HISTORY
lucky LOU With faith and determination, a 5'9" guard made history on NC State’s basketball team by A.J. CARR photography by SMITH HARDY
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efore Lou Pucillo arrived at North Carolina State University in 1956, Wolfpack fans had seen several championship teams, high-flying All-Americans, and electrifying uptempo basketball at its best. But what the Reynolds Coliseum crowd hadn’t witnessed was anybody like Pucillo: a 5'9", 150-pound guard — and the smallest player legendary coach Everett Case had ever awarded a scholarship.
While not intentionally theatrical, Pucillo staged a scintillating show that included behind-the-back and betweenthe-legs dribbling and passing. His ballhandling was magical, his court vision 20-20, his performance highlight-reelworthy. “He could pass the ball behind his back three quarters-length court and hit a guy cutting to the basket — Lou was very unique,” said NC State assistant Vic Bubas in a 1991 Raleigh Times column.
Pucillo was the type of player fans loved and opponents loathed. In four short years, he became a “giant” in NC State basketball lore — and at age 84, Pucillo is still fondly remembered by oldtimers and revered throughout Wolfpack Nation. He’s an ACC Legend, and in the NCSU, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina Sports Halls of Fame. Pretty remarkable for an athlete who never made the starting lineup on his high school basketball team. The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 25
