Bus Crash Kills Basketball Hero

Lorenzo Charles, whose last second dunk gave North Carolina State a stunning victory in the 1983 college basketball championship game, was killed when a bus he was driving crashed along a highway in Raleigh, North Carolina. No passengers were aboard, and the cause of the bus crash was still under investigation. Charles grabbed Dereck Wittenberg’s 30 foot shot and dunked it at the buzzer to give North Carolina State the victory over heavily favored Houston. The victory sent NC State coach Jim Valvano rushing onto the court in a scene that is replayed every year during the NCAA tournament.