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Multiple banners hang from the rafters at N.C. State’s Dail Basketball Facility: 2024 Final Four, 2024 ACC Champions, 1983 National Champions and 1974 National Champions.
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Phil Spence, a key member of the 1974 championship team, died on Monday at 72.
Spence was the quintessential Wolfpack player. He was born and raised in Raleigh, where he attended Broughton High School and helped guide the team to a 4A State Title in 1971. Spence earned Wake County Player of the Year recognition as a senior.
“I’ve always thought that the national championship meant maybe more to Phil than anybody on the team because he was a local kid,” said Monte Towe, Spence’s teammate and guard during the title run. “He always talked about that, being a kid growing up in Raleigh and then winning the national championship. It meant so much to him. He loved N.C. State, and we’re gonna miss him.”
Towe said Spence’s wife, Paula, recently notified the team’s group text of health concerns. Spence was moved to hospice last week.
“We are saddened by the passing of former Wolfpack basketball player Phil Spence,” NC State basketball program shared on social media. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Phil’s family, friends and all who knew and loved him.”
Spence started his college career at Vincennes University, a junior college, before transferring to N.C. State as a sophomore. He became a key rotational player for the Wolfpack, averaging six points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his first season.
N.C. State went 30-1 en route to winning the 1974 national title and snapping UCLA’s dominant streak of seven consecutive championships.
Towe said his favorite memory of Spence, however, wasn’t from that NCAA tournament. It was against Maryland in the ACC championship, a win that helped extend the team’s season.
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“We were down one in the last couple minutes. I think, 100-99, and Phil was hanging out. They were really covering (Tommy) Burleson and (David) Thompson, which they should have been,” Towe said. “Phil was standing down there underneath the basket, and I made a pass to him, and he laid it in. That put us ahead by one, and then we eventually won 103 to 100. He made one of the biggest baskets that was ever made in N.C. State basketball history.”
Spence went on to become a starter during his junior and senior seasons. He ended his career with 986 points and 742 rebounds, averaging 11.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. His career rebounding average ranks No. 9 in program history among players who appeared in at least 40 games.
The forward also coined the name “The Jive Five” for the team’s group of Black players, which included David Thompson, creating a bond that only grew as the men got older.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected Spence in the sixth round of the 1976 NBA Draft, but he did not make the final roster. Spence went on to coach at Cary High School, East Wake High School and N.C. Central. He earned 2003 CIAA Coach of the Year honors after guiding the team to a 16-13 record and the CIAA Western Division Championship.
At the end of the following season, NCCU opted not to renew his contract. Spence finished with a 49-64 overall record.
Spence’s NC State teammate, Dwight Johnson died in 2020. Cozell McQueen and Vic Molodet, two other N.C. State basketball stars, died last month. Longtime in-game statistician, Howard Baum, also died in August.
“Life doesn’t go on forever,” Towe said. “The group that I was with are now at the age where everything’s not going the right way sometimes. You just try to enjoy life as much as you can. We certainly are going to miss all these guys. … it’s not easy, but it means that these are good people.”
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 10:59 AM.