"James Thomas Anthony "Jim" Valvano", nicknamed "Jimmy V", was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster.

While the head basketball coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament/1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament against long odds. Valvano is not only remembered for running up and down the court after winning the 1983 NCAA championship, seemingly in disbelief and looking for someone to hug, but also for his inspirational 1993 ESPY Awards speech, given just eight weeks before he died of bone cancer.

If you enjoy these quotes, be sure to check out other famous coaches! More Jim Valvano on Wikipedia.

Be a dreamer. If you don't know how to dream, you're dead.

I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em.

No matter what business you're in, you can't run in place or someone will pass you by. It doesn't matter how many games you've won.

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

"Don't give up, don't ever give up."

How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal, and you have to be willing to work for it.

To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day.