“His legacy is not a national championship.
His legacy is fighting cancer,” the former Georgia Tech coach said Saturday. “His fight for cancer has transcended any kind of basketball legacy he had.” Now the names of Valvano and North Carolina State have been married again — all in an effort to fight the disease that took his life. The charity golf tournament that bears Valvano’s nickname is settling into its new home on the Wolfpack’s campus. Celebrities and sportspeople alike played practice rounds Saturday to practice for the following day’s Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, with a roster of participants that includes former Boston Celtics coach and executive M.L. Carr, Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind’Amour, pro wrestler Bill Goldberg and actor Dennis Haskins — better known as Mr. Belding from “Saved by the Bell.” After two years at Pinehurst and 13 years at a Cary country club, the event is being played at N.C. State’s new on-campus golf course. “What better venue for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic to be than at N.C. State” said Nick Valvano, the CEO of the V Foundation and the late coach’s brother. Valvano said the foundation has raised $80 million since 1993 — when it started during the coach’s passionate speech during the ESPY awards — and could hit $95 million by the end of the year.
This year’s tournament has even deeper significance for N.C. State because another of its basketball coaches, Hall of Fame women’s coach Kay Yow, died in January after a two-decade fight with breast cancer.