The ACC tournament was still a tidy nine-team venture at that point, with the play-in game on Thursday night. But that’s what NC State did in the 1990s. Justin Gainey was a pioneer in the school’s initial revival effort—Is winning allowed? After each State win in that ACC tournament, my dad and his friends cranked “Hero Of The Day” by Metallica, which became a good luck charm, because you can’t change anything as long as it’s working during ACC tournament weekend. Justin Gainey worked more than one miracle that weekend.

Source: New York Times April 03, 2026 01:09 UTC