By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Members of NC State’s 1983 NCAA championship men’s basketball team say they’re owed potentially millions of dollars from the television networks that broadcast the NCAA Tournament, adding to their lawsuit against the NCAA itself.

In June, members of the team – known as the “Cardiac Pack” – sued the NCAA in Wake County Superior Court, seeking monetary damages for the unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness over the course of multiple decades.

The team members filed an amended complaint last week, adding CBS Broadcasting, CBS Sports, TNT Sports and Turner Sports Interactive to the list of defendants. The original complaint included the College Licensing Company among the defendants. It is not included in the new complaint.

The NCAA has until Oct. 18 to respond to the lawsuit after filing an unopposed motion for an extension on Monday.

The News & Observer first reported on the amended complaint.

In 2016, CBS and Warner Bros. Disney, which owns TNT, TBS and truTV, agreed to pay the NCAA $8.8 billion for rights to the men’s basketball tournament through 2032.

NC State defeated favored Houston 54-52 in the 1983 national championship game when Lorenzo Charles dunked home a heave by Dereck Whittenburg in the final seconds. Coach Jim Valvano ran around the court seeking someone to hug. The final seconds and Valvano’s sprint are replayed often during March’s NCAA Tournament.

Highlights of NC State’s tournament victories are available on NCAA.com.

“The NCAA’s illegal profit scheme is carried out through various partners and co-conspirators,” the lawsuit states.

It adds: “Plaintiffs now seek reasonable compensation for the appropriation of their names, images and likenesses by the NCAA and its partners and co-conspirators.”

The 10 members of the team that are listed as plaintiffs are Thurl Bailey, Alvin Battle, Walt Densmore, Tommy DiNardo, Terry Gannon, George McClain, Cozell McQueen, Walter Proctor, Harold Thompson and Mike Warren. The estate of Quinton Leonard III has been added.

Missing from the list are some of the biggest names on the 1983 team: Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe, Ernie Myers and any representative of Charles, who died in 2011.

Myers is listed in the amended complaint, but WRAL confirmed that he is not among the plaintiffs in the case.

Damages could be in the millions of dollars, the group’s lawyer told WRAL in June.

The lawsuit states that the NCAA “has never paid one cent to Plaintiffs for using their names, images and likenesses or for their contribution to the evolution of March Madness as a revenue-generating juggernaut.”

NCAA athletes were not allowed to make money off their name, image and likeness until 2021 when the organization changed its long-standing rules.

The 1983 team was the last NC State men’s basketball team to reach the Final Four until 2024.

WRAL reached out to CBS and Turner for comment on the lawsuit.

Source: wralsportsfan.com