Eddie Biedenbach knows basketball and he knows NC State basketball. He also knows David Thompson. Thompson was a key player in for the Wolfpack in 1974 when they defeated Marquette for the national championship.
NC State University recently unveiled a statue of Thompson placed at Reynolds Coliseum. Biedenbach, who played for Everett Case and Norm Sloan at NC State in the mid to late 1960’s, was an assistant coach when Thompson was leading NC State to that national championship.
“No one knew much about him,” Biedenbach said of Thompson when he first started to recruit him for the Wolfpack. He had seen film but seeing him in person was a different matter. “I called Coach Sloan at halftime,” Biedenbach said of the first time he was Thompson play. He was, needless to say, very impressed.
“He had no weaknesses. He was a team player,” Bidenbach added on SportsTalk Wednesday. “He had everything it took to be a good player,” he said. “He played the game like it was supposed to be played,” Biedenbach continued.
Biedenbach said today’s game is different from what it was 50 years ago when Thompson was leading the Wolfpack. Dunking was not allowed and there was no three point shot or a 30 second shot clock. “He could play today’s game,” Biedenbach said of Thompson.
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