Hall of famers, legends wowed by renovated Reynolds Coliseum

It has been dressed up and modernized and it doesn’t quite look the same, but to David Thompson, Reynolds Coliseum is still Reynolds Coliseum.

Thompson was at Reynolds Friday, with 1,300 of his closest friends, for the grand re-opening of the building, after a $35 million renovation, and the N.C. State Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony.

“Reynolds Coliseum has always been sacred in my heart,” Thompson said. “Of all the places to play, it was the greatest of all.”

And many would argue so was Thompson, who was being inducted into the hall of fame for the second time. The 1974 national championship basketball team, led by Thompson, Tommy Burleson and Monte Towe, headlined the fourth class and first to have a place called home.

The first third of Reynolds Coliseum was turned into the grand hall and permanent home of the hall of fame. There are displays and interactive exhibits celebrating N.C. State history.

Thompson, maybe the best to ever play basketball in the ACC, found his own shrine when he walked into the new, air-conditioned front corridor of Reynolds.

“It’s fun to see my case over there,” Thompson said. “It’s good to have a place where you can come back and see some of the history of Reynolds Coliseum and all of the great players that played here. It’s something that’s very special.”

Swimming coach Don Easterling, lacrosse legend Stan Cockerton, women’s basketball star Linda Page, football standout Dick Christy and Dave Robertson, a four-sport athlete from the 1910s, joined the ’74 team in the class.

Athletic director Debbie Yow, who started the hall of fame in 2012, was emotional when addressing the families of the inductees on Friday night.

“To the honor and glory of N.C. State,” Yow said, fighting back tears, as she raised a glass of champagne in a toast to the class. “Thank you so much.”

It was a big day for Wolfpack history. It was the official ribbon-cutting for Reynolds, which was closed for 15 months while it was renovated. The volleyball team opened it back up officially last week with a win over Delaware.

There was also the unveiling of “Coaches’ Corner” with statues of four legendary N.C. State basketball coaches: Everett Case, Norm Sloan, Jim Valvano and Kay Yow.

The $220,000 in funds for the student-run project, initiated by former student body president Andy Walsh, were raised through private donations.

The statue of Valvano, the coach of the 1983 national title team, has a big smile with both hands raised in the air, one holding a clipped net. A “V” pin on his bronze suit. His widow’s eyes started to water and she smiled.

“There are no words that can really say how I feel, it seems like he’s alive again,” Pam Valvano Strasser said. “He would be so proud to see it and I think it looks very much like him.”

All four coaches were already members of the hall of fame before being immortalized outside between the Coliseum and the Talley Student Center.

Friday’s gala was a chance for fans, and honorees alike, to get a good look at the new Reynolds.

“I’m just blown away by this whole facility,” Cockerton said. “I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful.”

Cockerton has the distinction of being the first member of the hall of fame from a sport N.C. State no longer has. There’s a reason Cockerton was honored. His 193 career goals stood as an NCAA lacrosse record for nearly 30 years and he still holds the NCAA record for goals per game.

“I had great teammates that worked very hard to get me the ball and I just happened to have a talent to score,” Cockerton said. “It was a good combination.”

Easterling won 17 ACC title in 24 years as the swimming and diving coach from 1971 until 1995. He barely recognized the place.

“My office was right over there,” Easterling said, pointing towards the front northwest corner of the building. “What a great job they’ve done. This means to the world to me.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Hall of famers, legends wowed by renovated Reynolds Coliseum."