Legend has it that it was late summer of 1983 and the defending national champions North Carolina State didn't have a point guard.
Assistant coach Tom Abatemarco had spotted a young man at Midland College and was impressed but head coach Jim Valvano wanted a big point guard to help him get back to the Final Four.
Time was drawing to a close when Abatemarco convinced Valvano to give the young man a shot.
When Spud Webb came off the plane, Valvano leaned over to Abatemarco and said, that better not be him.
It was, all 5-foot-7 of him.
Webb was unfazed, he'd been told since the seventh grade he was too short to play basketball.
Monday, at Darrell Walker's basketball camp at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Webb shared his story. Despite averaging 26 points a game his senior year in high school, he had no Division I scholarship offers so he went to Midland, a junior college in Midland, Texas.
He was a National Junior College All American and still no offers came until Abatemarco called, "About a week before classes started," Webb told the campers.
In two seasons at NC State, Webb averaged 10.5 points, 5.7 assists and almost 2 steals per game. The Wolfpack were 42-24 and made the Elite Eight his senior season.
Experts predicted Webb might could play professionally in Europe.
Webb was unfazed.
"My mentors and role models at the Boys Club always told me I would have to outwork everyone, and if I did that I would have a chance," he told the campers.
"So I did. I loved basketball and knew it was my way to get an education."
When he stepped foot on the court in the Jack Stephens Center the kids were excited.
They had heard about Spud Webb and that he was the shortest player in NBA history to win the Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star Game.
A video of him winning that slam dunk contest showed his 360-degree one handed helicopter dunk that brought the great Michael Jordan, who was watching the competition, to his feet.
Webb scored two perfect 50s on his last dunks to beat defending dunk champ Dominique Wilkins who was 6-8 and nicknamed "The Human Highlight Film," for his dunking ability.
On Monday, Webb talked about his playing days, but his message resonated on a larger scale.
"Make your grades, work hard and listen to your coaches and mentors," he said. "This week in this camp, you have a chance to to get better, but you have to listen to the coaches."
He admitted to them when he got to the NBA he couldn't dribble with his left hand, but he learned how by putting in extra hours on the floor.
Webb was not a great shooter, but he was as quick as a grasshopper on a hot greased skillet and he had an amazing 42-inch vertical jump.
When he got to the NBA, Doc Rivers told him a point guard had to shoot free throws in the mid-80 percentage rate to play. Webb was a 75-percent shooter, until that season when he put in extra work and improved his shooting and one season he made 93 percent of his free throws to lead the NBA.
He made it perfectly clear that his jumping ability, "That was a gift from God.
Webb played 12 seasons in the NBA and he was thankful for people like Walker.
"I met Darrell my rookie season, he took me to dinner and gave me advice I carried with me my whole career," he told the kids. "Keep listening to your coaches and work hard all the time."
Today he is President of Basketball Operations for the Texas Legends, the NBA G League team to the Dallas Mavericks and his story from a two-bedroom home and the Boys Club to the NBA was the best plan of all, by outworking everyone every day.
Sports on 06/19/2019