Former N.C. State Head Coach Jim Valvano’s legacy on the basketball court is an image of him running wildly around the floor looking for someone to hug after his underdog Wolfpack upset Houston for the 1983 national championship.Yet, as so often happens in sports, his legacy off the court is what people will best remember him for.Stricken with bone cancer, Valvano delivered a heartfelt and inspiring acceptance speech at the 1993 ESPY awards when ESPN presented him with the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. In his speech, Valvano announced that, with the help of ESPN, he would create The V Foundation for Cancer Research.Although Valvano died weeks after his speech, his legacy lives on today.Tonight at Madison Square Garden, Georgetown will face Butler in the Jimmy V Classic to benefit the coach’s foundation, which has raised over $90 million to fund cancer research grants. Pittsburgh and Indiana will follow Georgetown tonight, and last night, Florida beat Rutgers, Valvano’s alma mater, in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic.Still fresh in the hearts and minds of many viewers tonight will be the impassioned Valvano’s speech at the 1993 ESPY awards.In his speech, Valvano urged listeners to do three things every day: laugh, think and have their emotions move them to tears. He talked about the importance of family and emphasized the enthusiasm people should have in chasing their dreams.He made sure the crowd laughed as well, telling the story of his first pep talk as a basketball coach. Realizing that his 10-minute speech was taking much longer than ESPN had planned, Valvano let everyone know he didn’t care.”I got tumors all over my body. I’m worried about some guy in the back going `30 seconds’?” he deadpanned.The speech was full of emotion and energy, belying Valvano’s weakened physical condition that was evident when college basketball legends Dick Vitale and Mike Krzyzewski helped their friend off the stage as he received a standing ovation.Valvano said the motto of the foundation would be “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”As a coach, his teams understood never giving up.Heading into the 1983 ACC tournament, Valvano’s Wolfpack needed to win the league title to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament – no small feat, considering the competition. They beat Wake Forest by one point, toppled Michael Jordan and North Carolina in overtime, and then beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia for the ACC championship.In the NCAA tournament, the sixth-seeded Wolfpack would again upset Virginia, a No. 1 seed that had beaten N.C. State twice in the regular season, to make the Final Four.In the championship game, N.C. State was a heavy underdog to Houston, which had two future-NBA Hall of Famers in Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, and was dubbed Phi Slamma Jamma for its players’ height and dunking aptitude. The following year, Houston would finish as national runner-up to Georgetown.With four seconds on the clock and the game tied, N.C. State’s Dereck Whittenburg heaved up an errant shot from 30 feet away. Out of nowhere, Lorenzo Charles swooped in to grab the rebound and dunk the ball at the buzzer for a 54-52 win. Cue Jimmy Valvano running back and forth on the floor.Sports have a way of rewarding the characteristics that people value in life. Valvano’s achievements as a basketball coach are impressive, but it is his spirit and resolve off the floor that continue to affect people well after his time on the court came to an end.”Cancer can take away all my physical abilities,” Valvano said at the end of his speech. “It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”