Former N.C. State basketball player Terry Gannon compared the book "Personal Fouls" to a comic book, but former teammate Bennie Bolton said author Peter Golenbock titled the book accurately.
"From what I've heard, this thing is the most talked about comic book since Captain Marvel hit the stands, and probably much more expensive," Gannon said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's been unbelievable, the things that I've heard."What Gannon might have heard are allegations that ex-star Chris Washburn played under the influence of cocaine. Golenbock quoted a player as saying Valvano knew that Washburn was playing on drugs.
The book also alleged that players were able to alter their urine samples to pass drug tests and were provided the masking drug necessary by a fan described as a "sugar daddy" who also gave the players money, clothes and stereo equipment.
Some players sold their Atlantic Coast Conference tournament tickets above face value and also sold some of their basketball shoes. These would be NCAA violations.
"This guy wrote a book based on research that, if I had done that at N.C. State in history with my papers . . . I'd be pushing a broom right now. I wouldn't have a degree," Gannon said. "It's all on hearsay. The manuscript was written by a guy who was a manager, who went on national television and said he was offered cars, an apartment, money."
The manager was John Simonds, who was quoted in the book and believed to be the source for the book's allegations. However, much of the book quoted unidentified players.
"No offense to managers, but you can go in the stands and pull out any Joe and teach him to fold a towel, and you don't have to have any illegal inducements to do that," Gannon said. "So the whole thing is kind of absurd to me. If it weren't so serious, it would be laughable."
But Bolton, who was never contacted by Golenbock, disagreed.
"When I think of those words (the book's title), I think of all the stories I've heard, personal stories many of the former players have shared with me about the dark side of the program, about the resentment they feel," Bolton told The Charlotte Observer.
"Their college experience has not been a bed of roses, but it shouldn't be a negative experience either.
"Oh yeah, a foul has been committed. A personal foul."
Bolton said Valvano is guilty not of rules violations, but of crimes of the heart. He says Valvano misled players and "used" the team's success for his benefit.
"His is not a genuine caring for the players," Bolton says. "It was always all about winning, his endorsements and V, V, V. From a player's standpoint, I thought that was the worst thing a coach could be.
"It was like he stood back and said, `I'm in it for me,' and `You get yours because I'm sure enough going to get mine.' "
Bolton says he got "his" free sometimes because of the fame he gained on the court.
"We'd go to the mall and you'd go in a store and know people. It was nothing for them (store clerks) to give you a deal or trade you something for a (game) ticket, or give you something. I got a lot of free stuff."
Gannon disputed the book's claims of racism and of Valvano's indifference.
"One thing that Coach V always prided himself on was a player's coach," Gannon said. "He's taken some criticism for not being an X and O coach, which I happen to think is wrong, but the one thing that he has always been able to say and everyone always said of him was that he was a player's coach."
The book alleged that there were racial tensions on the 1986-87 team. Those tensions spread to the next year's team and involved Chris Corchiani, the book said. The rising junior guard called a Raleigh television station Friday asking to tell his side of the story.
Specifically, the book alleged that Corchiani was being picked on by black players and being forced into fights. Corchiani was wondering if he had made the right decision in choosing N.C. State, according to the book.
"The black players were the ones who took me under their wings my first couple of weeks as a freshman," Corchiani told WRAL-TV on Friday. "They did nothing but help me. Without them, I might have struggled. It was the black players who really helped me progress as a student-athlete here at N.C. State.
"We're a team and that's the way it's been," he said.
Chucky Brown said Corchiani was considered "one of the brothers."