The aura of Reynolds Coliseum on N.C. State’s campus is still alive and well. I visited the historic arena last week when my youngest son attended the Sidney Lowe basketball camp.

In 1975 — right at the end of the David Thompson era — I went to the Wolfpack basketball camp, too. As an avid N.C. State fan, I had a blast at the camp and have remained a Wolfpacker, despite graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. (Note: When trying out as a freshman for the UNC-CH student newspaper, do not write an audition article about being a State fan — not exactly what they are looking for over on The Hill. My mistake.) I loved the Wolfpack for its spirit and because my father and brother were State grads.

I followed Wolfpack football, but it was basketball that stole my heart.

When State would play its arch rival, Carolina, I was excited the whole day at school; not even a math test could bring me down. I still remember the theme song that played during the game broadcasts, with Jim Thacker and Billy Packer doing the play-by-play. During my junior high years, I was lucky enough to attend many basketball games and sit in great seats courtside because one of my sisters had a good friend who dated the athletic director’s son. And this friend knew I was a huge State fan and invited me to attend with her (thank you Brenda!).

As I sat in the coliseum second-level seats the other day, I gazed down on those courtside seats and suddenly, it was like I was 13 again. I heard the N.C. State fan song in my mind and smelled the popcorn that used to permeate throughout the building on game night. I realized that I missed Reynolds Coliseum.

I missed those years when State was in the thick of the ACC race most seasons. I missed the days when Carolina’s biggest basketball rival was State. Nowadays, the ESPN announcers go on and on about the Duke-Carolina rivalry, and true, it is a big one. Duke is a top school, and Coach K and his program are terrific. But those announcers talk up the Duke-Carolina basketball rivalry all week before the games, and I just want to yell at the TV screen, “What happened to N.C. State?”

Coach Valvano had the program in a very strong position to be a top contender every year. After leading the team to a national championship that people still replay today, Jimmy V was becoming a household name, and recruits wanted to play for him. Then a book was written accusing Valvano of violations (the more serious ones were never proven true), the media jumped on board, and before you knew it, Coach Valvano was forced to leave N.C. State. In contrast, some coaches today are allowed to leave a school’s program in shambles and shame and move on to bigger and brighter pastures, getting a hero’s welcome at another school. Yet, Valvano became the sacrificial lamb for everything wrong in college basketball. It has been tough for the N.C. State program to fully recover from the damage that was done back then.

And yes, as a lifelong Wolfpacker, I get upset about the unfairness of it all — of what it did to Valvano and what it did to the university. I get upset that the magic of those State basketball days disappeared somehow. My trip to Reynolds last week caused me to reminisce, as did the approaching annual Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Tournament. And for State fans everywhere, let me say, it’s time to get the magic back. I can’t wait for basketball season.