(RALEIGH) -- Lorenzo Charles, 47, who hit the game-winning dunk at the buzzer to give NC State University the 1983 National Championship, was killed in a bus accident along Interstate 40 Monday afternoon. Charles was behind the wheel of a bus when it careened off the Interstate.

Friends, family and fan around the world are mourning the loss of the gentle giant. Some describe Charles' during his years on the hardwood as teddy bear off the court and a force to be reckoned with on the court..

Tony Haynes, Color Commentator for the Wolfpack Sports Network, said Charles' heroics in 1983 followed him for his entire life.  "He went to play professionally in Europe, I think, for 11 or 12 years and it utterly stunned him that he could be walking down the street half a world away in Europe and someone would always recognize him," said Haynes.  "They would come up to him and say you're the guy who made the dunk at the end of the 1983 National Championship game."

Authorities are still investigating the accident.  The bus had no passengers at the time of the crash.