Published: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 / Updated: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 09:47 AM

ESPN analyst Valvano to speak at Winthrop basketball tipoff banquet

Bob Valvano was a year ahead of Randy Peele when they attended Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va., in the late 1970s, and during that time both embarked on coaching careers that would lead them to college basketball.

“That was when I first met him,” Peele, who is in his third season as head coach at Winthrop, said. “Even then you could tell he was destined to coach. I was still in the playing mode, but you could see coaching was in his blood. I could tell where his mind was.”

Valvano eventually quit playing basketball at Virginia Wesleyan and took over coaching the junior varsity team. But he kept playing soccer and was an all-conference goalkeeper. He still holds the school record for career saves. He also lettered in golf.

Peele hung with basketball until he was cut from the team and jumped into coaching at the high school level while still a student. Valvano asked him to help coach the junior varsity, but Peele didn't do it.

Winthrop fans might get a chance to hear some of those stories on Nov. 5 at the Winthrop Basketball Tipoff Banquet in McBryde Hall, when Peele and women's coach Bud Childers will introduce and talk about their teams.

Valvano, now a broadcaster and TV analyst, will be the guest speaker.

“We've always had a first-class event,” Peele said, “but we want to exceed expectations. We want to tip off the year and get the community excited about the start of the basketball season.

“And we wanted to get someone with national visibility who understands how important basketball is at Winthrop and the level of success we've had and the expectations that go with it. Bob is a charismatic guy and very exciting speaker.”

Valvano has been to Winthrop before. He was handling the color commentary the day Craig Bradshaw's jump hook from the baseline beat Coastal Carolina 51-50 and sent the Eagles to the 2006 NCAA tournament.

The guess is talking runs in the Valvano family.

Valvano is the younger brother of the late Jim Valvano, who coached N.C. State to the 1983 national championship. Jim Valvano was the master of game-day coaching and the one-liner. When asked about his gift for gab, Valvano once quipped his mother had him “vaccinated with a phonograph needle.”

And Jim Valvano also inspired millions with his public fight against cancer. He died April 23, 1993, just eight weeks after giving his “Don't give up, don't ever give up” speech at the ESPY Awards.

Bob Valvano, a cum laude graduate of Virginia Wesleyan in 1979, has served on the board of directors of the V Foundation for cancer research and the Kosair Children's Hospital Foundation. He also authored a book “The Gifts of Jimmy V” about his older brother.

A basketball coach for 19 seasons, Valvano joined ESPN in 1998 as a radio host and has his own nightly show from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. He also serves as a game analyst for ESPN and is also the color analyst for the University of Louisville's radio and TV broadcasts.

“I was on the road recruiting,” Peele said, “and it was late at night and I was listening to Bob. I told him he had me all fired up.

“To have him at our banquet is an awesome deal.”

Peele said the Eagles also plan to lend a hand to the V Foundation when the Winthrop women's and men's teams play a doubleheader at the Winthrop Coliseum on Dec. 12. The women host Augusta State at 5:30 and the men take on Barton. The games will be played to help raise money for the V Foundation.

Want to go?

What: Winthrop basketball tipoff banquet

When: 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5

Where: McBryde Hall, Winthrop campus

Cost: $20 per person, $10 children under 10; RSVP required by Oct. 30

Information: Sharen Dubard, director of the Eagle Club, 803-329-2129, Ext. 6218 or dubards@winthrop.edu