The basketball paths of Thurl Bailey and Dave Rose collided 20 years ago in one of the most celebrated college upsets on record. And though their careers have kept them residing primarily in Utah since, the two have never sat down and shared perspectives about that memorable moment — the 1983 NCAA championship game.
Until now.
After a long professional career that included two tours of duty with the NBA's Utah Jazz, Bailey is now the color analyst of University of Utah basketball games and commentator for Jazz home games as well as a public speaker and performer. But in 1983, he was a senior forward who started for the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Rose is BYU's associate head basketball coach through six seasons with the Cougars, following coaching stops at Dixie College and Millard and Pine View high schools. Twenty years ago, the Houston native and Dixie transfer was a fifth-year senior shooting guard and co-captain who came off the bench for a University of Houston team considered one of the most talented college squads ever assembled.
When the two teams met at The Pit on April 4, 1983, N.C. State carved its place in hoops history with a 54-52 victory over heavily favored Houston, as the Wolfpack's Lorenzo Charles grabbed a desperation heave-turned-airball by teammate Dereck Whittenburg for a last-second, game-winning dunk.
To commemorate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the 1983 title game and to allow Bailey and Rose to converse about their common denominator, the Deseret News invited the two to muse about memories, stories and strategies over lunch recently.
"This is interesting to hear," said Bailey. "Whenever people interview me and ask me questions, they always ask me what Houston was thinking. And I could only speculate what their strategy was and what their game plan was."
Bailey's N.C. State team was a surprise Final Four participant that year. Saddled with 10 regular-season losses, the Wolfpack needed to beat a North Carolina team that included Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins to win the ACC tournament for an NCAA automatic bid.
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