The Coach Who Refused to Quit

On March 4, 1993, Jim Valvano stood at the podium at the inaugural ESPY Awards barely able to walk. Bone cancer was consuming his body — doctors had given him little time. Yet the coach who had led NC State to an improbable 1983 NCAA Championship was not finished speaking.

"Don't give up," he told the crowd. "Don't ever give up."

That 1983 championship run had been born from exactly that conviction. NC State had no business being in the title game. Their opponent, the Houston Cougars — featuring Clyde Drexler and a young Hakeem Olajuwon — were one of the most talented teams in college basketball history. But Valvano had drilled his players never to count themselves out before the final buzzer. When Lorenzo Charles caught an air ball and dunked at the buzzer for a 54-52 victory, Valvano ran across the court searching desperately for someone to hug. Pure, astonished joy.

He died seven weeks after that ESPY speech. But before he went, he started the V Foundation for Cancer Research — still fighting, still refusing to quit.