with him.
    But inside Valvano’s head, the old Peggy Lee song kept playing: “Is That All There Is?” He had accomplished everything he had wanted to accomplish in life by the age of forty: He had married his childhood sweetheart and produced three beautiful daughters. He was a millionaire. He had won a national championship. He was a hero where he lived and his own boss since 1986 when he had become N.C. State’s athletic director in addition to everything else he was doing.
    It was all very simple. What’s more, Valvano knew his 1987–88 team could be pretty good. With a little luck, very good. The key was junior center Charles Shackleford, an immensely talented but just as inconsistent 6–10 specimen who could shoot the ball with either hand but often seemed willing to take the worst shot he could find. If Valvano could get Shackleford to concentrate every game for forty minutes, the Wolfpack would be terrific. All the other pieces were in place. There were four good guards—two seniors and two freshmen—and an excellent power forward in Chucky Brown. The only question mark was at small forward.
    And yet, as he began his eighth season coaching State, Valvano wondered how much longer he wanted to go on doing it. There had been plenty of chances to get out. If he wanted to be a TV commentator, he could do that. If he wanted to be a full-time athletic director and not coach, he could do that. If he wanted an NBA job—the New York Knicks had approached him during the summer—he could undoubtedly do that. Hollywood was even a possibility. During the summer, Valvano had taped a TV variety show pilot.
    But he was still coaching—at State. There were reasons for this. First and foremost, there was his family. Even though he and his wife Pam had grown up in New York, they were comfortable in Raleigh and their children considered it home. Their oldest daughter, Nicole, was a State freshman who would finish her first semester with a 4.0 grade point average. “All that proves,” Valvano cracked, “is that she is the first child in history to take after neither one of her parents.”
    Once, Valvano had called a family meeting to discuss his giving up coaching to be a full-time athletic director. “It would mean more time at home,” he told his daughters. They liked that. “It would mean less pressure,” he added. They liked that too. “It would mean more family weekends together.” They were loving it by now.
    “And it would mean less money. Nicole, you might have to give up your car.”
    Nicole and Jamie, the middle daughter, looked at one another. “New information has just come in,” Nicole said. “We vote you coach.”
    So he coached. Often, he wondered why.
    While Valvano wrestled with his choices, Don DeVoe had no doubt in his mind about where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do. He was starting his tenth season as the coach at the University of Tennessee and his fondest wish was to start his eleventh season there on October 15, 1988.
    But that was no sure thing. DeVoe had two years left on his contract. If the University did not extend that contract at the end of the season, it would leave him a lame duck coach, something neither the school nor he could tolerate. Already, recruiting had become extremely difficult because the whispers were everywhere that DeVoe would not be back the next season.
    DeVoe was human and he was aware of the whispers. He couldn’t avoid them. After seven solid seasons at Tennessee—five NCAA bids, five twenty-victory seasons—DeVoe had suffered through two straight losing seasons. There had been injuries and problems, but most of all there had been losses. The University was about to open a brand-new $37 million, twenty-five-thousand-seat basketball arena and a losing record would mean rows and rows of empty seats. Another losing season and DeVoe would definitely be gone. He knew that. What he didn’t know was how many wins he