July 15, 2025 • 38 mins
What defines your true legacy? For former NC State standout Dereck Wittenburg, it's how many people you've helped along the way—not the trophies, accolades, or championships you've won. As a young boy driving with his father past the White House, Wittenburg wondered what it would be like to meet the president someday. That childhood dream became reality not once but twice, as his journey took him from the Maryland playgrounds to NCAA basketball glory.
The heart of Wittenburg's story isn't just about championship rings or coaching successes—it's about his remarkable pattern of turning setbacks into comebacks. He shares how breaking his foot during his senior year at DeMatha High School taught him resilience, only to face the same injury years later during NC State's championship season. Through mental toughness and unwavering positivity, he recovered faster than expected both times, contributing to what became known as the "Cardiac Pack" under legendary coach Jim Valvano.
Wittenburg's wisdom extends far beyond the basketball court. After his playing days, he rebuilt his career coaching at Wagner College and Fordham University before reinventing himself again as an Emmy-winning documentary producer. Most meaningfully, he helped co-establish the Jimmy V Foundation, which has raised nearly $400 million for cancer research, honoring his beloved coach's legacy.
"People have to believe they are worthy of success," Wittenburg advises. "Stay the course, believe in yourself, let people help you, and your dreams can come true." Through the Dereck Wittenburg Foundation, he's now helping first-generation college students achieve their educational goals, embodying his philosophy: "If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone up today." Listen to discover how to transform your own setbacks into powerful comebacks that benefit others along the way.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned
motivational speaker andcertified life coach.
And welcome to the Climb, ashow where we celebrate the
stories of resilient peoplesharing how they turned
adversity into success, From thebusiness sector to athletes and
beyond.
Be inspired and learn what ittakes to climb.
Hey, hey, everybody, Welcome toanother episode of the Climb.
(00:28):
This show is about beingintentional, about everybody
hearing a story about how youcan overcome.
We want you, the listener, totake bullet points away from
what it took for a person toclimb, what it took for them to
overcome.
And today's guest is justwonderful.
He's got so many nuggets, somuch wisdom that we don't want
(00:51):
you to miss who he is.
His name is Derek Wittenberg.
He's from the Washington DCarea, celebrated author, world
champion, NCAA champion.
He's also an executive movieproducer.
He's associate director at hisalma mater, NC State, and you're
in for a real treat.
He summarizes what this show,the Climb, is all about.
(01:14):
So, Coach Wittenberg, welcometo the show, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Absolutely.
Thank you very much.
It's my pleasure my ex-teammate, former teammate at the Bath of
High School.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And true revelation here, folks we had the same high
school coach.
Derek was two years ahead of me, though he's like 14 years
older, so there was no age limitfor where you could be a 12th
grader, but I'm so proud of you.
Coach, I'm going to jump rightin.
Tell us a little bit about yourstory Growing up.
We grew up three miles awayfrom each other, glenar in
Maryland, and you tell a storyabout telling your dad Dad, one
(01:53):
day I want to visit the WhiteHouse, and ultimately, we'll
tell it about that.
You actually did it.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, I was 12 years old and we were driving down.
My dad worked for BMW Mechanicin Alexandria.
We were driving down 395 andI'm saying to my dad, I wonder
what it's like to meet thepresident and go to the White
House.
And, for a short story, youknow, played in the boys club
basketball, then got a chance togo to the famous DeMatha High
(02:22):
School and, undefeated, withyour brother, the late Tommy
Branch, went undefeated theirfirst national championship in
1978 with Morgan Wooten Senioryear.
We have a great senior year.
All of a sudden I go to NC Stateand then four years later in my
senior year we win the nationalchampionship.
(02:46):
I get the chance to go to theWhite House and visit with the
late Ronald Reagan who was thepresident at the time.
What a wonderful experience.
And then, 30 years later, wegot invited to the White House
by the first black president,barack Obama.
To the White House Because backthen the teams it wasn't legal
(03:06):
for a team.
Obama to the White Housebecause back then the teams it
wasn't legal for a team to go tothe White House and he wanted
to invite us back 30 years later.
So what a great experience andI just can't.
I'm humbled and honored to be apart of all of that great
journey.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I want to double back and talk about when you were in
the 10th grade.
I was in the 8th grade, youwere in the 10th grade.
Folks, I want you to get this.
Coach Wittenberg had always hadthe clutch gene.
So there was a dunk contestagainst the number one and two
rated school boys in the country, albert King and Gene Banks.
Magic Johnson was also in thatsame class, rated number four,
(03:43):
but you won the slam dunkcontest.
And where I want our listenersto know what was the mindset as
a 6'1 sophomore taking on thetwo top players in the nation?
But you had no fear.
Where was that born out of?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Baltimore Civic Center sophomore.
First of all, all my teammateswanted me to do the famous 360
dunk because nobody on my sidehave ever tried a 360 dunk.
So, believe it or not, dutchMorley, the point guard, was the
guy giving me instructions onwhat dunks to do and what order.
(04:21):
And I did that famous 360 dunkat the end and man, the crowd at
the Baltimore Simpsons wascrazy.
But the dunk contests weredifferent.
They had one group of us doingthe dunk contest and then they
had Albert King and Gene Banksfeatured at a different time
doing the dunk contest.
But it was unanimous that I wonthe dunk contest with that
(04:45):
famous 360 dunk.
And I remind Albert and Geneevery time I see him that I
peaked him in the dunk contest.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I don't think at almost 65, anybody's dunking
anything but a donut nail, coach.
But I was there and I wasamazing and you always had the
clutch gene.
And in this story you guys aregoing to hear more about Coach
because he coached the same waythat he played mentally tough.
I want to hit you on anotherstory your senior year, our
(05:15):
sophomore year at DeMatha.
You're our leading scorer, youand Sidney Lowe.
Every time they talk aboutWittenberg they talk about
Sidney Lowe, who was also aclassmate.
They went to NC State togetherwon a championship, so those two
are inseparable with winningchampionships.
Your 12th grade year, you brokeyour foot and that was a big
(05:36):
loss for our team.
Yet in your story and we talkedabout this a couple days ago, I
don't know if you everrecognized that in your story
you always have a setback andthen a comeback.
Tell the listeners what was themindset as an All-American
senior leading scorer at DeMathaand you've got to miss a great
(05:57):
portion of the year.
But then you come back and hitsome game winners.
But what was that process like,with the broken foot and having
to be patient?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, one thing is it seems to be devastating when it
actually happens and you'rethinking, oh my goodness, I'm
not going to play again andbelieve it or not.
My mom had a remedy.
I broke my foot and back thenyou know the doctors, you know
they tell you Dr Stan Levine,you know the great doctor for
(06:27):
the Redskins also, was ourdoctor gave me a little kind of
a little plaid, something that Ican put on my foot as a brace,
made up a brace for me.
But I was supposed to be outAdrian about five to six weeks
and I came back really early.
(06:49):
I came back within three orfour weeks and I came back.
It was a little bit of pain butthat brace really helped me.
But mentally, my mom also.
When I got home she had the oldremedy, the heating lamp, and I
would ice it and I put the heatlamp on it.
I put heat ice and then I wouldput the heat lamp on it and
(07:15):
really it probably helped myrecovery.
That's an old remedy back inAlabama.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So where was the steak on your eye?
You also had a steak on youreye for a lump, huh Well, but it
worked.
You came back and hit some gamewinners.
So the pattern was mentally youstayed ready.
But then in the All-Star Games,your last high school games,
two times I didn't know, Ithought it was once you hit game
winners because you keptyourself mentally tough.
(07:43):
Tell us about that one beingready.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, it is about being mentally tough and really
being positive too.
Being mentally tough is aboutbeing positive, about taking on
this situation, being ready tocome back.
I came back.
We won the city championship,played in the All-American Games
(08:08):
.
I came back like I didn't missa beat, Still made All-Met.
You know that was a big thingback then, Adrian, you had to
make All-Met.
So I still made the All-Metteam and I just remain positive
because I think that everybodylooks at situations that what
things happen to is doom andgloom.
But I came back and just sohappy but I think, a lot of
(08:32):
positive energy around betweenmy family, my teammates.
Coach Wooten really encouragedme and made me believe that I
had an opportunity to come back.
I did and I finished up anoutstanding senior year in high
school.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I want to ride that horse because I'm taking notes
as you're writing this down andwait till you finish your
basketball career and really hitus with some wisdom.
You said mentally tough andbeing positive, being patient.
Then it happened again.
Another setback to a comeback.
And this is really amazingbecause your senior year at NC
(09:07):
State with Sidney Lowe, ateammate in high school, you
broke your foot again separatefoot and then you came back and
became the cardiac pack.
So tell us about that mindsetagain, your senior year and what
it took to get back.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Same mindset.
Who in the world would believethat would happen again?
Right so, but this time Ialready had experience and it's
happened before.
But it's the opposite foot.
Right so I'm on the right foot.
But it was a speedy recoverythis time because they actually
implemented or planted a screwinside the foot.
(09:45):
So what helped?
It healed a little faster.
So, once again, it's supposedto be about four to eight weeks.
I was back within three againand I came back and it was still
kind of sore.
But I just didn't want to letmy teammates down.
I didn't want to miss my senioryear.
I came back and the team hadalready made adjustments with me
(10:08):
.
I think that George McClain andSidney had stepped up his game
and Ernie Myers guys came offthe bench.
I mean, everybody had steppedup in my absence and really take
a turn.
We took a little dip, but wealso recovered and the team was
in a good way right there.
So it was interesting howValvano would implement me back
turn.
We took a little dip, but wealso recovered and the team was
in a good way right there.
So it was interesting howvalvano would implement me back
(10:28):
into the starting lineup rightaway.
And then, uh, that didn'thappen right away.
We lost a couple games and thenwe won that senior game, uh, at
reynolds coliseum, going intothe tournament in which we were
16 and 10, and we probably hadto win the ACC tournament in
order to get in the NCAA.
(10:49):
So that's.
The journey was really startingto begin when we started in the
ACC tournament.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Mentally tough.
You had experience so you couldbe patient.
You knew what it took and thenthey put a screw in your foot.
Tell us about that magical ride, because it had to be a mindset
to be the cardiac pack andnever quit can-do spirit.
So what happened on thatmagical ride, where it's rated
the top 20, top 26, all-timeunderdog?
(11:19):
Stories of winning achampionship.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, it's.
You know, valvano had a dreamand a belief from day one, and
this is Jim Valvano.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Coach, jim Valvano.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Jim Valvano, my coach , and he always, from day one,
had this dream and this visionabout winning the national
championship.
And we still believe this.
It's our last year.
Remember Carolina had won thechampionship in 82, just my
junior year.
So it was our time, it was ourlast shot at it.
So we're going into thattournament thinking, you know,
(11:52):
we got to do something, we gotto get here.
Well, valvano was the calmingforce, the outstanding
leadership at the time and madesure that he was getting us in
the right mindset to listen.
One game at a time.
And the famous quote survive inadvance one game at a time.
And that's where it startedwith that Wake Forest game,
(12:14):
winning that last second shot,going into Carolina, going to
overtime against the greatMichael Jordan, which he fouled
out of the game.
And we come back and win thatgame.
And then we're playing againstthe three-time player of the
year, the great, great RalphSampson, one of the great
college players in the historyof the game.
We got to play Ralph Sampson.
(12:35):
Seven foot four, seven footfour, talented, can do it all.
We got to play him in thechampionship and it's his last
chance to win ACC championship.
So a lot on the line in that ACCchampionship and in a dramatic
fashion again.
But here was the key to winningthat game against Ralph.
Ralph Tampson must have madethe first five baskets I mean
(13:00):
like dunks Dunked on our wholeteam, adrian About four times
and Val Fallon said that's it,that's it.
I remember that we played a.
That's it, that's it.
I remember that Boxing one, weplaying a boxing one, that's it,
this guy is not going to beatus.
And Val Fallon put that boxingone on him.
And the rest was history Reallycontained Ralph.
They still tried to give himthe ball, but also put pressure
(13:23):
on the other guys to think thatnow some other guys got to shoot
.
They can't look to Ralph allthe time and they were not
prepared to take those shots.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Won the championship.
You beat a five slam, a jam ofClyde Drexler and Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon two top 75players.
Go back to this real quick, JimValvano.
What were the lessons thatyou've learned from him?
He was an amazing guy and youplay for two Hall of Fame
coaches our high school coach,Morgan Wooten, and then the
(13:52):
great Jim Valvano.
What were some of his lifelessons?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Well, one thing you can count on Coach V about is
that he enjoyed life, hispassion and enthusiasm for life,
his positive attitude aboutchallenges and going forward and
achieving your goals.
He was just magnetic in thatway.
(14:16):
I mean he knew how to motivatepeople, empower people and he
was an excellent game coach.
And so we believed him, hebelieved in us, we trusted him,
he trusted us.
It was just a magical relationand connection and he was the
ultimate players coach.
Nobody talked about the playerscoach back then, but Jim
(14:39):
Valvano was the ultimate playerscoach and we just enjoyed so
much playing for him.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's interesting.
I took some notes here with thecardiac pack and some of the
keys to surviving.
You said that also.
What you learned is he'stransparent, truthful, and that
eventually goes to beingtrustful.
Break that one down for us.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Well, I mean our coaches back then and teachers
always put everything out front.
That's transparency.
Right, you lay it on the line.
This is what you need to do.
This is the process andtherefore, if it's transparent,
you know the deal.
The next part of that is beingtruthful.
Tell people the truth,especially on a team.
(15:27):
What's your role, what's yourresponsibility?
What's your responsibility notjust as a teammate, but as an
individual and as a student aswell.
So he also didn't requireeverything as just being on the
basketball court, but also youas the individual and as a
(15:50):
student as well.
So that's where thetransparency plus truth equals
trust.
That was a steady,three-pronged attack on how you
relate to people.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
The magic happens.
You visit the White House, that12-year-old boy talking to his
dad, mr Wittenberg, who was aclassy man God bless him and Mrs
Wittenberg.
You go to the White House andthen I think the Derek
Wittenberg story really kicks in, because I wrote down this
quote too In 1983, was a part ofme, but it wasn't all of me.
(16:24):
So after you finish playingbasketball, you get into
coaching and you start impactingyoung people's lives.
Tell us about the nextdimension that you had and what
you tried to do as a coach.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, it all starts here, Adrian.
Like, you win a nationalchampionship and you think that
everybody thinks your next stepis automatically going to go to
the pros and you get drafted.
You're on this high.
I get drafted by the PhoenixSuns as third player, first
player in the third round.
I go to Phoenix.
I think, yeah, I'm fine, I'm theMVP of the championship game.
(17:01):
I can play, man, I can play,yeah.
Yeah, you think about setback.
You're in the nationalchampionship, you're killing
them in training camp and nextyear you got cut.
This is how you get cut in theNBA.
They don't write you a letterRight after the bus in training
camp.
The guy comes to you at the busand says, man, you're not going
(17:22):
to be with us next year.
That's how you get cut in theprofessional right.
It ain't pretty man.
So I'm getting cut off the buson what's my next step, what I'm
going to do and everything.
And all of a sudden I said youknow what?
I'm going to go overseas andplay.
So I go overseas, go to Franceand play over there for about a
(17:46):
year and really having a reallynice career.
And all of a sudden I meet thislittle lady named Jacqueline
Whitberg, get married and I takemy first coaching job at George
Mason with Joe Harrington, whoworked for Lefty Giselle and
played at Maryland.
(18:07):
That was my first coaching job.
And by battle, I took that jobat George Mason, who worked for
Lefty Giselle and played atMaryland.
That was my first coaching job.
And Valvano, I took that job atGeorge Mason, and boy, that was
a treat.
And then I came back with Joeagain, went back to NC State and
all of a sudden I got startedmy coaching career.
But when I came back afterEurope and started that GA
(18:30):
position, that was the start ofmy career.
Vivaldo offered me thatposition.
I came back and got my coachingcareer started and then my
first full-time job with JoeHarrington was life-changing.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Talk to him three days ago.
He's doing well, living out inMaine coaching his daughter, and
he's forever young.
He's like an evergreen tree.
It's interesting, I saw you Infact, I was privileged to
actually call this game Fordham.
I talk about, in fact, coachWittenberg's in four Hall of
Fames he's at the Mather Hall ofFame, the NC State and his
jersey number 25 retired ThenWagner where he was winning
(19:04):
championships, first one andcoach of the year, and then the
DC, our hometown DC Hall of Fame.
So he has been doing it for along time.
But even more off the courthe's been impacting.
I've got to tell you guys, Iremember that game at Fordham
coach, where I called that onefor ESPN, where we were
colleagues for three or fouryears.
(19:25):
But you beat Travis Ford and itwas a huge game and I didn't
think you had a chance becauseit has six guys.
Nobody had a matching uniformon at Fordham.
Some guys were playing in theirdress shoes but you went to
work and beat these guys.
How were you able to do thatand galvanize young people as a
leader?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, first of all, fordham was a school that didn't
have much success.
They had elevated themselvesfrom the MAAC until the Atlantic
10, was about five steps upfrom the league they were in
before.
They never had great successthere.
But coming off of Wagner, Ithought that you know went to
the NCAA tournament for thefirst time ever.
(20:06):
You know I had six guys on theD's list.
All my kids graduated 3.0 forfour years, so had a great
success at Wagner.
So I was looking for anotherchallenge and I saw this
challenge at Fordham.
Same type of school, academicschool, good kids.
I recruited some reallyexcellent kids at Fordham and we
(20:30):
were on our way.
And that year I think I don'tknow if it was the year before
or after, but we had came infourth place Adrian in the
Atlantic 10.
And Fordham never came close tofourth place in that league.
And so I had a bunch of, youknow, brian Dunstan and Marcus
Stout.
That was just two excellentplayers that had.
(20:51):
Both of them are in the top 10in scoring and Dunstan is second
all-time.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, power forward.
That's the one, Dunstan, therewe go.
Yes sir, yes sir.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Today we wouldn't be able to afford him because the
NIL would be so high for him.
He would never play for me.
But Dunstan and Marcus Stoutwere excellent players and we
had a great run there.
Those were great kids.
We just could never get overthe hump because that league was
just a tough league.
You had Carl Hobbs at GW, youhad Phil Martelli at St Joe's,
(21:26):
you had Sean Miller at Xavier.
You had Travis.
You had Phil Martelli at StJoe's, you had Sean Miller at
Xavier.
You know you had Travis.
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
UMass.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
There was some great, great coaches and teams at LA
when I was in there and it was aprivilege to really coach at
that league because, you know,my idol was the late John Chaney
.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Oh yes, Temple University.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I got a little nugget for you.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
My idol was the late John Chaney.
Oh yes, Temple University.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I got a little nugget for you.
So John Chaney retired his lastgame.
He played against Florida andthe start of the game they came
out, everybody had on white, themayor was there, everybody was
eating Philly cheesesteak.
I mean, it was the John ChaneyTemple game.
(22:09):
And I looked at that crowd andI told my kids I said listen, we
are not going to be thesacrificial lamb today.
We cannot lose this game.
And I was yelling and screamingat my team.
We were three minutes to go.
I'll never forget.
My sister said Coach, we're upabout 15 points with about three
(22:31):
minutes to go.
And he said John Chaney isplaying man-to-man.
And I looked at that coach andI said there's no way, john
Chaney don't play man-to-man.
He said Coach, he's playingman-to-man.
In my mind I was saying thegame is over Because we had beat
the Temple zone.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Nobody's ever done that.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Nobody's ever done that.
So we win the game at Temple.
His last game at home I'llnever forget it.
It was Adrian.
There must have been 40, 50reporters there to talk about
John Chaney.
Right, his last game at Temple.
You know how many reporterstalked to me?
(23:14):
Zero.
It's the biggest game we everwon in Florida's history.
Never beat John Chaney atTemple and none of the reporters
talked to me at all, and onereporter came on the business.
I hope John Chaney had Temple.
And none of the reporterstalked to me at all and one
reporter came on the business.
I hope John Chaney had a niceone.
They had forgot about the game.
They just wanted to talk aboutJohn Chaney, the moment.
(23:36):
They didn't care.
That's the moment.
But I later saw that summer Isaw Coach Chaney and Coach
Chaney saw me.
It was in a red lobster andCoach Chaney comes in there.
He said, wittenberg, you knowwhy I love you?
I said why, coach, it's becauseyou know I love you.
He said after you beat me, youdidn't run around the country
bragging about it.
I said Coach, listen, you are myidol, you are a pioneer.
(23:59):
I want you, I want to emulateyou.
I said, coach, as competitiveas I am, I want to beat you
there.
But my other part of me issaying that's the legend man and
I can't do that to the legend.
I'm happy I got the win, but Isaid you are a legend and you're
a pioneer and if it wasn't forguys like you, there would be no
(24:21):
me.
My goodness, humility, that'sanother nugget for you.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That was a big-time one.
I'm just thinking.
You sent Ralph Sampson Hall ofFamer home and then, graciously,
john Chaney as a coach.
Now I want to double back down,coach, because your whole story
again is from set back to comeback.
So at Fordham you're graduatingplayers, you have all stars,
and then they fire you One infour all of a sudden.
(24:47):
They fire you One in four allof a sudden.
They fire you.
And then you had a comebackwhere we'll talk about books and
success.
What was the mindset again, andhow did that affect your
identity?
Because as a coach, you getattached to who you are
sometimes as a coach.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
But the most interesting about our business
is sometimes it don't always goas planned.
And you got to understand thatgoing in and it had been 26
years straight and I think meand Pat Kennedy were the only
two guys that had gone 26 yearsstraight without being fired.
(25:26):
But if you stay in coachinglong enough you're going to get
fired.
And so it was just reallyinteresting and strange the way
it happened, because I recruitedthose kids, that relationship,
those families, and all of asudden in the back door in the
midnight hour.
I mean it's different when youget fired at the end of the year
(25:46):
but when you get fired in thebeginning of the year, but when
you get fired in the beginningof the year, the year started.
It's so different.
So you got to watch your teamplay, you got to go through all
those emotions, so I sat backand, you know, took it all in
and started thinking about thefuture.
And then and then one thing ledto another.
I'm watching the Fab Five filmand I said you know what?
(26:08):
This is a great film, but Ineed to tell my story.
And that's when I took on a jobat ESPN and then I came up with
the idea and called my goodbuddy.
Jonathan Hawk and I wanted totell the story about our great
run back in 83 with ESPN and,thanks to John, his team, he
(26:31):
helped me put it together.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Tell us about that one.
So there was a 30 for 30.
It talks about the magical run.
You become an executiveproducer and you start winning
some hearts.
In fact, show those rings realquick.
There were some rings up there.
What are those, Coach?
You got to tell us what thoseare.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
This is my Wagner College.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Okay, and the national championship.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
The championship rings.
Yes, right there, wagnerCollege, we won their first NCAA
championship and their firstconference championship and
their first regular seasonchampionship as well.
Wow, and that's my NC StateNational Championship ring.
So I wanted to always wearthose on special occasions and I
(27:18):
mean, putting together thatfilm was another special moment,
because you get a chance toreminisce and go over the story
again with all your teammatesand coaches and people of that
nature, and then you know,thinking about my coach, jim
Vivaldo so much and told hisstory as well, right as an
overcomer, absolutely,absolutely.
(27:40):
And what a wonderful project.
And sometimes you know youwrite a book or you tell a story
.
You don't know how it's goingto work out.
You just want to tell the storyand and it just came out better
than we ever thought.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Want to end me with?
Yeah, want to end me with that.
One Another accomplishment andI love the mindset that you had
with sacrificing and encouragingpeople.
And then I think your best workwas still ahead with the 30 for
30.
Then you were also an eventchair for the Jimmy V Foundation
(28:17):
.
Tell us about how that happenedand what was happening to your
beloved coach, our beloved coachI'm connected with.
He recruited me as well, coachJimmy V.
Tell us a little bit about whathappened with Coach V.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Well, I know Coach V Well about Vano Coach V, it's
very interesting, very similarstories, right.
So we go to the nationalchampionship.
You know, obviously we're allgone and he continued to coach.
It had a lot of success, wentto the final eight.
I came back and coached withhim a couple of different
occasions and even in his lastyears Final Eight I came back
and coached with him a coupledifferent occasions and even his
(28:51):
last year as a state I was backthere.
Coach went in from 88 to 90.
And you know we get some NCAAviolations as this stuff happens
.
And then they fire him.
You know he fired him as theADN basketball coach.
And then we go on to years andI'm in ESPN and everything, and
(29:13):
Lord and real, he gets diagnosedwith cancer and I never thought
that Coach V would ever getsick, but he was very sick and
he probably had two months tolive.
And he came back for the 10thanniversary of our championship
team in Reynolds Coliseum and weknew then that it wasn't going
(29:33):
to be much longer.
And so Coach V comes back andvery similar stories that you
know.
When he gets fired, guess what?
He goes to work for ESPN too.
So the same thing kind ofhappened to me.
So long story short he cameback and he got diagnosed Before
he passed away.
(29:54):
He started the Jimmy VFoundation and I was one of the
founding members of thatorganization myself John
Saunders, you know, bob Lloyd.
There was some, just somewonderful guys that actually
started off the organization andthat's the beginning of this V
Foundation, this 32-year run.
(30:15):
What a great run of we raisingmoney.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Over 400, nearly $400 million or so 100% of it $400
million yeah, awarding over 600grants across the country.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
100% of every dollar goes directly to cancer research
.
So very humbled and honored tobe a part of such an
organization that's going tohelp so many different people
around the world and we've gotto continue that fight because
cancer is a disease.
Now, that's not a deathsentence, but we can thrive and
(30:52):
survive with cancer and we findus some cures and slowly but
surely we're going to beat thisdreaded disease.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Tell us quickly how you and Coach were so close,
because you were the only playerfrom that 83 championship team
that was entrusted to be on theboard and then I just learned
recently from you that you werethe only player that was a
pallbearer.
So how was you guysrelationship so close?
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Well, he first came to his press conference he said
he said three things.
I'm going to look at you guysas a person, as a student, as a
player, and I remember just likeit was yesterday.
He said if you ever want tocome in my office and talk to me
other than basketball, my dooris always open.
So after practice I would goback up there and we would chat
(31:42):
about everything under the sun,never talking about sports just
kind of hang out.
You know, once a week, once ortwice a week, I'll go out and
hang out with him and talk tohim.
And we just built thisrelationship.
And so this relationshipcarried on even after I left NC
State.
So that's how we became very,very close.
(32:02):
And one thing he knew for sure,and I knew for sure, that man
loved his team.
But we had a specialrelationship and I loved that
man as well.
I loved him like a big brother,I loved him like a father.
He was the very specialrelationship that Jim and I had.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It's interesting because you've carried that over
with your relationships and nowwhat you currently do as an
associate athletic director.
And you, my goodness, go tonearly 200 events throughout the
year, so you are alwaysengaging all the way from the
cycle of life, from weddings tofunerals, to engagements and
(32:43):
banquets.
What I want to touch on is someof your quotes.
I love your quotes and oh, bythe way, you had time after Emmy
for 30 for 30, you get ready towrite a book from the streets
to the White House.
But I want to hit your quotehere.
I love this quote where yousaid your legacy is defined by
how many people you've helpedalong the way and how you've
(33:05):
used your success.
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Well, we all have had so many great experiences,
especially in sport, right, andat the end of the day, if you
can't use that to share and giveservice to others, that's what
you're on this earth to do, andit's not always about you.
What possessions you can buyyour house, your car, the
(33:32):
clothes that you wear that's notwhat it's about.
At the end of the day, yourlegacy is going to be about the
people that you help and empowerin their journey, and that's
rewarding to me.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone up today.
That should be your mantra, andso what we do now we're in the
(33:55):
fourth quarter of life and whatwe have to continue to do is
lift people up, get them tobelieve in their dreams and
their journey, and therefore wehave done our service to the man
above.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Wow, wow, coach, and this ties in.
It just goes by so fast.
I want to ask one more thing.
You may say the same thingdifferently.
Last question I would have foryou is how can you encourage
somebody to keep on climbing?
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Well, really, it's as simple as this.
And, adria, we're doing it.
Where we speak across thecountry to all different
organizations and people of allwalks of life, people have to
believe in themselves andunderstand that they are worthy
of success.
They are worthy of success, andit's not going to be easy.
(34:54):
And if you can get them tobelieve in themselves, to
understand where they want to goin life and stick to it, they
can do it.
The A can actually do it.
I tell people all the timelisten, you cherish everybody
else's success, but you relishin the fact that your success is
going to come to you one day.
Stay the course, believe inyourself, let people help you
(35:22):
and believe in your journey andyour dreams can come true as
well.
And your dreams can come trueas well.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
My goodness, wow, coach, that was really rich.
That was fantastic.
I'm humbled.
I'm humbled to be your brother,your teammate and just continue
to learn from you.
Where can folks find you?
Where can they follow you if?
Speaker 2 (35:43):
they want to know more about Coach Derek
Wittenberg.
Well, first of all, they canfind me.
The best way to find me is goto the Derrick Wittenberg
Foundation, the DW Foundation,and look at our website and all
the wonderful things that mywife and I are doing to help
kids finish college.
It's all there.
I think that's where we want tostart.
(36:04):
Listen, we were firstgeneration graduates, right,
that's where we want to start.
Listen, we were first-generationgraduates.
Right, that's right, and it'snothing more powerful than that.
And before I want to end, Iwant to tell you something.
Adrian, your parents weregodsend, your dad and your mom.
Your dad would pull me over tothe side and say, listen, you
got to pass the ball a littlebit.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Big Charlie, Big Charlie.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
You know Big Charlie.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You know Big Charlie before.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Big Charlie, you know Big Charlie, you know Big
Charlie.
He said you can't shoot on theball there, he wasn't lying.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
But, I definitely get the support of your parents.
You know back then peopleunderestimate the parents at
every game.
Your mom and dad, they were atevery game.
Your mom still wore the leatherjacket to this day yeah, she
did.
When she was at Morgan Wooten'sservice she had the leather.
she had the leather, miss Jacketon.
(36:57):
Yeah, so we.
That's what my book's about.
It was that.
All the people that helped usour parents, our coaches, our
teachers, the people at the reccenter you know, mrs Osborne,
for me, who helped me go toDeMatha High School and
recommended me to go to DeMathaHigh School, it wasn't for those
people who took interest in us.
Adrian, like your parents, man,don't tell them where we'll be
(37:20):
right now.
Sports really gave us a greatoutlet and learned so many
tangibles and tangible thingsabout life.
I'm so glad people like yourparents and our parents was in
our lives.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Thank you.
Wow, we're going to drop themic right there and say man,
Coach Wittenberg, thank you.
We're going to have to do thisone again.
Thank you for your time, Thankyou for your wisdom and we'll
see you soon.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Absolutely.
Thank you, brother.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Coach Derek Wittenberg, everyone full of
wisdom.
Absolutely Thank you, brother.
At Adrian Branch Speaks anddownload the Climb wherever
podcasts are available Listen.
We love you guys tons.
Thanks for hanging with us andagain, remember, be encouraged
and keep climbing.
We'll see you everybody, thankyou.
Hi, I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned
motivational speaker andcertified life coach.
And welcome to the Climb, ashow where we celebrate the
stories of resilient peoplesharing how they turned
adversity into success, From thebusiness sector to athletes and
beyond.
Be inspired and learn what ittakes to climb.
Hey, hey, everybody, Welcome toanother episode of the Climb.
(00:28):
This show is about beingintentional, about everybody
hearing a story about how youcan overcome.
We want you, the listener, totake bullet points away from
what it took for a person toclimb, what it took for them to
overcome.
And today's guest is justwonderful.
He's got so many nuggets, somuch wisdom that we don't want
(00:51):
you to miss who he is.
His name is Derek Wittenberg.
He's from the Washington DCarea, celebrated author, world
champion, NCAA champion.
He's also an executive movieproducer.
He's associate director at hisalma mater, NC State, and you're
in for a real treat.
He summarizes what this show,the Climb, is all about.
(01:14):
So, Coach Wittenberg, welcometo the show, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Absolutely.
Thank you very much.
It's my pleasure my ex-teammate, former teammate at the Bath of
High School.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And true revelation here, folks we had the same high
school coach.
Derek was two years ahead of me, though he's like 14 years
older, so there was no age limitfor where you could be a 12th
grader, but I'm so proud of you.
Coach, I'm going to jump rightin.
Tell us a little bit about yourstory Growing up.
We grew up three miles awayfrom each other, glenar in
Maryland, and you tell a storyabout telling your dad Dad, one
(01:53):
day I want to visit the WhiteHouse, and ultimately, we'll
tell it about that.
You actually did it.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, I was 12 years old and we were driving down.
My dad worked for BMW Mechanicin Alexandria.
We were driving down 395 andI'm saying to my dad, I wonder
what it's like to meet thepresident and go to the White
House.
And, for a short story, youknow, played in the boys club
basketball, then got a chance togo to the famous DeMatha High
(02:22):
School and, undefeated, withyour brother, the late Tommy
Branch, went undefeated theirfirst national championship in
1978 with Morgan Wooten Senioryear.
We have a great senior year.
All of a sudden I go to NC Stateand then four years later in my
senior year we win the nationalchampionship.
(02:46):
I get the chance to go to theWhite House and visit with the
late Ronald Reagan who was thepresident at the time.
What a wonderful experience.
And then, 30 years later, wegot invited to the White House
by the first black president,barack Obama.
To the White House Because backthen the teams it wasn't legal
(03:06):
for a team.
Obama to the White Housebecause back then the teams it
wasn't legal for a team to go tothe White House and he wanted
to invite us back 30 years later.
So what a great experience andI just can't.
I'm humbled and honored to be apart of all of that great
journey.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I want to double back and talk about when you were in
the 10th grade.
I was in the 8th grade, youwere in the 10th grade.
Folks, I want you to get this.
Coach Wittenberg had always hadthe clutch gene.
So there was a dunk contestagainst the number one and two
rated school boys in the country, albert King and Gene Banks.
Magic Johnson was also in thatsame class, rated number four,
(03:43):
but you won the slam dunkcontest.
And where I want our listenersto know what was the mindset as
a 6'1 sophomore taking on thetwo top players in the nation?
But you had no fear.
Where was that born out of?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Baltimore Civic Center sophomore.
First of all, all my teammateswanted me to do the famous 360
dunk because nobody on my sidehave ever tried a 360 dunk.
So, believe it or not, dutchMorley, the point guard, was the
guy giving me instructions onwhat dunks to do and what order.
(04:21):
And I did that famous 360 dunkat the end and man, the crowd at
the Baltimore Simpsons wascrazy.
But the dunk contests weredifferent.
They had one group of us doingthe dunk contest and then they
had Albert King and Gene Banksfeatured at a different time
doing the dunk contest.
But it was unanimous that I wonthe dunk contest with that
(04:45):
famous 360 dunk.
And I remind Albert and Geneevery time I see him that I
peaked him in the dunk contest.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I don't think at almost 65, anybody's dunking
anything but a donut nail, coach.
But I was there and I wasamazing and you always had the
clutch gene.
And in this story you guys aregoing to hear more about Coach
because he coached the same waythat he played mentally tough.
I want to hit you on anotherstory your senior year, our
(05:15):
sophomore year at DeMatha.
You're our leading scorer, youand Sidney Lowe.
Every time they talk aboutWittenberg they talk about
Sidney Lowe, who was also aclassmate.
They went to NC State togetherwon a championship, so those two
are inseparable with winningchampionships.
Your 12th grade year, you brokeyour foot and that was a big
(05:36):
loss for our team.
Yet in your story and we talkedabout this a couple days ago, I
don't know if you everrecognized that in your story
you always have a setback andthen a comeback.
Tell the listeners what was themindset as an All-American
senior leading scorer at DeMathaand you've got to miss a great
(05:57):
portion of the year.
But then you come back and hitsome game winners.
But what was that process like,with the broken foot and having
to be patient?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, one thing is it seems to be devastating when it
actually happens and you'rethinking, oh my goodness, I'm
not going to play again andbelieve it or not.
My mom had a remedy.
I broke my foot and back thenyou know the doctors, you know
they tell you Dr Stan Levine,you know the great doctor for
(06:27):
the Redskins also, was ourdoctor gave me a little kind of
a little plaid, something that Ican put on my foot as a brace,
made up a brace for me.
But I was supposed to be outAdrian about five to six weeks
and I came back really early.
(06:49):
I came back within three orfour weeks and I came back.
It was a little bit of pain butthat brace really helped me.
But mentally, my mom also.
When I got home she had the oldremedy, the heating lamp, and I
would ice it and I put the heatlamp on it.
I put heat ice and then I wouldput the heat lamp on it and
(07:15):
really it probably helped myrecovery.
That's an old remedy back inAlabama.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So where was the steak on your eye?
You also had a steak on youreye for a lump, huh Well, but it
worked.
You came back and hit some gamewinners.
So the pattern was mentally youstayed ready.
But then in the All-Star Games,your last high school games,
two times I didn't know, Ithought it was once you hit game
winners because you keptyourself mentally tough.
(07:43):
Tell us about that one beingready.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, it is about being mentally tough and really
being positive too.
Being mentally tough is aboutbeing positive, about taking on
this situation, being ready tocome back.
I came back.
We won the city championship,played in the All-American Games
(08:08):
.
I came back like I didn't missa beat, Still made All-Met.
You know that was a big thingback then, Adrian, you had to
make All-Met.
So I still made the All-Metteam and I just remain positive
because I think that everybodylooks at situations that what
things happen to is doom andgloom.
But I came back and just sohappy but I think, a lot of
(08:32):
positive energy around betweenmy family, my teammates.
Coach Wooten really encouragedme and made me believe that I
had an opportunity to come back.
I did and I finished up anoutstanding senior year in high
school.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I want to ride that horse because I'm taking notes
as you're writing this down andwait till you finish your
basketball career and really hitus with some wisdom.
You said mentally tough andbeing positive, being patient.
Then it happened again.
Another setback to a comeback.
And this is really amazingbecause your senior year at NC
(09:07):
State with Sidney Lowe, ateammate in high school, you
broke your foot again separatefoot and then you came back and
became the cardiac pack.
So tell us about that mindsetagain, your senior year and what
it took to get back.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Same mindset.
Who in the world would believethat would happen again?
Right so, but this time Ialready had experience and it's
happened before.
But it's the opposite foot.
Right so I'm on the right foot.
But it was a speedy recoverythis time because they actually
implemented or planted a screwinside the foot.
(09:45):
So what helped?
It healed a little faster.
So, once again, it's supposedto be about four to eight weeks.
I was back within three againand I came back and it was still
kind of sore.
But I just didn't want to letmy teammates down.
I didn't want to miss my senioryear.
I came back and the team hadalready made adjustments with me
(10:08):
.
I think that George McClain andSidney had stepped up his game
and Ernie Myers guys came offthe bench.
I mean, everybody had steppedup in my absence and really take
a turn.
We took a little dip, but wealso recovered and the team was
in a good way right there.
So it was interesting howValvano would implement me back
turn.
We took a little dip, but wealso recovered and the team was
in a good way right there.
So it was interesting howvalvano would implement me back
(10:28):
into the starting lineup rightaway.
And then, uh, that didn'thappen right away.
We lost a couple games and thenwe won that senior game, uh, at
reynolds coliseum, going intothe tournament in which we were
16 and 10, and we probably hadto win the ACC tournament in
order to get in the NCAA.
(10:49):
So that's.
The journey was really startingto begin when we started in the
ACC tournament.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Mentally tough.
You had experience so you couldbe patient.
You knew what it took and thenthey put a screw in your foot.
Tell us about that magical ride, because it had to be a mindset
to be the cardiac pack andnever quit can-do spirit.
So what happened on thatmagical ride, where it's rated
the top 20, top 26, all-timeunderdog?
(11:19):
Stories of winning achampionship.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, it's.
You know, valvano had a dreamand a belief from day one, and
this is Jim Valvano.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Coach, jim Valvano.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Jim Valvano, my coach , and he always, from day one,
had this dream and this visionabout winning the national
championship.
And we still believe this.
It's our last year.
Remember Carolina had won thechampionship in 82, just my
junior year.
So it was our time, it was ourlast shot at it.
So we're going into thattournament thinking, you know,
(11:52):
we got to do something, we gotto get here.
Well, valvano was the calmingforce, the outstanding
leadership at the time and madesure that he was getting us in
the right mindset to listen.
One game at a time.
And the famous quote survive inadvance one game at a time.
And that's where it startedwith that Wake Forest game,
(12:14):
winning that last second shot,going into Carolina, going to
overtime against the greatMichael Jordan, which he fouled
out of the game.
And we come back and win thatgame.
And then we're playing againstthe three-time player of the
year, the great, great RalphSampson, one of the great
college players in the historyof the game.
We got to play Ralph Sampson.
(12:35):
Seven foot four, seven footfour, talented, can do it all.
We got to play him in thechampionship and it's his last
chance to win ACC championship.
So a lot on the line in that ACCchampionship and in a dramatic
fashion again.
But here was the key to winningthat game against Ralph.
Ralph Tampson must have madethe first five baskets I mean
(13:00):
like dunks Dunked on our wholeteam, adrian About four times
and Val Fallon said that's it,that's it.
I remember that we played a.
That's it, that's it.
I remember that Boxing one, weplaying a boxing one, that's it,
this guy is not going to beatus.
And Val Fallon put that boxingone on him.
And the rest was history Reallycontained Ralph.
They still tried to give himthe ball, but also put pressure
(13:23):
on the other guys to think thatnow some other guys got to shoot
.
They can't look to Ralph allthe time and they were not
prepared to take those shots.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Won the championship.
You beat a five slam, a jam ofClyde Drexler and Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon two top 75players.
Go back to this real quick, JimValvano.
What were the lessons thatyou've learned from him?
He was an amazing guy and youplay for two Hall of Fame
coaches our high school coach,Morgan Wooten, and then the
(13:52):
great Jim Valvano.
What were some of his lifelessons?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Well, one thing you can count on Coach V about is
that he enjoyed life, hispassion and enthusiasm for life,
his positive attitude aboutchallenges and going forward and
achieving your goals.
He was just magnetic in thatway.
(14:16):
I mean he knew how to motivatepeople, empower people and he
was an excellent game coach.
And so we believed him, hebelieved in us, we trusted him,
he trusted us.
It was just a magical relationand connection and he was the
ultimate players coach.
Nobody talked about the playerscoach back then, but Jim
(14:39):
Valvano was the ultimate playerscoach and we just enjoyed so
much playing for him.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's interesting.
I took some notes here with thecardiac pack and some of the
keys to surviving.
You said that also.
What you learned is he'stransparent, truthful, and that
eventually goes to beingtrustful.
Break that one down for us.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Well, I mean our coaches back then and teachers
always put everything out front.
That's transparency.
Right, you lay it on the line.
This is what you need to do.
This is the process andtherefore, if it's transparent,
you know the deal.
The next part of that is beingtruthful.
Tell people the truth,especially on a team.
(15:27):
What's your role, what's yourresponsibility?
What's your responsibility notjust as a teammate, but as an
individual and as a student aswell.
So he also didn't requireeverything as just being on the
basketball court, but also youas the individual and as a
(15:50):
student as well.
So that's where thetransparency plus truth equals
trust.
That was a steady,three-pronged attack on how you
relate to people.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
The magic happens.
You visit the White House, that12-year-old boy talking to his
dad, mr Wittenberg, who was aclassy man God bless him and Mrs
Wittenberg.
You go to the White House andthen I think the Derek
Wittenberg story really kicks in, because I wrote down this
quote too In 1983, was a part ofme, but it wasn't all of me.
(16:24):
So after you finish playingbasketball, you get into
coaching and you start impactingyoung people's lives.
Tell us about the nextdimension that you had and what
you tried to do as a coach.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, it all starts here, Adrian.
Like, you win a nationalchampionship and you think that
everybody thinks your next stepis automatically going to go to
the pros and you get drafted.
You're on this high.
I get drafted by the PhoenixSuns as third player, first
player in the third round.
I go to Phoenix.
I think, yeah, I'm fine, I'm theMVP of the championship game.
(17:01):
I can play, man, I can play,yeah.
Yeah, you think about setback.
You're in the nationalchampionship, you're killing
them in training camp and nextyear you got cut.
This is how you get cut in theNBA.
They don't write you a letterRight after the bus in training
camp.
The guy comes to you at the busand says, man, you're not going
(17:22):
to be with us next year.
That's how you get cut in theprofessional right.
It ain't pretty man.
So I'm getting cut off the buson what's my next step, what I'm
going to do and everything.
And all of a sudden I said youknow what?
I'm going to go overseas andplay.
So I go overseas, go to Franceand play over there for about a
(17:46):
year and really having a reallynice career.
And all of a sudden I meet thislittle lady named Jacqueline
Whitberg, get married and I takemy first coaching job at George
Mason with Joe Harrington, whoworked for Lefty Giselle and
played at Maryland.
(18:07):
That was my first coaching job.
And by battle, I took that jobat George Mason, who worked for
Lefty Giselle and played atMaryland.
That was my first coaching job.
And Valvano, I took that job atGeorge Mason, and boy, that was
a treat.
And then I came back with Joeagain, went back to NC State and
all of a sudden I got startedmy coaching career.
But when I came back afterEurope and started that GA
(18:30):
position, that was the start ofmy career.
Vivaldo offered me thatposition.
I came back and got my coachingcareer started and then my
first full-time job with JoeHarrington was life-changing.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Talk to him three days ago.
He's doing well, living out inMaine coaching his daughter, and
he's forever young.
He's like an evergreen tree.
It's interesting, I saw you Infact, I was privileged to
actually call this game Fordham.
I talk about, in fact, coachWittenberg's in four Hall of
Fames he's at the Mather Hall ofFame, the NC State and his
jersey number 25 retired ThenWagner where he was winning
(19:04):
championships, first one andcoach of the year, and then the
DC, our hometown DC Hall of Fame.
So he has been doing it for along time.
But even more off the courthe's been impacting.
I've got to tell you guys, Iremember that game at Fordham
coach, where I called that onefor ESPN, where we were
colleagues for three or fouryears.
(19:25):
But you beat Travis Ford and itwas a huge game and I didn't
think you had a chance becauseit has six guys.
Nobody had a matching uniformon at Fordham.
Some guys were playing in theirdress shoes but you went to
work and beat these guys.
How were you able to do thatand galvanize young people as a
leader?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, first of all, fordham was a school that didn't
have much success.
They had elevated themselvesfrom the MAAC until the Atlantic
10, was about five steps upfrom the league they were in
before.
They never had great successthere.
But coming off of Wagner, Ithought that you know went to
the NCAA tournament for thefirst time ever.
(20:06):
You know I had six guys on theD's list.
All my kids graduated 3.0 forfour years, so had a great
success at Wagner.
So I was looking for anotherchallenge and I saw this
challenge at Fordham.
Same type of school, academicschool, good kids.
I recruited some reallyexcellent kids at Fordham and we
(20:30):
were on our way.
And that year I think I don'tknow if it was the year before
or after, but we had came infourth place Adrian in the
Atlantic 10.
And Fordham never came close tofourth place in that league.
And so I had a bunch of, youknow, brian Dunstan and Marcus
Stout.
That was just two excellentplayers that had.
(20:51):
Both of them are in the top 10in scoring and Dunstan is second
all-time.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, power forward.
That's the one, Dunstan, therewe go.
Yes sir, yes sir.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Today we wouldn't be able to afford him because the
NIL would be so high for him.
He would never play for me.
But Dunstan and Marcus Stoutwere excellent players and we
had a great run there.
Those were great kids.
We just could never get overthe hump because that league was
just a tough league.
You had Carl Hobbs at GW, youhad Phil Martelli at St Joe's,
(21:26):
you had Sean Miller at Xavier.
You had Travis.
You had Phil Martelli at StJoe's, you had Sean Miller at
Xavier.
You know you had Travis.
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
UMass.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
There was some great, great coaches and teams at LA
when I was in there and it was aprivilege to really coach at
that league because, you know,my idol was the late John Chaney
.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Oh yes, Temple University.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I got a little nugget for you.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
My idol was the late John Chaney.
Oh yes, Temple University.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I got a little nugget for you.
So John Chaney retired his lastgame.
He played against Florida andthe start of the game they came
out, everybody had on white, themayor was there, everybody was
eating Philly cheesesteak.
I mean, it was the John ChaneyTemple game.
(22:09):
And I looked at that crowd andI told my kids I said listen, we
are not going to be thesacrificial lamb today.
We cannot lose this game.
And I was yelling and screamingat my team.
We were three minutes to go.
I'll never forget.
My sister said Coach, we're upabout 15 points with about three
(22:31):
minutes to go.
And he said John Chaney isplaying man-to-man.
And I looked at that coach andI said there's no way, john
Chaney don't play man-to-man.
He said Coach, he's playingman-to-man.
In my mind I was saying thegame is over Because we had beat
the Temple zone.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Nobody's ever done that.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Nobody's ever done that.
So we win the game at Temple.
His last game at home I'llnever forget it.
It was Adrian.
There must have been 40, 50reporters there to talk about
John Chaney.
Right, his last game at Temple.
You know how many reporterstalked to me?
(23:14):
Zero.
It's the biggest game we everwon in Florida's history.
Never beat John Chaney atTemple and none of the reporters
talked to me at all, and onereporter came on the business.
I hope John Chaney had Temple.
And none of the reporterstalked to me at all and one
reporter came on the business.
I hope John Chaney had a niceone.
They had forgot about the game.
They just wanted to talk aboutJohn Chaney, the moment.
(23:36):
They didn't care.
That's the moment.
But I later saw that summer Isaw Coach Chaney and Coach
Chaney saw me.
It was in a red lobster andCoach Chaney comes in there.
He said, wittenberg, you knowwhy I love you?
I said why, coach, it's becauseyou know I love you.
He said after you beat me, youdidn't run around the country
bragging about it.
I said Coach, listen, you are myidol, you are a pioneer.
(23:59):
I want you, I want to emulateyou.
I said, coach, as competitiveas I am, I want to beat you
there.
But my other part of me issaying that's the legend man and
I can't do that to the legend.
I'm happy I got the win, but Isaid you are a legend and you're
a pioneer and if it wasn't forguys like you, there would be no
(24:21):
me.
My goodness, humility, that'sanother nugget for you.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That was a big-time one.
I'm just thinking.
You sent Ralph Sampson Hall ofFamer home and then, graciously,
john Chaney as a coach.
Now I want to double back down,coach, because your whole story
again is from set back to comeback.
So at Fordham you're graduatingplayers, you have all stars,
and then they fire you One infour all of a sudden.
(24:47):
They fire you One in four allof a sudden.
They fire you.
And then you had a comebackwhere we'll talk about books and
success.
What was the mindset again, andhow did that affect your
identity?
Because as a coach, you getattached to who you are
sometimes as a coach.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
But the most interesting about our business
is sometimes it don't always goas planned.
And you got to understand thatgoing in and it had been 26
years straight and I think meand Pat Kennedy were the only
two guys that had gone 26 yearsstraight without being fired.
(25:26):
But if you stay in coachinglong enough you're going to get
fired.
And so it was just reallyinteresting and strange the way
it happened, because I recruitedthose kids, that relationship,
those families, and all of asudden in the back door in the
midnight hour.
I mean it's different when youget fired at the end of the year
(25:46):
but when you get fired in thebeginning of the year, but when
you get fired in the beginningof the year, the year started.
It's so different.
So you got to watch your teamplay, you got to go through all
those emotions, so I sat backand, you know, took it all in
and started thinking about thefuture.
And then and then one thing ledto another.
I'm watching the Fab Five filmand I said you know what?
(26:08):
This is a great film, but Ineed to tell my story.
And that's when I took on a jobat ESPN and then I came up with
the idea and called my goodbuddy.
Jonathan Hawk and I wanted totell the story about our great
run back in 83 with ESPN and,thanks to John, his team, he
(26:31):
helped me put it together.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Tell us about that one.
So there was a 30 for 30.
It talks about the magical run.
You become an executiveproducer and you start winning
some hearts.
In fact, show those rings realquick.
There were some rings up there.
What are those, Coach?
You got to tell us what thoseare.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
This is my Wagner College.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Okay, and the national championship.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
The championship rings.
Yes, right there, wagnerCollege, we won their first NCAA
championship and their firstconference championship and
their first regular seasonchampionship as well.
Wow, and that's my NC StateNational Championship ring.
So I wanted to always wearthose on special occasions and I
(27:18):
mean, putting together thatfilm was another special moment,
because you get a chance toreminisce and go over the story
again with all your teammatesand coaches and people of that
nature, and then you know,thinking about my coach, jim
Vivaldo so much and told hisstory as well, right as an
overcomer, absolutely,absolutely.
(27:40):
And what a wonderful project.
And sometimes you know youwrite a book or you tell a story
.
You don't know how it's goingto work out.
You just want to tell the storyand and it just came out better
than we ever thought.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Want to end me with?
Yeah, want to end me with that.
One Another accomplishment andI love the mindset that you had
with sacrificing and encouragingpeople.
And then I think your best workwas still ahead with the 30 for
30.
Then you were also an eventchair for the Jimmy V Foundation
(28:17):
.
Tell us about how that happenedand what was happening to your
beloved coach, our beloved coachI'm connected with.
He recruited me as well, coachJimmy V.
Tell us a little bit about whathappened with Coach V.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Well, I know Coach V Well about Vano Coach V, it's
very interesting, very similarstories, right.
So we go to the nationalchampionship.
You know, obviously we're allgone and he continued to coach.
It had a lot of success, wentto the final eight.
I came back and coached withhim a couple of different
occasions and even in his lastyears Final Eight I came back
and coached with him a coupledifferent occasions and even his
(28:51):
last year as a state I was backthere.
Coach went in from 88 to 90.
And you know we get some NCAAviolations as this stuff happens
.
And then they fire him.
You know he fired him as theADN basketball coach.
And then we go on to years andI'm in ESPN and everything, and
(29:13):
Lord and real, he gets diagnosedwith cancer and I never thought
that Coach V would ever getsick, but he was very sick and
he probably had two months tolive.
And he came back for the 10thanniversary of our championship
team in Reynolds Coliseum and weknew then that it wasn't going
(29:33):
to be much longer.
And so Coach V comes back andvery similar stories that you
know.
When he gets fired, guess what?
He goes to work for ESPN too.
So the same thing kind ofhappened to me.
So long story short he cameback and he got diagnosed Before
he passed away.
(29:54):
He started the Jimmy VFoundation and I was one of the
founding members of thatorganization myself John
Saunders, you know, bob Lloyd.
There was some, just somewonderful guys that actually
started off the organization andthat's the beginning of this V
Foundation, this 32-year run.
(30:15):
What a great run of we raisingmoney.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Over 400, nearly $400 million or so 100% of it $400
million yeah, awarding over 600grants across the country.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
100% of every dollar goes directly to cancer research
.
So very humbled and honored tobe a part of such an
organization that's going tohelp so many different people
around the world and we've gotto continue that fight because
cancer is a disease.
Now, that's not a deathsentence, but we can thrive and
(30:52):
survive with cancer and we findus some cures and slowly but
surely we're going to beat thisdreaded disease.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Tell us quickly how you and Coach were so close,
because you were the only playerfrom that 83 championship team
that was entrusted to be on theboard and then I just learned
recently from you that you werethe only player that was a
pallbearer.
So how was you guysrelationship so close?
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Well, he first came to his press conference he said
he said three things.
I'm going to look at you guysas a person, as a student, as a
player, and I remember just likeit was yesterday.
He said if you ever want tocome in my office and talk to me
other than basketball, my dooris always open.
So after practice I would goback up there and we would chat
(31:42):
about everything under the sun,never talking about sports just
kind of hang out.
You know, once a week, once ortwice a week, I'll go out and
hang out with him and talk tohim.
And we just built thisrelationship.
And so this relationshipcarried on even after I left NC
State.
So that's how we became very,very close.
(32:02):
And one thing he knew for sure,and I knew for sure, that man
loved his team.
But we had a specialrelationship and I loved that
man as well.
I loved him like a big brother,I loved him like a father.
He was the very specialrelationship that Jim and I had.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It's interesting because you've carried that over
with your relationships and nowwhat you currently do as an
associate athletic director.
And you, my goodness, go tonearly 200 events throughout the
year, so you are alwaysengaging all the way from the
cycle of life, from weddings tofunerals, to engagements and
(32:43):
banquets.
What I want to touch on is someof your quotes.
I love your quotes and oh, bythe way, you had time after Emmy
for 30 for 30, you get ready towrite a book from the streets
to the White House.
But I want to hit your quotehere.
I love this quote where yousaid your legacy is defined by
how many people you've helpedalong the way and how you've
(33:05):
used your success.
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Well, we all have had so many great experiences,
especially in sport, right, andat the end of the day, if you
can't use that to share and giveservice to others, that's what
you're on this earth to do, andit's not always about you.
What possessions you can buyyour house, your car, the
(33:32):
clothes that you wear that's notwhat it's about.
At the end of the day, yourlegacy is going to be about the
people that you help and empowerin their journey, and that's
rewarding to me.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone up today.
That should be your mantra, andso what we do now we're in the
(33:55):
fourth quarter of life and whatwe have to continue to do is
lift people up, get them tobelieve in their dreams and
their journey, and therefore wehave done our service to the man
above.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Wow, wow, coach, and this ties in.
It just goes by so fast.
I want to ask one more thing.
You may say the same thingdifferently.
Last question I would have foryou is how can you encourage
somebody to keep on climbing?
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Well, really, it's as simple as this.
And, adria, we're doing it.
Where we speak across thecountry to all different
organizations and people of allwalks of life, people have to
believe in themselves andunderstand that they are worthy
of success.
They are worthy of success, andit's not going to be easy.
(34:54):
And if you can get them tobelieve in themselves, to
understand where they want to goin life and stick to it, they
can do it.
The A can actually do it.
I tell people all the timelisten, you cherish everybody
else's success, but you relishin the fact that your success is
going to come to you one day.
Stay the course, believe inyourself, let people help you
(35:22):
and believe in your journey andyour dreams can come true as
well.
And your dreams can come trueas well.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
My goodness, wow, coach, that was really rich.
That was fantastic.
I'm humbled.
I'm humbled to be your brother,your teammate and just continue
to learn from you.
Where can folks find you?
Where can they follow you if?
Speaker 2 (35:43):
they want to know more about Coach Derek
Wittenberg.
Well, first of all, they canfind me.
The best way to find me is goto the Derrick Wittenberg
Foundation, the DW Foundation,and look at our website and all
the wonderful things that mywife and I are doing to help
kids finish college.
It's all there.
I think that's where we want tostart.
(36:04):
Listen, we were firstgeneration graduates, right,
that's where we want to start.
Listen, we were first-generationgraduates.
Right, that's right, and it'snothing more powerful than that.
And before I want to end, Iwant to tell you something.
Adrian, your parents weregodsend, your dad and your mom.
Your dad would pull me over tothe side and say, listen, you
got to pass the ball a littlebit.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Big Charlie, Big Charlie.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
You know Big Charlie.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You know Big Charlie before.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Big Charlie, you know Big Charlie, you know Big
Charlie.
He said you can't shoot on theball there, he wasn't lying.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
But, I definitely get the support of your parents.
You know back then peopleunderestimate the parents at
every game.
Your mom and dad, they were atevery game.
Your mom still wore the leatherjacket to this day yeah, she
did.
When she was at Morgan Wooten'sservice she had the leather.
she had the leather, miss Jacketon.
(36:57):
Yeah, so we.
That's what my book's about.
It was that.
All the people that helped usour parents, our coaches, our
teachers, the people at the reccenter you know, mrs Osborne,
for me, who helped me go toDeMatha High School and
recommended me to go to DeMathaHigh School, it wasn't for those
people who took interest in us.
Adrian, like your parents, man,don't tell them where we'll be
(37:20):
right now.
Sports really gave us a greatoutlet and learned so many
tangibles and tangible thingsabout life.
I'm so glad people like yourparents and our parents was in
our lives.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Thank you.
Wow, we're going to drop themic right there and say man,
Coach Wittenberg, thank you.
We're going to have to do thisone again.
Thank you for your time, Thankyou for your wisdom and we'll
see you soon.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Absolutely.
Thank you, brother.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Coach Derek Wittenberg, everyone full of
wisdom.
Absolutely Thank you, brother.
At Adrian Branch Speaks anddownload the Climb wherever
podcasts are available Listen.
We love you guys tons.
Thanks for hanging with us andagain, remember, be encouraged
and keep climbing.
We'll see you everybody, thankyou.
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