Cozell McQueen, who helped NC State win 1983 national championship, dies at 64

In order for a team to win a national championship, every player on the court has to fill their role well. And without Cozell McQueen in the post, NC State wouldn’t have captured its second title in program history in 1983. The sophomore center, at the time, hit the game-tying shot with eight seconds left in overtime to force a second extra period in the opening round against Pepperdine. He was also the one that posted a career-high 13 rebounds in the national semifinal win over Georgia, while he then battled Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon in the championship with 12 rebounds to his credit. By the time the buzzer sounded after Lorenzo Charles’ game-winning dunk for the title, it was McQueen who scaled the stanchion and backboard (along with guard Ernie Myers) to celebrate high above the crowd in Albuquerque, New Mexico. McQueen, who was so critical in helping Jim Valvano claim the only national championship of his coaching career, died Wednesday. He was 64. A 6-foot-11 center, who was born in Paris but was raised in Bennettsville, South Carolina, McQueen was a consistent force in the paint for the Wolfpack. He improved in each of his four seasons in Raleigh, including a career-best 9.0 rebounds per game as a junior in the 1983-84 campaign. McQueen capped his NC State tenure by averaging of 5.3 points and 6.0 rebounds across 134 games in the program’s red and white uniform. After his storied Wolfpack career came to a close, McQueen was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA Draft. Although McQueen was drafted by the Bucks and later signed a free-agent deal with the New York Knicks the following year, he made his NBA debut on a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons in 1987. He made the most of his three-game stint with the Pistons as he logged six points and eight rebounds in seven minutes of game time, playing alongside the likes of Adrian Dantley and Dennis Rodman. McQueen’s professional playing career took him all over the world, playing in the Continental Basketball League, while also suiting up for teams in France, Italy and Spain before retiring in 1996. The well-traveled basketball player was later inducted in the NC State Hall of Fame with the 1983 national championship team in 2019.