Almost daily for the last 23 years, Dereck Whittenburg and Lorenzo Charles are reminded of it, especially when the calendar turns to March.

The image of Whittenburg’s last-second desperation 30-footer falling short only to be caught and slammed into the basket by Charles to complete North Carolina State’s 54-52 upset over Houston in the 1983 NCAA tournament championship game is a staple when CBS shows its collage of the most memorable moments of the event.

It should come as no surprise that North Carolina State’s improbable victory spearheaded by charismatic coach Jim Valvano was chosen as one of the Top 25 Defining Moments in the 100-year history of the NCAA.

Even if Whittenburg and Charles wanted to place it in the deep recesses of their minds, no one else would let them forget.

But at the end of the day, it’s not a negative to be acknowledged for accomplishing something so positive.

"It’s hard for me to go anywhere and not hear about the play," said Charles, a sophomore during the 1982-83 season who is now living near Raleigh, North Carolina. "People are most likely talking about college basketball anyway. You’re going to hear someone talking about Atlantic Coast Conference basketball no matter what type of store or restaurant you go in. That’s a given."

Whittenburg, the author of the most famous air ball in tournament history, said seeing himself in the highlights package never grows old.

"It humbles you and makes you appreciate it even more when they show the last play," said Whittenburg, now the head coach at Fordham. "If I had nickel every time they show it, I’d be a rich man. It’s weird, too, because I’m looking at all the baggy pants of the kids I’m coaching now, and I look at my tight shorts I had on at the time of that game and things certainly look different."

The lasting effects of the moment still reverberate within the North Carolina State program today.

After Herb Sendek resigned this spring to take over at Arizona State, the Wolfpack went through an exhaustive search before hiring Sidney Lowe, who was the starting senior point guard on the title-winning team.

Lowe, who played in the National Basketball Association for seven seasons and served as a head coach and assistant coach in the league, is expected to rekindle some enthusiasm for the Wolfpack fans.

Charles, who owns a ground transportation company in Raleigh, said he senses the excitement already.

"It’s an excellent choice," Charles said of Lowe. "The mood here had been down slightly the last few seasons, but his hiring has rejuvenated interest. After a season or two when he has the chance to recruit and get the players in here, I think the team will be back at a level that people expect."

Whittenburg and Lowe were recruited to North Carolina State by Norm Sloan, who coached a Wolfpack club that David Thompson led to the 1974 national championship.

The players always believed that North Carolina State could win another championship, but the goal seemed elusive until midway through their careers when Valvano entered their lives.

"Coach Valvano came in and brought winning a championship to the forefront," Whittenburg said. "He made it front and center by saying, ‘This is our goal, this is what we want to do and this is how we are going to do it.’ It was embedded in our minds that we could do it. When we started to advance in the tournament, it wasn’t a surprise because we had our eye on the prize."

Skeptics thought the Wolfpack wouldn’t even be invited to the NCAA tournament in 1983. Whittenburg, the team’s leading scorer, had suffered a broken foot during the season against Virginia, and North Carolina State had finished the regular season with 10 losses.

With Whittenburg back in the lineup, the Wolfpack faced a gauntlet of ACC powers in their conference tournament. North Carolina State slipped past Wake Forest, 71-70, in the first round, then beat Michael Jordan-led North Carolina, 91-84, in overtime in the semifinals. The final win came against Ralph Sampson and Virginia, 81-78, to earn the league’s automatic bid.

After securing a spot in the 48-team field, North Carolina State landed in the West regional, where Virginia was situated as the No. 1 seed.

Sampson was on his way to being named the national player of the year for the second straight season, and the Cavaliers had beaten North Carolina State twice in the regular season.

"We figured if we advanced that far, they would be upset that we beat them in the ACC finals," Charles said.

The sixth-seeded Wolfpack almost didn’t survive their first-round game against Pepperdine. North Carolina State rallied from a six-point deficit with 24 seconds left in regulation to win, 69-67, in double overtime.

The Wolfpack continued to live up to their reputation as "the Cardiac Pack" by edging UNLV, 71-70, in the second round. After breezing past the University of Utah, 75-56, in the regional semifinals, Virginia stood in the way of a trip to the Final Four.

North Carolina State won a 63-62 thriller and earned a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete for the national title.

At the Final Four, North Carolina State beat Georgia, 67-60, in the first national semifinal. The experts thought the other matchup was the de facto championship game, with Houston taking on Louisville.

The Cougars, who were led by Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon, put on an explosive athletic display in downing the Cardinals, 94-81.

Drexler and Olajuwon, who later added an "H" to his first name, would go on to be named to the NBA’s top 50 all-time greatest players list. In their college careers, they were the key pieces to Houston’s club, which was nicknamed "Phi Slamma Jamma."

But on April 4, 1983, the North Carolina State players were not intimidated. They also felt the psychological edge was with them since everyone had labeled them as decided underdogs.

"We were saying to ourselves that Houston wasn’t better than North Carolina or Virginia," Whittenburg said. "We felt pretty good about our chances. We had to control the tempo of the game to be successful. It wasn’t a shock to us that we were in the game and up at halftime (33-25). We put ourselves in position to win the game at the end, and the rest is history."

Houston quickly erased the eight-point halftime deficit and appeared in control after putting together a 17-2 run.

But with the help of some missed free throws by Houston, North Carolina State scratched its way back into the game.

With 44 seconds left, North Carolina State had the ball with the score tied at 52. Charles remembers to this day what Valvano said to him after the Wolfpack left their huddle.

Charles had been a force in the postseason, but with Olajuwon’s presence in the lane, he only had two points at that point in the game.

"All Coach Valvano said to me was, ‘I wish you would wake up. You haven’t done anything tonight.’" Charles said. "I remember just shaking my head. A few seconds later we came out national champions."

After North Carolina State ran the clock down, the final play was designed to have Lowe, Whittenburg or Terry Gannon penetrate into the lane, depending on which guard was in the middle of the court with the ball at the end.

They were instructed to take the shot, or dish to Charles or Thurl Bailey if one of Houston’s post players came over to help.

That was the plan anyway.

Instead, a pass by Bailey in the waning seconds was almost intercepted by Houston’s Benny Anders, and Whittenburg retrieved the ball before a disastrous turnover occurred.

"I just wanted to get the shot off," Whittenburg said.

When Anders nearly stole the ball, Olajuwon ventured from underneath the basket and could only watch the flight of the ball after Whittenburg launched the shot.

"I had the best view that the ball was going to be short," Charles said. "I grabbed it and put the ball through the basket. When I came down, I watched the last two seconds tick off the clock."

Beating a team known as Phi Slamma Jamma with a dunk put extra icing on the upset.

"It is a script that no one would’ve believed," Charles said. "We had to claw and scratch our way into the tournament. We were able to win some games in a fashion that no one expected. That’s one of the reasons why everyone still has interest in it. No other team has been able to march to the title quite that way."

For Charles, Whittenburg and their Wolfpack teammates, it is moment they will be asked to recount the rest of their lives.