The legacy of Jim Valvano

In 1983, Head Coach Jim Valvano led the NC State men’s basketball team to the top, bringing home a national title against all odds. “Survive and advance,” he coined. Valvano instilled that motto into his team and lived by his words both on and off the court. He is undoubtedly one of the most notable coaches in college basketball history, but his legacy extends far beyond the game. 

Valvano, who died in 1993 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1992, received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards less than two months before his death. In his acceptance speech, Valvano told life stories and announced the V Foundation for Cancer Research’s launch.

Jamie Valvano, Jim Valvano’s daughter, said her father recognized the importance of funding cancer research and launched the V Foundation for that reason. 

“After my dad was diagnosed, he was given about 10 months to live,” Jamie Valvano said. “He had a vision of what he wanted to do, and that was he wanted to fund cancer research. He felt like that was what needed to be done.”

13 years after her father’s death, Jamie Valvano was diagnosed with cancer herself. 

“I had inherited a genetic mutation from my dad, and the mutation had not even been discovered yet when my dad was diagnosed,” Jamie Valvano said. “So 13 years later, after his passing, I found out I had breast cancer at the age of 33 … and it was only through cancer research that they knew about this mutation.”

Jamie Valvano credits cancer research and the work of the V Foundation for saving her life, noting her father’s ESPY speech as being not just inspirational, but truthful. 

“In the ESPY speech, my dad said the words, ‘It may not save my life, but it may save my children's lives,’” Jamie Valvano said. “What a lot of people don't know is that cancer research did save my life. I'm an 18-year survivor now and it's because of research.”

Valvano had a “zest for life,” as people such as his 83 players and family members to those who met him in passing would describe. Jamie Valvano said her father’s extraordinary care for people was unique and a true display of his character.  

“When I meet someone who has met him, they always talk about how he took the time to stop and talk to them,” Jamie Valvano said. “He loved people, he loved learning about people, remembering names and stories and such. I think that that was, really is, so different.”

Jamie Valvano recalled her father’s efforts to write letters and respond to people sending him well wishes while he fought cancer. She said his value of other people was evidence of his genuine spirit.

“One thing that impacted me is when someone wrote my dad a letter when he was coaching, he always wrote them back,” Jamie Valvano said. “And when he was sick, and he got letters from all over the country, as long as he could and he was healthy, he would write those people back. People mattered to him.”

The V Foundation was established to fund cancer research that couldn’t save Valvano himself. His effort to help people throughout his life resulted in people helping him launch the successful cancer research organization and continue his legacy through it.

“He knew that it wouldn't save him,” Jamie Valvano said. “But he was doing it for other people. I think there's just this intangible element that he had where people felt his humor or his zest for life, his ability to make people laugh and make them believe in the impossible.”

This year, the NC State men’s and women’s basketball teams had historically successful runs in the NCAA tournament, both making it to the Final Four championships and bringing to the Pack some of the same spirit seen in 1983. 

Ben and Sarah Riedlinger, NC State alumni, realized they lived near Oakwood Cemetery, where Valvano is buried. They visited his grave to pay their respects before NC State played UNC-Chapel Hill in the ACC Tournament. 

“We’re familiar with that area … but we had no idea that Jimmy V was buried there,” Ben Riedlinger said. “So before the UNC game in the final, that day, I just said, ‘You know what, let's just grab some flowers, go check it out, pay our respects and maybe a little bit of magic from Jimmy V will be able to rub off on us to help us with this game, the final, and get us our first title in the ACC in a number of years.’”

The couple and their two young daughters visited Valvano’s grave before the game against the Tar Heels and continued to visit throughout the tournament. The couple’s three-year-old daughter inspired the family to return to his grave a second time, creating a family tradition that Ben Riedlinger said he anticipates continuing next year.

“My eldest, Olivia, was actually the catalyst for us to go a second time,” Ben Riedlinger said. “We were at Trader Joe's shopping for groceries, and there were flowers up front, she said ‘I think Jimmy V would like these flowers.’”

Sarah Riedlinger used to be a high school math teacher abroad and said she would show her classes Valvano’s ESPY speech, emphasizing his influence beyond basketball. 

“He’s a lot more than just a coach who had a successful run at NC State,” Sarah Riedlinger said. “He had several successful runs, but it's more just who he was as a person. … It sort of didn't matter what teams you cheered for or whose side you were on. He was an inspiration to a lot of people, and his ESPY speech I think is just good overall morals of what life is about. … It gives people who maybe are going through things motivation to stay positive and keep fighting.”