Lorenzo Charles, 1983 N.C. State NCAA Final Four hero, killed in bus crash

Lorenzo Charles, whose buzzer-beating dunk gave N.C. State one of college basketball's greatest upsets and set off a celebration full of iconic images that helped make the NCAA tournament a cultural phenomenon, died Monday in a tour bus accident in Raleigh, N.C.

According to the Associated Press, which quoted Elite Coach general manager Brad Jackson, Charles was driving a company bus on Interstate 40 when the accident occurred. There were no passengers. He was 47.

Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue confirmed to AP the bus driver was killed.

Charles became a part of NCAA tournament lore when he caught a short 30-foot shot by Dereck Whittenburg and dunked it for the winning basket in the Wolfpack's 54-52 victory over Houston in the NCAA title game in Albuquerque.

Charles looked a bit confused at the buzzer as if he weren't sure he had won the game. He turned and looked up the court and was soon engulfed by teammates. Video replays show coach Jim Valvano, who would die of cancer about 10 years later, running onto the court looking for someone to hug. A replay of that shot and the postgame celebration is shown on TV almost every year during the tournament.

"My role for the most part was to rebound and defend," Charles told USA TODAY in 2008 as the 25th anniversary of the title approached. "So I was where I was supposed to be, challenging for an offensive put-back. I was directly under the basket. I could see it was going to be short.

"I knew I didn't have time to come down and go back up, and I knew Hakeem was nearby, so I just grabbed the ball and put it in. I looked at the clock, and I watched the last seconds tick right off. It happened so fast, I think it stunned the Houston players."

Charles played briefly with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and then spent time in the European professional leagues.

According to AP, police released little about the crash. It said pictures showed the windshield broken out with tree limbs sticking through the window frame. The rear wheels of the bus were on an embankment, leaving the right front tire elevated from the road.

Whittenburg told the AP late Monday: "It's just an awful day. An awful, awful day."

See photos of: NCAA Tournament

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