August 2024 // Getting Ready

T H E

ISSUE XXXVI

O F F I C I A L

M A G A Z I N E

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T H E

R A M S

C L U B

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Chapel Hill is different in the summer.

It’s easier to find parking. Restaurant lines are shorter.

It’s not unusual to encounter waves of campers and their parents from the numerous Tar Heel summer camps overtaking Franklin Street stores. All of them are usually confused about where they are going.

But while the town’s rhythm slows down, the preparation for the 2024-25 school year is usually happening out of sight.

That’s what we wanted to find out in this issue: while the town looks sleepy, how are the Tar Heels in multiple sports preparing for all of those more energetic fall Saturdays and winter weeknights?

Some of that work happens in Chapel Hill. Omarion Hampton will be one of the biggest names in Carolina athletics this fall, and Lee Pace reports on how the talented tailback is prepared to make the leap from Drake Maye’s sidekick to Tar Heel headliner.

And Chapel Hill itself continues to be a draw for the decades of players who have come through the Carolina basketball program. What brings them back? What do they do while they’re in town? And what might we have learned this summer about the 2024-25 team? There’s more on that topic in this issue.

But not everything happens in Chapel Hill. The vast majority of the baseball roster scatters across the United States to play in a variety of summer leagues. Like most of

the rest of college sports, that entire process has changed dramatically over the last three years. We took a look into what summer baseball means in the year 2024 and how it could help the Diamond Heels make a return push to Omaha in 2025.

Sometimes summer is the only opportunity to squeeze in activities that “normal” students do during the school year.

That’s what Carolina field hockey players Kelly Smith and Kennedy Cliggett did by seizing a rare break to fulfill their study abroad dreams. It probably won’t surprise you to find out that they still managed to work in a little field hockey as they prepare to defend the national championship the Heels won last season.

For the rest of us, summer is a time to catch up on reading, go to the beach, or maybe even take the opportunity to check off that bucket list trip to Omaha to support Carolina baseball. Now, though, it’s time to turn the focus to the 2024-25 athletics year, one that includes three new schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference and national expectations for multiple Carolina teams.

Don’t worry: they’ll be ready. And you’ll find out how they got there in this issue.

Adam Lucas Editor in Chief

PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB // EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS // CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEE PACE & ANDREW STILWELL // PHOTOGRAPHY MAGGIE HOBSON, KEVIN JONES/USA BASEBALL, SHANNEN HARDY/BOURNE BRAVES, ROUGHCUT IMAGES, ANDY MEAD, EMILY SOBECKI, ANTHONY SORBELLINI & UNC ATHLETICS // DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING

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14 “I want to be able to do whatever my coaches ask of me, and this summer is the foundation for doing that so I can be better, stronger, and stay healthy.”

the

GETTING READY edition

ON THE COVER: Omarion Hampton is poised to have a breakout season for the football Tar Heels.

COVER PHOTO: UNC ATHLETICS/ANTHONY SORBELLINI TOC PHOTOS: EMILY SOBECKI, MAGGIE HOBSON, KEVIN JONES/USA BASEBALL, SHANNEN HARDY/BOURNE BRAVES, & UNC ATHLETICS

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— CAMERON PADGETT

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EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

GETTING READY

After another productive summer, Omarion Hampton is ready to be a focal point of the Tar Heel offense

GETTING READY

Time 14 Family Summer is when some of the strongest Carolina family bonds are built

BY ADAM LUCAS

GETTING READY

18 The Second Season

For college baseball, the season doesn’t stop in the summer

BY ADAM LUCAS

CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 22

TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

10 Strong Enough

BY LEE PACE

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28 London Calling GETTING READY

A pair of Tar Heels managed to squeeze a study abroad experience into their summers

BY ANDREW STILWELL

34 Just Doing It GETTING READY

Summer experiences have helped a formidable Tar Heel duo carve out a big role at Nike

BY ANDREW STILWELL

FIRST PERSON

38 JJ and James

One of Carolina’s top receivers used the summer to prepare both on and off the field

BY JJ JONES

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

THE ROAD TO OMAHA

Rams Club members describe their favorite memories from the Diamond Heels’ postseason

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Wilson Steele // Greensboro, NC “Some of our family made our way to the MCWS last month, a bucket list trip for sure! We had a great time cheering on our Heels and exploring Omaha!”

Pictured are Avery Steele, Avery Rabon, Wilson Steele & Brent Steele

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Heath Benfield // Reidsville, NC “I was fortunate to catch up with Coach Fox and Mr. Omaha (Dustin Ackley). My first trip to Omaha, and it was an amazing experience!”

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Scott Cannon // Wichita Falls, KS

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Liz Crowley // Troutman, NC “Go Heels and Go Vance!”

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Kristy Foushee // Raleigh, NC “Rams Club and Diamond Heels Club members – who met and became friends this year at the Bosh.”

Pictured are Kelly & Travis Hahn, Barbara & Terry Haire, and Rachel & Matt Foushee

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Miriam Zietlow // Raleigh, NC “Tom and I had a wonderful time in Omaha cheering on our Heels. We attended all three UNC games, including this shot of us before the Virginia game. We also had a fun experience during the June 7 Super Regional game against West Virginia. We were with a group of (younger) Tar Heels who decided that we had to put on our rally caps in the bottom of the 9th inning. [The score was 6-5, WVU.] And those folks who didn’t have a hat, they put those little cardboard popcorn trays on their heads in solidarity. Yes, we were a goofy looking group, but as you know, it worked! UNC won the game – final score 8-6. So, following Woody Durham’s advice – ‘Go where you go, and do what you do!’ – we, of course, had to repeat the same ‘rally’ action. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us this time, but we had a great time cheering on our Heels nonetheless!”

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Tom Taylor // Chapel Hill, NC “My good friend, Kathryn Ammons ‘86 from Surfside Beach, SC, and I supported and cheered for the Diamond Heels at both the Chapel Hill Regional and Super Regional. It was great fun to see the Tar Heels advance to the College World Series in Omaha! Looking forward to next season!”

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Kelly Hahn // Fort Mill, SC “Fun rival night - Way to go HEELS!” Pictured are Jonny Lasker, Brandon Lasker, Heather Lasker, Savannah Hahn, Kelly Hahn & Travis Hahn

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Rufus Langley // Apex, NC “Rufus Langley and Grandson having a ‘ball’ at the Regional!!”

1 0 Greg Cauley // Kinston, NC

“As in 2018, I drove from Kinston to Nebraska for the CWS, staying again in Lincoln to save major expense for the hotel. 3 days travel each way, totaling about 3,500 miles over roughly 60 hours. In 2018, I incorporated a side trip to Rapid City, SD, from which I branched out to see Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Devils Tower in eastern Wyoming, catching the Badlands and some ICBM visitor sites. This year, I stopped during the drive to visit the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville (pictured), Fantastic Cavern in Springfield, MO, and the Ashfall Fossil Bed State Park in Nebraska (pictured), which has fossils of prehistoric animals that were caught in the ash from a volcanic eruption in Idaho 12 million years ago. Following the Heels around the country has enabled me to visit many national and state parks and landmarks with which our nation is blessed. Go Heels!”

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R 1 1 Bandi Windley Cagle // Belhaven, NC

“Me and my son, Lawson Holland (named after Ty Lawson and born the day after the 2009 championship) at the Diamond Heels’ game on June 2.”

1 2 Wes O’Brien // Kernersville, NC

Pictured are Wes O’Brien & Brent Clevenger at the ACC Baseball Tournament in Charlotte.

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1 3 Mike McIntyre // Hillsborough, NC

Pictured are Mike McIntyre, Roy Williams & Josh McIntyre at Boshamer Stadium.

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1 4 Sandy Rasnake // Chapel Hill, NC

“Sandy Rasnake with Leigh Ann and Bob Honeycutt during the Diamond Heels Super Regional victory over West Virginia at The Bosh. Rubbed the Honey Bear for Vance good luck and a Carolina victory.”

15 1 5 Cody Green // Thomasville, NC

“Great Time Celebrating the Walk off in the Bosh!!! Omaha Bound!!”

Pictured are Carla Carrick, Sarah Carrick, Cathy Green, Lindsey Green & Cody Green

1 6 Lee Conner // Burlington, NC

Pictured are Caroline Conner, Lindley Oler, James Conner & Lee Conner at the LSU Regional

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STRONG ENOUGH

STRONG

ENOUGH

After another productive summer, Omarion Hampton is ready to be a focal point of the Tar Heel offense

BY LEE PACE

PHOTOS BY ANDY MEAD, EMILY SOBECKI, AND UNC ATHLETICS

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ome call it the “summer grind,” those three months of heat, sweat, sprinting, lifting, film study and a few classes of summer school. Brian Hess, the strength and conditioning chief for Tar Heel football, prefers the word attack.

“We want to attack every day, attack every session, not waste one session or one minute of time,” he says. “If we have an off day, someone else is working.

When camp opens, I want every player to look back and say, ‘It was a long, hard summer, but we attacked every day, we showed up every day.’”

Exhibit A in attack mode is “The Big O”—the nickname for junior running back Omarion Hampton. Whether it’s pounding the iron in morning strength training sessions or pounding the turf in afternoon conditioning circuits, the 6-0, 200-pound Hampton is setting the bar for his teammates.

“He attacks everything in front of him,” Hess says. “He has an incredible foundation of strength. He came in as a 600-pound-plus squatter and has gotten better. He’s improved his vision, and his explosiveness is off the charts. He had a great season last fall. I think this year will be even more special.

“He’s done a great job with leadership,” Hess adds. “He’s not into big speeches.

He leads more by example. But he’ll pull a guy aside if he’s not doing what he needs to do. He sets a very high standard.”

Hampton feels “the sky’s the limit” for the 2024 Tar Heels, given in part the fact that a team “can re-invent itself every year in the portal.” Naturally soft-spoken and preferring to let his actions do his talking, Hampton has learned to become more vocal and knows that great teams are led from within.

“I have to step up, I have to step out of my comfort zone and become one of the leaders of this team,” he says. “The summer is a big opportunity to get better. We have more free time to get better at our craft. Everyone can get better in the film room. We can put the right things in our body. We can improve the little things. For me, it’s catching the ball, reading defenses better, blocking better.”

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GETTING READY Hampton has always been a stud in the strength and conditioning arena dating to his younger days at Cleveland High School in Clayton. As a sophomore, he set a school record among running backs and linebackers by squatting 560 pounds, but that proved to be the apex of his squatting prowess in high school.

“The bar was rated for 600 pounds, but this one bent,” says Scott Riley, the Rams’ head coach since 2014. “It couldn’t handle the weight.

We didn’t have the resources to buy another bar every time he lifted. He could have gone well beyond that the next two years.”

And there was the track meet in the spring of 2020 when Hampton took his stance in the blocks for the 100-meter dash and exploded with such force the foot pedal cracked out of the base of the apparatus.

Hampton stumbled to the ground, rolled back up, then used his 4.4 speed to catch up with all but one runner to finish second.

A weight bar and a set of starting blocks. Did Hampton break anything else?

“Not that I can remember,” Riley says. “Well, maybe a few linebackers.”

The locals remember at least two entire games at Cleveland Middle School when Hampton was never actually tackled to the ground. Every carry resulted in a touchdown or being knocked out-of-bounds. His stats on the varsity from 2018-21 were staggering: 5,370 yards rushing yards and 88 rushing touchdowns over 42 games; 127.9 rushing yards per game and 29 games of 100-plus rushing yards; 503 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, plus touchdowns returning a kick-off and a punt.

“When your best player’s that talented and works that hard, it’s hard for other people to be lazy,” Riley says. “Omarion pushed the other kids. He tries to improve everyone’s work ethic. But at the end of the day, he’s a humble, likable young man.

“His power and breakaway speed are a deadly combination. There are a lot of 200-pound backs, but with that speed to outrun everybody, we knew he was going to be special.”

Hampton was ranked in the 247Sports composite as the No. 3 player in North Carolina in 2021 and was The Charlotte Observer’s Mr. Football. He visited Penn State, Auburn and Florida on successive weekends in June 2021 but then announced for the Tar Heels in early July. As a freshman

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in Chapel Hill in 2022, he rushed for 401 yards, including 101 yards in his debut against Florida A&M, and set himself up to be the starting tailback in 2023 with a year’s physical development and improving his running skills as well as those for picking up blitzing linebackers in pass protection.

What a season it was.

Hampton had 236 yards and a nine-yard per carry average against Appalachian State in week two, leaving his teammates effusive in their views.

“Just keep feeding him the rock,” quarterback Drake Maye said. “He’s a tough dude to tackle for four quarters.”

“He’s going to have a crazy season,” linebacker Cedric Gray added. “He’s just going to keep getting better. The sky’s the limit for him. I see him playing on Sundays.”

Throughout the year he broke tackles, including two touchdowns in the first half against Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket defenders who had good angles on Hampton but failed to lock him down.

“I saw him wrapped up and thought, ‘Oh, that’s a loss of yards,’” receiver J.J. Jones said. “Then I heard people booing. What’s going on? Next thing, I look up and see him in the end zone. He’s so capable of making plays like that. He’s come a long way.”

Hampton led the nation in yards after contact with 1,072 yards and collected an average of 8.42 yards after contact. He forced eight missed tackles against Clemson in a mid-November game.

“He just runs through contact,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey says.

“The improvement with his vision is huge, how well he runs the ball with angles and where we attack the line of scrimmage. He does a really good job using his eyes most of the time.”

Hampton made first-team All-ACC and first-team All-America on the Walter Camp team in 2023 while rushing for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns. His ability drew the interest from a handful of schools waving cash in the transfer portal, but Carolina’s NIL collective stepped up with enough of an offer to get him to stay in Chapel Hill.

“Omarion’s one of the greatest players in the country,” head coach Mack Brown says. “We’ve had some great running backs here and at Texas, and he’s as good as any of them. His big, he’s strong, he runs 4.4, he’s got tremendous hands. He could have gone other places for a lot of money. But he’s very unselfish and decided to stay here.”

How Brown and Lindsey choose to deploy Hampton in 2024 will be an interesting element of an offense seeking an identity after two years of Maye’s prolific throwing skills. Brown has talked often during the offseason about the offense’s mandate to play complementary football to the defense.

“We’ve got to help our defense,” Brown says. “Running the ball and staying on the field helps your defense. We’ve talked about tempo. If you score in three plays, you leave your defense out there. Omarion is one of best players in the country. We have to use him. We want to get him the ball on the corner more, we want him in space. We need to get more running backs who look like him—a downhill, physical runner. He’s a big part of our story.”

“JUST KEEP FEEDING HIM THE ROCK.

HE’S A TOUGH DUDE TO TACKLE

FOR FOUR QUARTERS.” -DRAKE MAYE ramsclub.com 13

SUMMER VACATION

FAMILY TIME

SUMMER IS WHEN SOME OF THE STRONGEST CAROLINA FAMILY BONDS ARE BUILT

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON 14

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FAMILY TIME

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t’s not unusual to find families walking around the Dean Smith Center in the summer.

The basketball arena is one of the centerpieces of campus.

Potential undergrads taking a campus tour, or middle school athletes attending one of the many camps across the athletic department, or just families on a road trip want to take photos outside the looming building, maybe rattle a couple doors, and just be able to say they’ve been there the next time they spot the Tar Heels playing on television.

But this group was different.

In mid-June, a group of adults and their children gathered to take a picture at the Smith Center. This one, though, had a little more history with the building. There was Marcus Paige, now on the Carolina coaching staff. There was Justin Jackson, and Joel Berry, and Eric Hoots, and former manager Chase Bengel, who had been part of the teams that included those luminaries.

It wasn’t just them, though. Almost all of them brought their spouses and children, which meant All-ACC credentials didn’t matter much when a toddler was wandering away.

Eventually, they organized themselves enough for team photographer Maggie Hobson to take a photo: former teammates and their families on the court, championship banners behind them.

That’s Carolina basketball in the summer.

The approximately six-week period that begins with the first session of Carolina Basketball Camp in mid-June and runs through the end of July is hectic, it is loud…and it is also a lot of fun.

During the season, lettermen are scattered across the country and the globe. If they’re still involved in basketball, they’re playing and coaching with their current team and can’t always make it to the Smith Center for game days. If they’re out of the game, they have a “real job” and likewise have other time commitments.

But the summer is different. No leagues are active, and no matter where their careers have taken them, former players almost always find their way back to Chapel Hill. How big a draw is their college home? Consider that Deon Thompson—a California native who has a home in the area—came back for a few days during camp, then traveled to compete for the Ivory Coast national team in an Olympic qualifying event in Puerto Rico, then returned to Chapel Hill. It’s a big enough attraction that a little back and forth travel isn’t nearly enough deterrent to keep former players away.

They love it for the facilities and the constant access to high-level competition, they appreciate the opportunity to work out with Jonas Sahratian, and they always enjoy the chance to reconnect with their former teammates and fellow Tar Heels. It’s not unusual for late night post-pickup dinners or weekend gatherings to take place at a variety

of restaurants or homes around the Chapel Hill area. Roy Williams, for example, got the opportunity to meet several children of his former players this summer, a pseudo-grandfather happily meeting the next generation of Tar Heels.

It’s not only the players who played together who have a relationship.

Danny Green’s only previous connection to Eric Montross was that both players contributed to Carolina national championship teams. But the duo became friendly when Green got involved with The Rams Club, and based on that relationship, Green made specific plans to be in Chapel Hill in mid-June because he wanted to show support for the Eric Montross Father’s Day Camp. “I just had to be here for Eric,” Green said, and spent time addressing the fathers at the camp and posing for photos.

Those couple weeks with various camps in the Smith Center are a boon for spotting former players. The Carolina Basketball Camp game is a quasi-public event held in front of campers and, often, their parents. This year, the current team held on for a narrow win over the alumni, with impressive showings from freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell outshining the perimeter-oriented attack of the alums that was spearheaded by Cole Anthony, who arranged his summer travel to be in town for the game, and Kenny Williams.

But the true basketball family court time happens in the Smith Center well after hours, as both current players and alumni can usually be found playing pickup at all hours during the month of June. As has been tradition ever since the days of Walter Davis teaching Michael Jordan a few tricks in the early 1980s, those games can occasionally get heated and almost always provide intense competition. Expect occasional arguing over the accurate score and hotly contested foul calls, but also plan on frequent inter-generational moments like Tyler Zeller coaching up Powell on post defense once the games are over.

For coaches, the calendar remains very busy. They’re managing the current team during the week and then flying off to high school recruiting events on the weekends. It’s not unusual for prospects to make campus visits during the week, sometimes with very little notice, which can change an unscheduled Tuesday afternoon into an all-hands-on-deck recruiting priority. A few members of the staff always carve out time to make it to Las Vegas to watch former players participating in the NBA Summer League, an event that for the past several years has included an annual Tar Heel alumni dinner.

The only true down time for most of the staff and players comes in August, when there are a couple of slower weeks before class begins in the middle of the month. Within a matter of weeks, it’s time for practice to begin in earnest—and time for players to start demonstrating the lessons they learned over the summer.

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GETTING READY

T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N Summer basketball isn’t all about the past. NCAA rules now permit occasional full practices during the summer, and the Tar Heels went through eight such sessions this July. They are largely introductory practices; especially for a team like the 2024-25 squad that will integrate multiple key newcomers (freshmen Jackson, Powell, and James Brown, plus transfers Cade Tyson and Ven-Allen Lubin); it enables Hubert Davis to start the first “real” practice with everyone already possessing a decent background in his expectations.

Those practices can also occasionally include participation from alumni who are in town. That gave, for example, Tyson the opportunity to match up with Luke Maye during one session, or Powell to defend James Michael McAdoo.

Davis is a firm believer in using the summer for more than just court time. Again this summer, he took the Tar Heels to the beach for a bonding weekend, giving them a chance to spend time together without worrying about shot attempts or minutes played.

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GETTING READY

THE SECOND SEASON FOR COLLEGE BASEBALL, THE SEASON DOESN’T STOP IN THE SUMMER

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BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY KEVIN JONES (USA BASEBALL), SHANNEN HARDY (BOURNE BRAVES), & ROUGHCUT IMAGES

he 2024 Diamond Heels had a long season.

They played 64 games from February 16 through June 18. They made it to the ultimate destination in the sport, the College World Series in Omaha, which included a postseason journey with multiple heart-pounding finishes.

They earned the right to be tired. And yet, as soon as the team plane returned to Chapel Hill following the final game in Omaha, the vast majority of the players who will make up the 2025 roster began immediate preparations to…play more baseball.

Summer baseball has been a part of the college game for generations. The oldest and best-known summer league, the Cape Cod League, began in 1923, and has long provided an opportunity for hitters and pitchers to get game competition against some of the best talent in the country while staying sharp for the return to the college game in the fall. Although the realities of the league have evolved—more on that later—it’s become part of the fabric of the game, and even the backdrop for a couple of movies (try “Summer Catch” to watch Freddie Prinze Jr. attempt to play baseball, but watch “Touching the Game” for a more realistic look at the league).

It can also be a whirlwind. Pitcher Boston Flannery returned with the Tar Heels from Omaha, spent two days in Chapel Hill gathering his gear, then drove home to New York. He was there for one day, then moved into his host family’s home with the Brewster Whitecaps.

Flannery was one of seven players Carolina initially placed in the Cape. That number includes pitcher Cameron Padgett, who played for the Bourne Braves.

“Getting to play against the best of the best is what every competitor wants,” Padgett said. “I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to do so. The communities in Cape Cod love baseball and the playing atmosphere is great.”

Padgett twice encountered a pitching matchup against Tar Heel teammate Olin Johnson (Harwich Mariners). Summer is a time for players like both UNC youngsters to get more work; Padgett and

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Johnson each threw 12.2 innings over the compressed summer slate while seeing more sporadic appearances during the Carolina season.

That gives them the opportunity to work on what they need to perfect, but also to try some new things. The different pitch grip you discover while playing catch before a summer start could be the pitch that puts you in the rotation next spring.

“Any time you step on the field you want to compete and give your team the best chance to win,” Padgett says. “But summer ball is a place to add or enhance certain parts of your skill set. You’re able to pick other players’ and coaches’ brains to see what works for you without the added expectations that a normal college spring season brings…The fun is in the process and grind. The good outcomes are just an added exclamation point of your hard work.”

And there are plenty of people watching. The new realities of college baseball are that the Cape Cod League has become a fertile ground for transfer recruiting. Players used to go to the Cape only to prove themselves to their current college coach and the handful of professional scouts who are always on hand.

Now, if they’re in the portal—and sometimes even if they’re not—a strong performance in the Cape creates phone calls with other opportunities. Under Scott Forbes, the Diamond Heels have declined to participate in that kind of recruiting. But other schools still use it.

Even players who eventually ended up in Chapel Hill are aware that the Carolina recruiting process is different.

Shea Sprague pitched at Elon in 2023 and then entered the transfer portal. He thought his outings for Harwich in the Cape would serve as his audition for interested teams. And while it doesn’t hurt to see a prospect against that type of competition, it’s not the exclusive criteria for Carolina.

“One thing I really appreciated about Coach Forbes is that when he called me, he said he wanted to get me down to Chapel Hill on a visit,” says Sprague, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox after an excellent 2024 season for Carolina. “He said he wanted to meet me

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GETTING READY

before he gave me an offer. A lot of schools in the portal are trying to rush you. But Carolina wanted to meet me in person and see what I was about.”

And the Tar Heels again made some key additions this summer who had success in the Cape. Soon after returning from Omaha, Carolina added Princeton transfer Tom Chmielewski, who pitched for Falmouth. Then, after Scott Jackson joined the Tar Heel coaching staff, Carolina received a commitment from Cape League all-star Kane Kepley, an outfielder who played for Jackson with the Flames. Kepley will join a depth chart loaded with competition vying to replace a starting outfield that saw all three starters drafted this summer.

Increased opportunities have spread summer college talent throughout the country. College summer leagues now span the nation, with Tar Heels participating in five different leagues from the Cape to the Northwoods (mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin).

It’s a tremendous chance for someone like pitcher Mason Yokum, a freshman lefty who redshirted, to get game competition throwing nearly 20 innings for the Burlington Sock Puppets in the Appalachian League.

Not everyone goes to a summer league. Three Tar Heels—Luke Stevenson, Jason DeCaro and Matthew Matthijs—participated with

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USA Baseball, where they joined the organization’s Summer Tour and competed against Appalachian League and Coastal Plain League select teams.

The USA Baseball experience is more compressed—a perfect scenario for players like Stevenson, DeCaro and Matthijs, who logged significant innings during the college season—but with stout competition under the Team USA banner.

“It was an honor,” Stevenson said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. I always wanted to play on Team USA, wear the Team USA jersey and represent my country. It was a dream come true.”

By the time you read this, the 2025 roster will be back on campus, preparing for the fall scrimmages that are critical to establishing the spring depth chart. For many players, it will be an opportunity to show off what they’ve learned over the summer, no matter where those innings might have taken place.

“This summer is huge for where I want to be come next spring,” says Padgett. “It’s building the foundation for the fall. The jump I need to make before the spring starts now and continues in the fall. I want to be able to do whatever my coaches ask of me and for that I have to continue getting better, stronger and staying healthy.”

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C A R O L I N A E V E R YWE A R Rams Club members like to wear their Carolina Blue, and they’ll wear it all over the US and the world. If you have a photo of you in your Carolina gear in front of notable landmarks in the US and abroad, send them our way to be a part of Carolina EveryWear!

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To have your photo included: -Send your photo digitally to bornandbred@ramsclub.com.

-Identify everyone in your photo and the location of the photo.

Here are the “Rules”: -At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member -You must be wearing Carolina gear -You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify).

SHOW US YOUR COLORS!

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1) Lauren, Jackson, Ben & Thomas Winkler of Chapel Hill at Stonehenge in England; 2) Dick Gerrish of Wilmington, NC, at Mount Washington Summit in New Hampshire; 3) Robert Marshall of Lenoir, NC, at Redwood National Park in California; 4) Anna Queen, Kadira McClure & Sydney Odom of Lexington, NC, at seas in the Bahamas; 5) Chad Del Vechio of Hickory, NC, in California; 6) Mike O’Brien of Durham in the mountains of Costa Ricai; 7) Caleb, Christy, Chris & Carolina Holland of Clayton, NC, at the Grand Canyon; 8) Greg, Jen, Hunter & Harper Williams of Ridgewood, NJ, at Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany; 9) Ellen & Tommy Pittman of Cary, NC, at Turks & Caicos; 10) Charise Lowery Gantt & David Gantt of Asheville at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt; 11) Andrea & Bill Bates of Chapel Hill & Mallory Bates of Arlington, VA, in Petra, Jordan; 12) Claire, Alex, Kelli & Lane Burnett of Richmond, VA, at Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska; 13) Betsy & Doug Blackburn of Lewisville, NC, at the Sphinx in Egypt; 14) David & Marian Bell of Raleigh in Key West; 15) Lynn Steele Marcin & Denny Marcin of Chapel Hill at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium; 16) Gregory Tuttle of Hillsborough, NC, in Pompeii, Italy; 17) Henry Fleishman of Charlotte in Bergen, Norway; 18) Rose McLelland & friends of Raleigh in Wrightsville Beach, NC; 19) Matt Braxton, Randy Gardner, Ben Braxton & Tucker Gardner of Chapel Hill at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland

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20) Ann Clarke, Delores Hammer & Kim Clarke of Hickory, NC, at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic; 21) Barry & Anna Gordon of Troutman, NC, & Terry & Mark Gordon of Greer, SC, at Exit Glacier in Seward, AK; 22) Marie Joseph & Susan Swindell Carter of Alpharetta, GA, in Barcelona, Spain; 23) Ethan, Sharon, Michael & Adam Leinwand of Wilmington, NC, at the Parthenon in Greece; 24) Mary Fraley of Jamestown, NC, at the women’s putting course in St. Andrews, Scotland; 25) Terri & Burke Haywood of Raleigh in front of the Hammershus Castle ruins on the Danish island of Bornholm; 26) Brandon Hartzell of Stephens City, VA, at the Palace of the Shirvanshahs in Baku, Azerbaijan; 27) Josh Myers of Greensboro, NC at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; 28) Sarah Swanson of Charlotte at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, AZ; 29) Ryan & Stephanie Smith Clark of Rock Hill, SC, on top of Glacier 3000 in Les Diablerets, Switzerland; 30) Liz Crowley of Troutman, NC, in Egypt; 31) Rowan, Stephanie, Tristan & Kelly Corbet of Raleigh at the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass in Colorado; 32) Suzanne & Kevin Leder of Wake Forest in the Masai Mara in Kenya; 33) Tanner Bailey & Lisa Ladd Bailey with friends (from other schools) at Machu Picchu in Peru; 34) Debbie & Stephen Partrick of Lawrenceville, GA, in Lisbon, Portugal; 35) Lindsay Carroll of Raleigh in Montrose, CO (honoring “Big Grits”); 36) Aljhun Escueta of Richlands, NC, at the top of One World Trade Center in New York; 37) Caroline, Scott, Jo Ann & Casey Cabaniss of Raleigh with the Stanley Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada; 38) Daniel & Jessica Simmons of Sanford, NC, at the Oslo Opera House in Oslo, Norway; 39) Ian Lloyd of Fort Pierce, FL, at Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina; 40) Joshua Martinez of Rocky Mount, NC, at Wimbledon in London, England; 41) Tal & Leah Link, Ronnie & Lauren Mann, Donald & Jennifer Tomlinson, & Lisa & Robert Bates of Lexington, NC, at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; 42) Jack Herring of Charlotte at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

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43) Sue Johnson of Hamilton, VA, at the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix, France, with Mont Blanc; 44) Nancy & Jay Thorndike of Hendersonville, NC, at Dynjandi Waterfall in Isafjordur, Iceland; 45) Natalie Easley of Potomac, MD, at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa; 46) David & Paula Phillips Washburn at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland; 47) Howard & Barbara Jones of Gastonia, NC, in Morocco; 48) Maggie Campbell of Winston-Salem in Bar Harbor, ME; 49) Brandi Windley Cagle of Belhaven, NC, in Nassau, Bahamas; 50) Charles Purvis of Rocky Mount, NC, in Las Vegas; 51) Steve & Debbie Bedford of Forest City, NC, at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland; 52) John Sellers & Jeff Lynch of Graham, NC, at Western Brook Pond Trail in Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, Canada; 53) Landon Rowe, Lara Cabaniss, Tom Cabaniss, Richard Chaney, Terri Chaney & Christina Rowe of Kannapolis, NC, at the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; 54) Kandy Cosper & Ann Cosper Pridemore on a gondola in Switzerland; 55) Eddie High of Raleigh at the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, TN; 56) Brant Martin of Cynthiana, KY, at Blue Heaven in Key West; 57) Marti, Grace & Keith Strickland of Elon, NC, at Center Court Wimbledon in London; 58) Toni & Karl Kapp of Winston-Salem with Alison & Tim Edwards in Capri, Italy; 59) Rick Crowder & Ann Brown Campbell of Winston-Salem at Wrightsville Beach, NC.

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LONDON CALLING

LONDON CALLING

A pair of Tar Heels managed to squeeze a study abroad experience into their summers

BY ANDREW STILWELL

PHOTOS BY KELLY SMITH AND KENNEDY CLIGGETT

C

arolina’s student-athletes are known for their commitment to excellence, both on and off the playing field. During the school year, and especially in-season, members of Carolina’s 28 athletic programs balance a full academic course load along with countless practices, strength training, and a season’s worth of home games and road trips. For many, the opportunity to study abroad at some point during their four years is traded in for the chance to don a Carolina Blue jersey.

However, at least two Carolina student-athletes, field hockey athletes Kelly Smith and Kennedy Cliggett, got the chance to join the approximately forty percent of Carolina students who study abroad during their time in Chapel Hill. The two rising seniors participated in a three-week summer sports marketing program in London offered in conjunction with the department of Exercise & Sport Science at Carolina.

While it might have felt like a bit of a long shot at first, both Smith and Cliggett were eager to have the opportunity, even if it would take a bit of convincing.

“We got the email that went out to everyone else in our department about the study abroad program,” Cliggett said. “We were both really excited about the opportunity for a new experience in a different culture.”

“We felt that if we talked to everyone who needed to give the okay for us to go, that maybe we could maybe make it happen,” said Smith.

“All of our coaches were incredibly supportive of us participating in the program and getting that study abroad experience.”

GOING INTERNATIONAL

For three weeks over May and June, the field hockey athletes participated in an elective in the Sports Administration track of the Exercise and Sports Science known as International Sports Management. The mini-mester program was part experiential and part classroom instruction.

“Two days a week, we were in the classroom, presenting projects, learning about different aspects of venues and companies in the international sports world. It was very discussion-based,” Smith said.

“The other two days a week, we visited sporting venues around London.”

“Visiting the stadiums was my favorite part of the program,” said Cliggett. “Coming from a family who loves tennis, seeing Wimbledon was a big highlight for me. It was incredible, going from seeing it on TV to actually seeing it in person.”

With classes mainly in the mornings four days a week, it allowed both Smith and Cliggett to fully immerse themselves in English culture, taking in the sights around London including Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye. “We took a ‘tea cruise’ that was organized by the class, and got to enjoy a traditional British tea party, which was great,” Cliggett said. “One of the Fridays that we had off, Kelly and I actually traveled to Scotland for the weekend, which I thought was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was amazing, and it was great having the opportunity to travel within our study abroad program as well!”

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GETTING READY

KEEPING FORM

The 2024 field hockey campaign starts at the end of August, and traditionally for many fall sports, that means a series of summer workouts and training sessions to stay in “game shape.” Even during their short time in London, both Cliggett and Smith found a way to hone their craft and stay fit, joining a local club field hockey team during their time abroad.

“One of our assistant coaches actually put us in touch with the club coach, and help set it up for us,” Cliggett said. “They would contact us and say, ‘Hey, we’re practicing tonight, come on over.’ We would go over and work on a few skill and technical drills, and then would go right into playing. It depended on how many girls would show up that day, and sometimes we would play 5v5, and other times we’d play a full 11v11.”

“We got to meet so many new people,” Smith said. “We played with a majority of people in London who were either getting ready to go to college in the States or were already on a U.S. college team. It was really cool getting to meet some new people who we could potentially play against next season.”

Even when the two student-athletes weren’t participating in organized field hockey practices, they made it a point to stay active and work on their skills.

“Other days when there wasn’t practice, Kelly and I would head over to the field and the coach would break some more things down

30 B O R N & B R E D

technically and skill-wise for us. It would just be the two of us and the coach,” Cliggett said. “We would also run every day. We would go to the field and run there but would also just run around London to see and experience different things.”

PUTTING THE STUDENT IN STUDENT-ATHLETE

For Smith and Cliggett, both previous selections to the ACC’s AllAcademic team, the chance to study abroad was one that was not taken for granted. It was the skills and self-discipline that they’ve learned as student athletes that allowed them to get the most out of their experience, while still keeping in mind that their senior field hockey season would start in just a few short weeks upon returning from the London program.

“I think in our case, studying abroad in the summer was the absolutely best-case scenario for us because we weren’t missing any of the team things that we would’ve needed to be a part of or really wanted to be a part of,” Smith said. “Normally, you have to run, train, and do all of that on your own without the coaches present. If you’re on top of your fitness and hold yourself accountable, recognizing that you still need to do all those things while keeping up your classwork, you can still experience and do things you wouldn’t normally get to do like studying abroad.”

“Being student-athletes, we are very well organized. We know how to manage our time academically and handle what we need to do athletically to work out, practice, and also committing ourselves

LONDON CALLING

to seeing as much as possible while in London,” Cliggett said.

“Those skills were very helpful in London. We had to budget our time in order to do everything we wanted to do. In the afternoons, our mindset was, ‘We have this amount of time to do our homework.

We leave this time out for training and then with the time we have left, our thoughts were: alright, let’s go sightsee.’ We were already so well organized, but studying abroad also taught us a lot more about being structured because we had to plan everything out in advance.”

While study abroad programs aren’t necessarily ideal or possible for every student-athlete, Cliggett noted that with a little effort, the possibilities were endless.

“You have the time. You’ve just got to make the time,” she said.

“If you want to study abroad, you’ve got to know your schedule, and you’ve got to work all those things out. Yes, it’s so hard to think in advance. But if you break it down and actually look at everything, it’s all manageable, and it’s what you can manage.

“We made it very manageable to even do that. Even with a summer workout packet, Kelly and I both said, ‘Let’s stick to the summer packet while we’re over there, but also let’s enjoy this amazing experience while we still can.’”

While both seniors hope to cap off their time at Carolina with a third consecutive national championship before graduation takes them their separate ways, it’s clear that they will have memories to last a lifetime, thanks to their three weeks in London.

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32 B O R N & B R E D

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JUST DOING IT.

BY ANDREW STILWELL

PHOTOS BY DARCY MCFARL ANE & RYAN MACRI

JUST DOING IT

SUMMER EXPERIENCES HAVE HELPED A FORMIDABLE TAR HEEL DUO CARVE OUT A BIG ROLE AT NIKE

F

or more than three decades, the relationship between Carolina athletics and Nike has been one of the most recognizable in college sports. Men’s lacrosse letterman Ryan Macri learned about the significance of Nike during the first practice of his freshman year of high school.

“When I was in high school in Massachusetts, [another brand] came out with their ‘Click, Clack’ commercial, and I thought that was so cool – I could have the ‘click clack’ on my metal studs coming onto the field,” Macri recalled. “My freshman year, I had my new pair of cleats from that other brand, and I was so excited. My first day of practice, the senior captain came over to me, took my brand-new pair of cleats that I had just worn, threw them in the trash, and gave me his backup pair of Nike cleats.”

“He told me, ‘Here, we only wear Nike.’ That was my first realization of how Nike was a symbol of excellence and the pursuit of being great, and that’s something that always stuck with me. The same is obviously true at Carolina.”

Now Director of Men’s Digital Marketing at Nike, Macri’s journey at the most valuable brand in sports business actually began during the summer of 2018, when he was selected as one of two summer interns from the Carolina athletic department.

COMPETITIVE DRIVE As part of Carolina’s athletic department contract with Nike, each summer during the term of the agreement, Nike funds two paid summer internships open to any Tar Heel student athlete, based at Nike’s world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. As you

might imagine, with nearly 800 student athletes on campus, it’s an extremely competitive process to be selected for the internship.

For Macri, it took several years of applying before he was able to get the chance to intern at Nike.

“I was a rising sophomore and wanted to go for the internship.

I had always had the dream of working for Nike.” said Macri, who majored in business administration at Carolina. “The first year, I didn’t get it, but one of my friends [former UNC track and field athlete] Chris Madaffari got it instead. I went off, did another internship instead, and came back the next year as a rising junior and applied for the internship a second time, and Chris got it again.”

“I was pretty sad, because that felt like my last shot,” he recalled. “But I had my redshirt year. I took that fall off from Carolina, working at an edtech firm, came back for that lacrosse season, and applied as a graduating redshirt senior for the internship one more time. I had a job lined up elsewhere already but was able to push that start date back because I wanted to try one final time for the Nike internship. I was finally able to get into the internship and absolutely loved it, and I’ve been here ever since.”

As could probably be expected, the application process is extremely competitive.

“Everything in the process was visual,” Macri said. “It was about storytelling through everything that you do, and that became very clear on the interview questions of ‘Why sport?’ and ‘Why Nike?’ You hear other people who go through that process, and their answers are, “Oh, I’ve always loved sports. I thought it would be cool,’ and then there’s answers that go back to your childhood and the first pair of Nikes that you wore and how you string that through your entire

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GETTING READY

interview. The storytelling aspect, I think, throughout the internship process and the application, was unlike any other interview or job that I’ve applied for in the past.”

Inevitably, not every qualified student-athlete will be able to take part in the Nike internship through the athletic department.

Now Nike’s Global Football Brand Lead and a 2023 Forbes “30 Under 30” recipient for her work surrounding the 2023 Women’s World Cup, women’s soccer alumnae Darcy McFarlane wasn’t selected as an athletic department intern and had to take a different route to Oregon, through a brief stopover in another Fortune 100 company in the Pacific Northwest: Microsoft.

“I was bummed when I didn’t get the Nike internship, but it’s so easy to say, looking back now, that getting the internship at Microsoft was one of the better things that could have happened to me,” McFarlane said. “I learned a ton about marketing, and it was definitely interesting to learn about marketing when you’re marketing things that you’re not necessarily passionate about. It checked so many boxes for me, but I always wondered what it would be like to market something that I’m passionate and excited about. For me, that’s always been sports.”

36 B O R N & B R E D

SHARING THE ROSE CITY When the opportunity arose to join Nike through a product marketing role for Nike’s activity apps, McFarlane left Microsoft and joined Nike in February 2021.

“After soccer, running was my activity,” she said. “I had just done my first marathon, and having the opportunity to work on the Nike Run Club and Nike Training Club apps was a big part of why I wanted to start working at Nike.”

There was another big part though – Macri. The couple started dating during their senior year at Carolina and had maintained the longdistance relationship throughout the early years of their respective careers. Now, they’re engaged, with a wedding date in August of 2024.

“We were going back and forth between Seattle and Portland, basically on weekends,” McFarlane said. “We’d make the drive on a Thursday night, stay for a couple nights and then go back, making the three-plus-hour drive each way, which was fine as far as distance goes. I think at some point, we were hoping to get to the same place, so it was kind of the best of both worlds for me to find a job I was excited about and get to be in the same place.”

With both Macri and McFarlane working in marketing, albeit in separate divisions at Nike, it allows them to have a unique perspective and support system for one another.

“I think we both enjoy working on something that we’re passionate about. It’s kind of connected to both of our worlds, even though we’re not on the same team, there are times when we can say, ‘We got to work on that together’ and see a product or an idea go out into the world and that’s a really cool experience,” said Macri.

“I feel like we don’t know a lot of people in a relationship who do the exact same thing, but I think it’s been really positive and we’re really supportive of each other,” McFarlane added. “Coming home at the end of the day, we sometimes have to set some boundaries and not talk about work because we could just talk about it all the time. Being able to talk with someone who’s a little bit coming from the outside because they come from a different part of the company, but who has experiences that can help me solve that problem, I think it makes us both better at our jobs.”

MAKING AN IMPACT Both Tar Heel athletes have made strong impacts in their respective areas during their time at Nike. One of McFarlane’s first projects at Nike was actually inspired by her work at Microsoft.

“One of our missions at Nike is to provide innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. We believe and say, ‘If you have a body, you’re an athlete,’” she said. “In our Nike Training Club app, I noticed that we had a lot of workouts, but they were all for able-bodied people.

We didn’t have anything for people with any sort of disability. I was inspired a lot by my time at Microsoft and how much emphasis they put on accessibility and inclusion.

“I worked with one of our sports marketing leads, a Paralympian herself, to accelerate the signing of an adaptive CrossFit athlete, and then

JUST DOING IT worked with that athlete to create adaptive workouts in partnership with an adaptive physical therapist. We were able to create seven workouts in the app that were both for people who are able-bodied, but also had modifications for people with disabilities. I’m very proud of that, as well as more recently leading the marketing launch of the Phantom Luna, Nike’s most researched and innovative women’s led boot. We led with some of our top women’s players in the marketing content including my former UNC teammate, Crystal Dunn, and my own ACL scars even got a little cameo in the marketing video. It was a meaningful project that really came full circle for me as a player and marketer.”

Heavily involved with Nike’s American Football brand, Macri’s career highlights include working on a brand plan for Saquon Barkley, designing the shirt that Joe Burrow wore on NFL Draft night, and partnering with EA Sports and Madden on a partnership between the Nike Run Club app and Madden, centering around the Rams’ Aaron Donald.

“I think my favorite memory throughout that project was creating a ‘player edition’ version of the Nike Air Trainer that would have Saquon’s logo on it. We launched his logo, and then we finally got aligned with big corporate Nike that we were going to create a shoe for him. I went to Saquon’s house and we worked in his basement with a designer, a product manager, talking about the inspiration of what he wanted for his shoe to look like. To see that come to life nine months later, create the marketing campaign behind it, and then wearing the shoes myself a few days ago and having people ask me, ‘What shoes are those?

Those are amazing!’ and get to tell them, ‘Oh, yeah, I designed them at Saquon’s house.’ I think it was one of the most fun kind of projects, and one of those ‘Nike-only’ stories that you get.”

THE CAROLINA FAMILY With more than 3,700 miles between Beaverton, Oregon and Chapel Hill, it might seem unlikely to have a strong alumni base on the West Coast, but thanks in part to the athletic department internships and connection between Nike and UNC, that’s not the case. In fact, there are multiple buildings on the Nike campus – the Jordan building and the Mia Hamm building – named for former Tar Heels. The café in the latter is even named the “Tar Heel Café.”

“There’s quite a big representation of former student-athletes, but there’s also plenty of UNC alumni who are at Nike now. There’s a group of us that get together for Carolina basketball games, which is always really fun,” McFarlane said. “Even athletes and students we weren’t necessarily super close with at Carolina, the UNC connection at Nike definitely bonds us. We all share this love of sport, and I think all just share this love of UNC. People who went to other schools don’t love their school the way we love Carolina.”

“If there are ever two Tar Heels on a call, the beginning of the conversation always starts with some conversation of UNC,” Macri added.

“Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of Duke grads, so there is always some fun, heated banter. I don’t think you hear of any other schools on those calls of people rallying behind their school as much as they would at UNC.”

MAKING SPORT A DAILY HABIT (EVEN ON THEIR WEDDING DAY!) As Macri and McFarlane prepare for their upcoming wedding, they liken the planning process to implementing a marketing plan for a Nike product launch.

“We joke that planning a wedding is not all that different than what we do for our jobs, planning a marketing campaign, it just happens to be that we’re the people that it’s about,” McFarlane said. “In terms of the things you have to do, it’s not that hard, it just takes time, I think, and it’s a special moment and there are definitely a lot of moving pieces involved, so we’re managing it all, but we’re excited for the actual day to come in August.”

In keeping with Nike’s mantras of “If you have a body, you’re an athlete,” and “Make sport a daily habit,” the former student-athletes and soon-to-benewlyweds have a Nike-inspired surprise for their attending loved ones.

“Our guests will either hate us or love us for this, but we’ve planned a pre-wedding run at 7:30 a.m. the day of our wedding,” McFarlane laughed. “Running and working out is something we’ve always loved to do together, so hopefully everyone will enjoy taking in the whole day full of activities with us!”

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FIRST PERSON

J. J. and James

I

I always tell people that I try to be two different people.

My experience has proven him correct. I’ve already

When I play football, I’m J.J. When I’m away from the field,

graduated from Carolina, and I’ve received so many

This summer, I wanted to make sure I was developing both

about me working with them or doing an internship to gain

I go by James. parts of me.

Off the field, I’ve participated in several youth football

camps back home in Myrtle Beach. I always want to make sure I’m part of my community.

When I was a kid, I know that if there was a college athlete

who came back to town for a camp, I was going to be there to listen to him and soak up everything I could about what it takes to make it at the next level. Now that I’m a college

athlete, I want to give that same experience to kids from my

area. I try to make sure they understand that you have to work hard, have fun, and always worry about your academics.

Thanks to Cricket Lane, who directs UNC’s Student-Athlete

Development team, I also received the opportunity this

summer to visit Los Angeles for the Black Student-Athlete Summit. It was a great way to have a reminder that I’m going to need a career after sports, and the importance of building

a business. One of my favorite pieces of advice we received was that athletes die twice: the first is when you finish your sports career, and the second is your physical death.

opportunities from people who have reached out and talked valuable experience.

But I’m also not finished with my football

career. I’ve had the opportunity to play with two great quarterbacks, Sam Howell and Drake Maye. Their leadership gave me insight on being a leader. That’s

where I want to make an

impact for our team this

fall. I’m not just looking

to pad my stats. I want to

be the leader in our wide

receiver room and I want

to be part of a lot of wins. All

I care about is winning. I had

three surgeries this offseason, and I’m fully cleared and able to work out with my teammates now.

That’s important to me, because

Some athletes finish playing their sport and don’t know

I’m one of the most experienced

end that has been such an important part of your life. It’s

all. And I’m confident that I’ve done

what to do next. It takes a mental toll for something to important to be able to prepare for that moment and it was

good to be around so many fellow black student-athletes as we all tried to learn together.

I’ve always been interested in my future beyond football.

My father played football at West Virginia and my mom is

a doctor, and they’ve always emphasized academics to me

players on our offense. I’ve seen it everything possible this summer to be ready for both parts of my responsibilities this fall: J.J. on the football field and James away from it.

since I was a little kid. I love playing football, but I also know that because I am good at football, I have been able to get a

college education. My belief in a world beyond football was

important during my recruiting process. Of all the schools that

J. J. JONES

a 40-year decision and how far a UNC degree would take me.

Illustration by Jason McCorkle

recruited me, Coach Brown was the only one who talked about

38 B O R N & B R E D

Football

PRESENTED BY

L I S T E N

O N ramsclub.com 39

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