YouTube Gold: Cedric Maxwell And UNCC Battle Marquette In The 1977 Final Four

An under appreciated gem of a game.

Today we’re really used to the idea of Kinston as a great basketball town. Population 19,900, Kinston has produced an insane amount of talent. A short list: Brandon Ingram, Jerry Stackhouse, Tony Dawson, Charles Shackleford, Reggie Bullock and Mitchell Wiggins, to name a few.

And it’s not even just basketball - Kinston punches way above its weight in general. Look at the Wikipedia page and scroll down to notable people: Dwight Clark of the 49ers, musicians Maceo and Melvin Parker, Jaime Pressly and Tyrone Willingham.

Go further back and you get Revolutionary War general William Caswell. And there’s a strong case that Kinston native Richard McCoy Jr. was D.B. Cooper. As we say, that town punches above its weight.

The first really great basketball player to come from Kinston that we’re aware of turned up at UNCC in the mid 1970’s and led Charlotte to the Final Four. His name is Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell.

This video is of UNCC’s Final Four game vs. Marquette. The Warriors, as they were then known, were coached by the legendary Al McGuire. Marquette ended Charlotte’s Cinderella season and would go on to win the championship.

As for Maxwell, he would be drafted by the Boston Celtics after the 1977 season, where he would soon become part of the Larry Bird/Robert Parish/Kevin McHale frontcourt of yore.