The team around Ralph was Jimmy Miller (starting in place of an injured Tim Mullen), Craig Robinson (I think that was his name, not very good), Rick Carlisle (playing with a broken nose and terrible in the final), and Othell Wilson (our 2nd best player). Off the bench was Ricky Stokes (Hokies know him!) and Kenton Edelin.

So while a good cast around him, not exactly a star-studded NBA-type lineup like UNC and some others. But Final Four caliber and if the ball bounces right, yes, capable of winning it all (‘82 was probably the best shot was Othell Wilson was hobbled).

The ‘83 ACC tournament was so bastardized that year with the introduction an experimental 3-point line that cut through the top of the key. Yes, you got 3-points for a shot a foot or two past the FT line. Wolfpack hit 12 three’s to make up for Virginia’s dominance inside and on the boards. NCAAT did not have a the weird 3-point line.

NCSU just had a miracle run. They were plenty good too AND had the rabbit foot of all rabbit’s feet.

The ACC was so good in the early 80’s. Winning the ACC tourney was like winning a national title (although that has been true some recently with UVA, UNC, and Duke going at it). With single elimination tourneys, so much can happen as we’ve seen with a couple of Bennett’s best teams - heck even with Dean Smith and North Carolina dominating and NBA-stud rosters annually, he “only” won two over several decades.