Sports News: Dereck Whittenburg, a Player, Coach and Now Filmmaker
Dereck Whittenburg first and foremost is a friend. We have been acquainted since his coaching days at Fordham University (2001-2009), when as Head Coach of the Fordham Men’s Basketball team, he led the Rams to their first18-win season since 1991-’92.
In fact, Whittenburg’s 18 wins in 2006-07, is the first and only winning season that Fordham Men’s basketball has recorded (18-12), since their 1991-’92 season (18-13), under former Head Coach Nick Macarchuk.
Nonetheless, a 3-25 record in 2008-’09, doomed Whittenburg’s future at Fordham, as he was fired four games into the 2009-‘10 season. Whittenburg’s overall record during his six years at Fordham remains 69-112. Whittenburg emerged about a year later, as an ESPN College Basketball Analyst, who is also presently a Basketball Scout for the Utah Jazz of the NBA.
Also included in Whittenburg’s basketball resume is that he was the head coach at Wagner College (1999-2003), while leading the Seahawks to the Northeast Conference Title in 2003. Whittenburg has also been an assistant coach at North Carolina State, George Mason University, Georgia Tech and three other prominent college programs.
Regardless, what is most impressive concerning Whittenburg’s basketball resume is that he was a member of the North Carolina State Wolfpack team, led by the late vivacious Head Coach Jimmy Valvano, which among the most improbable odds won the 1983 NCAA National Championship.
Whittenburg is originally from Glenarden, Maryland but has been living in the New York Metropolitan area for about 15 years. He and his wife Jackie moved to White Plains about a year ago. “I like it here a lot and my wife Jackie loves New York,” commented Whittenburg, who has been married to Jackie for 27 years.
Presently, Whittenburg adds the title of Executive Producer to his array of accomplishments, as he tells his story of the miracle run of his 1983 N.C. State team to win the NCAA Championship, in the documentary “Survive and Advance.”
“Survive and Advance” is part of ESPN’S ‘30-30’ series. The documentary premiered on Sunday, March 17, to rave reviews after ESPN’s NCAA Selection Sunday show.
“Well one of the best things to happen to me was to leave Fordham because it allowed me to be more creative and it gave me a year to reflect and think about what I wanted to do in the future,” stated Whittenburg, as we dinned at the Hacienda Azteca Restaurant, on Quarropas Street, in White Plains.
“I was lying on the coach one day watching the movie “Fab Five” and thought this is a great film but I think the story of the 1983 N.C. State team would be better. Therefore, I telephoned my friend Jonathan Hock who had helped me previously to develop a website for Fordham,” depicted Whittenburg.
Besides assisting Whittenburg with the Fordham Athletic website in the past, Hock is an eight-time Emmy Award winning producer, director, writer and editor. Hock agreed to assist Whittenburg with his project and they approached ESPN about the film. “I went out and got the best guy that I could, Jonathan Hock. He believed in me and I trusted him,” admired Whittenburg.
“Survive and Advance” was the rallying call of the late Jimmy Valvano to motivate his 1983 North Carolina State team to win the NCAA Championship among incredible odds and monumental challenges. The Wolfpack won nine overtime and one-point games, while losing in seven of those games in the last minute to go on and win the NCAA Title.
They beat legendary Coach Dean Smith with Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins on the University of North Carolina team. They also beat Ralph Sampson of the University of Virginia, who was notably the best college basketball player on earth at the time. Then the Wolfpack beat the University of Houston with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in the 1983 NCAA Championship game.
This April 4, marks the 30th Anniversary of the Wolfpack’s 1983 National Championship win over the University of Houston. The Wolfpack, 17-10 that season, were not even considered a challenge for Houston and were one of the biggest underdogs ever in sports in the 1983 NCAA Title game.
What is most memorable about this game is the last second shot that Whittenburg took behind the three-point line that fell short of the rim. His then teammate Lorenzo Charles grabbed Whittenberg’s shot out of the air and dunked the ball over Olajuwon to win the National Title.
Unfortunately, Charles would never see the documentary or gather with his teammates to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the 1983 miracle Championship. Charles who was a bus driver in Raleigh, North Carolina was killed in a crash two days after Whittenburg called Hock about making the film.
The Wolfpack also lost their spirited Head Coach Valvano to bone cancer in 1993, ten years after winning the National Championship. Charles died in July 2011 and is buried 10 feet away from his former coach Valvano.
Also, on the 1983 N.C. State team was Whittenburg’s teammate from DeMatha High School, Sidney Lowe. Whittenburg and Lowe were both High School All-Americans at DeMatha, under legendary Head Coach Morgan Wooten.
“The film has given me the opportunity to share with people and children that they too can accomplish great things. As Jimmy (Valvano) said ‘ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things.’ It has given me another platform to go out and spread the message that education is important, your character is important and vision and dreams are important as well,” said Whittenburg.
