August 2023 // Homegrown

ISSUE XXXII BornBredAugust2023.indd 1

HOMEGROWN

TAR HEEL NATIVES 8/7/23 11:24 AM

2

P.O. BOX 2446 CHAPEL HILL, NC 27515 919.843.2000 @THERAMSCLUB

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 2

8/4/23 11:54 AM

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR There are all types of Tar Heels.

You don’t have to be born into it. You don’t have to be raised with it. It’s entirely possible to become a Tar Heel later in life. Maybe you attended graduate school in Chapel Hill. Maybe you never even set foot on campus but were captivated on television by the school colors or the argyle, and then you did some reading on Carolina and connected with what it means to so many people.

All of those are completely valid ways to become a Tar Heel, and this issue is not intended to discount them in any way. Some of our very favorite Tar Heels fall into the above categories.

But there’s no denying that there’s something special about those homegrown Tar Heels who grow up in the state of North Carolina. They don’t all have identical experiences, as you’ll read in these pages. Some of them have been Tar Heels as long as they can remember, and went through those same elementary school battles with friends who support other schools that are familiar to so many of us. If you didn’t have that one Duke or State fan friend in school, you haven’t truly experienced the full depth of the rivalry.

But others, even with a listed hometown within the borders of the best state in the union, didn’t have a full Carolina background until they arrived in Chapel Hill.

Put them all together, though, and the group of North Carolina natives who become Tar Heels forms the backbone of this issue. It’s part of the connection we make with them. When you’re from North Carolina, and you see someone from your hometown wearing Carolina blue on the playing fields, there’s an instant bond that can’t be replicated in any other way.

Donald Williams was the first Tar Heel I ever remember personifying this characteristic. As fans of the 1993 national champions no doubt recall, he was from Garner.

So were my grandparents. And so it wasn’t unusual, when Donald swished yet another three-pointer, that there would be one little old lady in the Smith Center seats—my grandmother—shouting, “Go, Garner!”

He wasn’t doing it just for the Tar Heels. He was doing it for his hometown and for the entire state…and by extension, for her.

At least that’s how it felt. And that feeling is exactly what makes these homegrown Tar Heels so special.

Adam Lucas Editor in Chief

PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB // EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS // CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEE PACE & ANDREW STILWELL// PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI // DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING

ramsclub.com

BornBredAugust2023.indd 3

3

8/4/23 11:54 AM

10

“

18

“I could never imagine myself winning a national championship anywhere other than Carolina.

It wouldn’t mean as much if my uniform didn’t have North Carolina on it.

I’ve always wanted to represent North Carolina, and I do believe it makes a difference in the way I play.”

the

— EMMIE ALLEN

HOMEGROWN edition

ON THE COVER: Drake Maye looks to expand on his family’s Tar Heel legacy in 2023.

COVER PHOTO:: JEFFREY CAMARATI

4

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 4

8/4/23 11:55 AM

26

32

38

&

EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 30

HOMEGROWN

HOMEGROWN

10 Mayed For It

The product of a legendary Carolina family, Drake Maye enters the 2023 season with a chance to be an all-time great Tar Heel

BY LEE PACE

HOMEGROWN

18 Second Home

Carolina’s standout linebackers aren’t traditional homegrown Tar Heels, but they’re poised to be the strength of an improved defense

BY LEE PACE

26 Keepers of the Ram

The Hogan family has put in almost a century of caring for Carolina’s most recognizable symbol

BY ANDREW STILWELL

32 Keeping The Faith HOMEGROWN

Emmie Allen was raised a Tar Heel, and a trying end to her freshman season has only hardened her resolve to bring a national title to Carolina

BY ADAM LUCAS

FIRST PERSON

38 Anything Is Possible

British Brooks is the latest Gastonia native to make it big at Carolina, and wants to inspire the next generation of local Tar Heels

BY BRITISH BROOKS

BornBredAugust2023.indd 5

ramsclub.com

5

8/7/23 12:27 PM

TA R H E E LT I C K E R HOMEGROWN

TAR HEEL TOWNS

For this month’s magazine, we asked Rams Club members to tell us about the best Tar Heel towns in the state of North Carolina. As we expected, Tar Heel pride ranges from the mountains to the coast and all points between.

• MEMBERS IN 97 OF NORTH CAROLINA’S 100 COUNTIES • 80.6% OF MEMBERS IN NC

MEMBER COUNT

BY COUNTY

6

ZERO

2,500+ 100

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 6

8/10/23 9:32 PM

1

Lori Pry // Pinehurst, NC Of course, I’m a little partial, but Pinecrest High School in beautiful Pinehurst, North Carolina produced a wonderful brother - sister duo that played varsity sports for UNC. Nik Pry played Carolina baseball for five years and his younger sister Madi Pry was on the soccer team.

At five years old, they started out on the same t-ball team and never looked back. Growing up, they both loved and played a ton of sports in the Pinehurst area, were regularly featured in their small-town newspaper and although they did not intend or even try to go the same college, amazingly, that’s how it turned out. They supported each other through high school and it continued throughout college. While Madi had to medically retire her junior year, she remained her big brother’s biggest fan and would frequently bring a large contingent of soccer players to baseball games. Nik got married his senior year back in Pinehurst with baseball teammates and coaches in attendance. It was a blast! These two always had a lot of supporters and Carolina fans back in Pinehurst cheering them on.

This past May Nik finished his graduate year, Madi graduated her senior year and is starting on a Masters degree at UNC.

1

Jimmy Page // Rocky Mount, NC Rocky Mount! Home town of Donald Stallings, Marion Barnes, Danny Talbot, Phil Ford, Benton Moss, Atty G. Paul Duffy, & Dr. Mel Fryar.

Robert Spransy // Chapel Hill, NC Chapel Hill! Enough said! Lived here my whole life here and will never leave for anywhere else in this world!

Steve & Jean Melton // Wilkesboro, NC My hometown is North Wilkesboro, NC, a picturesque town with beautiful mountain views in the northwest corner of the state. North Wilkesboro is also the hometown of John Swofford, the former UNC quarterback, former UNC athletic director, and recently retired ACC commissioner.

ramsclub.com

BornBredAugust2023.indd 7

7

8/4/23 11:55 AM

TA R H E E LT I C K E R 2

J. Matthew Martin // Asheville, NC Asheville has been a cornucopia for UNC athletics for many decades.

Who could forget the legendary Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice, or ACC 5,000 meter champion Reggie Harris, the McCants siblings, or Johnny White? But the real reason Asheville is forever bound to the Tar Heels is because it is the hometown of Jody “Statman” Zeugner, acknowledged as the greatest collegiate athletics statistician of his time. Put him on the cover.

2

Frances Edwards // Banner Elk, NC My name is Frances Edwards and my hometown is Chapel Hill.

I think I don’t have to say anything more but I am proud to say I grew up in Chapel Hill. Both of my parents worked there - my mom for the Cashiers Office on campus and my dad at Chapel Hill Tire Company. I loved going into town even when it was not game day. So many eating establishments have come and gone. The town is not the one that I grew up in but the memories I have will never fade.

Being able to go to games when I was growing up was a great time. I didn’t care if I was on the last row in Kenan Stadium. I was in the stadium. And it was more enjoyable when my sister and I got to go together.

Now we all tailgate together and go to the football games in Kenan. It is not like other football venues but nothing is like “The Stadium in the Pine Trees”.

Thanks for letting those of us who love going there tell our small story.

3

Danny Poindexter // Siloam, NC Jefferson and Folger Boaz make me proud to be a TAR HEEL! I am currently in East Surry High (where they attended). Folger played football/basketball/ baseball and will play for UNC baseball this coming season. Jefferson is on the UNC football team. They are true friends of mine and I am so proud of them. My name is Daniel Poindexter and I’m proud to be a Tar Heel!

Bobby Padgett // Gastonia, NC I wish to nominate my hometown of Gastonia, NC, as the ultimate Tar Heel town. Gastonia has given UNC greats in basketball, Tar Heel & NBA great James Worthy, Kris Lang, Aaron Rohlman and former women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell, and is the retirement home of Lee Dedmon who served as an educator and administrator in the area.

Football alum Sean Boyd in football is also from Gastonia, as is A.J. Blue.

Current Tar Heels from Gastonia include British Brooks and Aiden Cloninger in football.

8

3

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 8

8/4/23 11:55 AM

TA R H E E LT I C K E R 4

Lindsay Carroll // Durham, NC Raleigh is probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think of a Tar Heel Town, but the Heels in the City of Oaks have been fortified by growing up surrounded by State fans. Wake County kids knew when they’d roll that TV cart in at ACC Tournament time, you were in the minority. My best friend was a State fan, along with most of my classmates, church folks, and rec league teammates. So when I got a job back in Raleigh after attending UNC, I brought a little backup in the form of an 8-ft inflatable Rameses. Go Heels!

Diane Griffin // Penn Valley, PA Kinston - Lenoir County, NC. Enough said!!

4

AT LEAST ON E

MEMBER IN

ALL 50 STAT

ES

NY: 100+

PA: 100+ MD: 100+ VA: 500+

CA: 100+ TN: 100+

NC: 2,500+

SC: 500+ TX: 100+

GA: 250+ FL: 250+

MEMBER COUNT ZERO

BY STATE

2,500+ 100

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

ramsclub.com

BornBredAugust2023.indd 9

9

8/10/23 9:40 PM

B Y L E E P A C E / / P H O T O S B Y J E F F R E Y C A M A R A T I A N D T H E M A Y E F A M I LY

MAYED FOR THIS

THE PRODUCT OF A LEGENDARY CAROLINA FAMILY, DRAKE MAYE ENTERS THE 2023 SEASON WITH A CHANCE TO BE AN ALL-TIME GREAT TAR HEEL

10 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 10

8/4/23 11:55 AM

ramsclub.com 11

BornBredAugust2023.indd 11

8/4/23 11:55 AM

HOMEGROWN

B

Back in the day the elite quarterbacks all flocked to the Gus Purcell Quarterback Camp, a week-long confab of a hundred or so high school quarterbacks held on a modest campus in south Charlotte. Purcell was the longtime head coach at Myers Park High in Charlotte who was airing the ball out when most everyone was churning it up from a full-house backfield (he watched the Washington Redskins and Sonny Jurgensen every Sunday afternoon on Channel 3 in Charlotte and drew up their plays). The camp started in 1971, ran three decades and was open to high school players entering the ninth grade and up.

With one exception: Mark Maye.

Maye was so gifted as a rising eighth grader in the nearby Independence High school district that Purcell made an exception and invited him to attend during the summer of 1978, and over five Junes Maye would sling it around to the amazement of the college coaches who worked the camp and the kids attending.

“One night another kid and I snuck out of the dorm and went to watch Mark pitch an American Legion baseball game,” remembers Daren Lucas, a quarterback from Clinton who later played defensive back at Carolina and then worked in the athletic department running the ticket office. “There were 20 pro scouts behind home plate with their guns. Mark would throw 500 balls during the day at camp, then go pitch and throw it mid-90s. He was throwing absolute gas. We looked at each other like, ‘What in the hell are we watching?’”

Lucas, future Clemson quarterback Rodney Williams and the other quarterbacks in Maye’s age group drew straws each evening, the loser getting paired the next day with Maye.

“I’ve never seen a guy throw a ball harder than Mark Maye,” Lucas says. “Period. End of story. I’ve been lucky to be on the sidelines at NFL games. I’ve watched Brett Favre warm up, I’ve seen John Elway warm up. They had nothing on Mark. At camp, no one wanted to buddy-up with Mark because you had to catch it. Your hands hurt so bad after a day of catching Mark. He’d just kill you.”

Deems May was four years younger than Maye and attended the Purcell camp from his home in Lexington in the summer of 1982, when Maye was a rising senior and the target of every college in the eastern United States and beyond. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden predicted Maye would win two Heisman Trophies while in college. Maye, of course, would opt for Coach Dick Crum and the Tar Heels and be on the Carolina roster from 1983-87, and May chose the Tar Heels as well, entering Chapel Hill during Maye’s senior year, first as a quarterback and later moving to tight end and then playing eight years in the NFL. “I remember gawking at Mark as a ninth grader in camp,” says May. “We all marveled at him. He was a legend in his backyard.

Every good quarterback from Washington to Atlanta was at

12

Gus Purcell’s. He was the best of them all. My freshman year at Carolina, I just tried to mirror everything he did. In the meeting room, I never remember him not knowing the answer to a question.

“I hated pre-game warmups because he threw the ball so freaking hard. He hurt your hands he had so much gas on it.”

Legendary are the stories around the 1983 Tar Heel season, when Maye was being red-shirted as a freshman and the receivers on out-routes had to adjust to the speed with which Maye’s ball hit them coming out of their cuts, one All-ACC player razzed by his teammates for the ball hitting his helmet ear hole before he could find it.

“

“I’VE NEVER SEEN A GUY THROW A BALL HARDER THAN MARK MAYE. PERIOD. END OF STORY. I’VE BEEN LUCKY TO BE ON THE SIDELINES AT NFL GAMES. I’VE WATCHED BRETT FAVRE WARM UP, I’VE SEEN JOHN ELWAY WARM UP. THEY HAD NOTHING ON MARK.” -DAREN LUCAS “Mark had a velocity no one had ever seen before,” Lucas says.

“Mark was good prep for me,” May adds. “I sucked at quarterback but was decent at tight end. Catching Mark helped me develop my hands.”

Crum and the Tar Heels, known at the time for their pulverizing Power-I ground game that featured thousand-yard rushers in Amos Lawrence, Kelvin Bryant, Tyrone Anthony and Ethan Horton, retooled their offense entering the 1984 season to feature Maye and an offensive plan that included an innovative (for the time) three wide receiver set. But as August training camp opened, the shoulder that Maye had ridden to football and baseball stardom started bothering him (and don’t forget the athletic triple-play, a recruiting letter from Dean Smith after his sophomore basketball season).

Rubdowns. Whirlpools. Rest. Stretching. Nothing seemed to help as the season opener loomed. Maye saw limited duty that year and threw 22 passes as Kevin Anthony led the offense and the Tar Heels, who had had five straight bowl seasons, slipped into a two-year slump of .500 ball. Long, long, long story short, Maye flew to Los Angeles in January 1985 for surgery under the arthroscope of noted specialist Dr. Frank Jobe, who said Maye’s

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 12

8/4/23 11:55 AM

MAYED FOR THIS

shoulder looked like that of a 40-year-old man.

“In layman’s terms, Maye had almost worn out his shoulder,” noted the Tar Heel press guide.

Maye had to rest the arm for a year, then worked his way back into the starting lineup midway through the 1986 season.

In his first career start, he hit 25 of 33 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns against N.C. State. Over a year and a half, the Charlotte wunderkind took Carolina’s aerial game to new heights, throwing for a school single-season record of 1,965 yards as a senior.

“If Mark’s shoulder doesn’t fall apart, the ’84 and ’85 seasons are completely different animals,” Lucas says. “People say Crum was too conservative, wouldn’t open it up. That’s exactly what he planned to do in ’84. When Mark came back, he was good. He was very good. He got plenty of accolades. But he wasn’t quite the same. If ever there was a guy you wish hadn’t gotten hurt, it was Mark Maye.”

Fast forward four decades. Switch scenes from Charlotte to Thibodaux, Louisiana, from the Gus Purcell QB Camp to the Manning Passing Academy.

Started in 1996 at Tulane University by Heisman Trophy

winner Archie Manning, the Manning camp has evolved into the premier summer teaching laboratory for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends. This year some 1,300 campers descended on the campus of Nicholls State University to learn from the Manning family and its former NFL greats, Peyton and Eli, and more than 40 top college quarterbacks served as counselors.

The Maye family is still front and center.

Only now it’s Drake Maye, the fourth of Mark and Aimee Maye’s uber athletic sons, who’s drawing the juice and carrying on the family tradition of athletic excellence — from Luke’s tenure on the Carolina basketball team and his buzzer beater against Kentucky in 2017 — to Cole’s slot on the University of Florida baseball team that won the College World Series later that spring — to Beau earning a walk-on spot on the current Tar Heel basketball roster.

An annual tradition at the Manning Academy is a Friday night showcase of the college quarterbacks, dubbed appropriately enough “Friday Night Lights.” One of the competitions is the Long Shot Challenge pitting the quarterbacks trying in rapid fire fashion to throw a football through a basketball hoop 50 yards

ramsclub.com 13

BornBredAugust2023.indd 13

8/4/23 11:55 AM

HOMEGROWN away. First one through the net wins.

This year’s contest took less than a minute. On his second throw, Drake Maye wielded the skill that allowed him to complete 66 percent of his passes as a Tar Heel in 2022 and swished the net, sending everyone on to the next station and leaving Maye with a gift certificate from event sponsor, Raising Cane’s Chicken.

Mark Maye and the campers at Gus Purcell’s got a peanut butter sandwich on a break. Son Drake can capitalize on NIL opportunities and now is eating free chicken tenders.

“The Manning camp reminded me of the old Gus Purcell days,” says Deems May, who’s -DEEMS MAY worked the Manning camp as a tight ends coach for 18 years. “Mark had this incredibly strong arm and Drake has that but also has uncanny accuracy. I can go down the line of all the kids I’ve seen at the Manning Academy—Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford. If you’re going on straight accuracy, Drake’s right there with them all.”

Maye in 2022 had 342 completions with 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, and as the year wore on drew accolades from the national pundits and ascended into Heisman Trophy candidacy for that accuracy—threading needles, throwing on the run to the right and to the left, checking down, adroitly lofting balls off his back foot over onrushing defenders, faking left and throwing right, and of course having the athleticism to slip out of trouble and become the team’s leading rusher, at times to the horror of his coaches by leaping tall defenders in a single bound. Deems loves a clip of Drake hauling tail to the left against Duke, throwing against his body and nailing Josh Downs for 11 yards on fourth-down, setting up the game-winning score.

“We don’t win the game if he doesn’t make that play,” May says. “He just flicked it effortlessly dead on the money. Throws like that jump out at you when you think of his season.”

As did a white-hot degree of competitiveness tempered with a silky goodguy persona who makes eye contact with strangers and easily wields “sir” and “ma’am.” He’s also mentally bright, with former Tar Heel offensive coordinator Phil Longo marveling over Maye making the right decision on 16 of 17 times Pitt brought pressure in the Tar Heels’ 42-24 win last season.

“The older brothers forced him to learn to compete to survive,” Tar Heel coach Mack Brown says. “At the same time, he’s such a good kid. He has worked very hard to make sure other kids get NIL opportunities instead of him.”

His mother remembers Drake, who was five years younger than Luke and four behind Cole, having inordinate swagger in driveway/backyard pickup games in Huntersville.

“He had such confidence, Mark and I had to laugh,” Aimee says. “I know his little heart was beating a million miles a minute, but he made it look like

“

14

“MARK HAD THIS INCREDIBLY STRONG ARM AND DRAKE HAS THAT BUT ALSO HAS UNCANNY ACCURACY. I CAN GO DOWN THE LINE OF ALL THE KIDS I’VE SEEN AT THE MANNING ACADEMY—TREVOR LAWRENCE, JOE BURROW, PATRICK MAHOMES, DAK PRESCOTT, RUSSELL WILSON, MATTHEW STAFFORD. IF YOU’RE GOING ON STRAIGHT ACCURACY, DRAKE’S RIGHT THERE WITH THEM ALL.”

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 14

8/4/23 11:55 AM

MAYED FOR THIS

ramsclub.com 15

BornBredAugust2023.indd 15

8/4/23 11:55 AM

HOMEGROWN

‘the assassin’ because he was just kind it was just another day making plays of quiet, the kind of guy you wouldn’t with the big boys. He won Mr. Basketball expect, but you get on the field and he’ll playing with the older age group in Bob light you up.”

McKillop’s camp at Davidson one year.

Now for the encore. The Mayes-toDrake never seemed to care who was Carolina story comes full circle in what older or younger. It was him against you is widely expected to be Drake’s final and it was, ‘Game on.’” year and his entry into the 2024 NFL Luke was in high school at Hough Draft, where every mock speculation High in Huntersville around 2012, and has him going in the top three to five he and a teammate were starting to selections. Can Maye and the Tar Heels draw early recruiting attention. Drake close better than 2022, when they was about 10 at the time and asked his lost four of their last five games? Can brother which colleges he’d heard from.

Maye learn from new QBs coach and Luke mentioned several schools that offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, Drake had never heard of.

-SCOTT CHADWICK perhaps tweaking his footwork and “There was a long pause and then his ability to manage pressure, Maye acknowledging that some of Drake said, ‘Ya’ll need to elevate your game,’” Aimee says. the Tar Heels’ inordinately high sacks-allowed number of 40 last “Don’t let the ‘aw, shucks, golly gee’ fool you into thinking he’s season came when Maye was “drifting into pressure”? Can the Tar not an extremely confident young man,” says Scott Chadwick, the Heel receivers coalesce to replace the departed talents of Downs Myers Park head coach during Maye’s time there. “I used to call him

“

“DON’T LET THE ‘AW, SHUCKS, GOLLY GEE’ FOOL YOU INTO THINKING HE’S NOT AN EXTREMELY CONFIDENT YOUNG MAN. I USED TO CALL HIM ‘THE ASSASSIN’ BECAUSE HE WAS JUST KIND OF QUIET, THE KIND OF GUY YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT, BUT YOU GET ON THE FIELD AND HE’LL LIGHT YOU UP.”

16

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 16

8/4/23 11:55 AM

MAYED FOR THIS

and Antoine Green and get help from transfers who Maye helped identify and recruit?

From Mark telling Alabama coach Ray Perkins in early 1983 he was going to stay close to home and play for the Tar Heels …

From Mark and Aimee meeting when Mark coached Aimee’s Powder Puff football team at Chapel Hill in the fall of 1990 …

From family outings to Chapel Hill in Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center, Drake remembering throwing footballs outside the stadium before games, getting face painted and screaming as Gio Bernard returned a punt against N.C. State in 2012 …

From Luke hitting a shot nearly as gargantuan as Michael Jordan’s jumper vs. Georgetown and then getting a standing ovation the next morning at 8 a.m. when he walked into Professor C.J. Skender’s Business 101 class …

From Drake originally telling Nick Saban in the summer of 2019 he would play for the Crimson Tide, then being won over by Brown and what Sam Howell was doing as a freshman and taking to heart Brown’s admonition that, “This is your state, this is your family’s place” …

And from Drake fending off overtures in early 2023 from elite

national programs driving Brink’s trucks to his doorstep to stay in Chapel Hill and finish what he started.

“There was a lot of talk about where he might go,” Mark says.

“Aimee and I were proud of the way he handled it. He didn’t want to address it. He said, ‘I’m where I want to be, where I’m supposed to be.’

We’re really proud of him for that. He said I’m born and bred, he loves Carolina—the school and the team.”

A broad smile breaks across Drake’s face as he looks at a photo of him and his brothers at the 2010 Music City Bowl in Nashville. At eight years of age, Drake is clearly the youngest.

“Golly, I remember that game,” he says. “T.J. Yates was the quarterback. He was one of my favorite players. Look at this. I was the runt. My brothers are all six feet tall, I’m probably five-three. I look adopted. But that was a great trip, a big win for Carolina.”

Indeed, those Carolina blue roots run deep.

“I did not want to leave the locker room, leave the teammates I’d grown up with,” Drake says. “I’ve known a lot of these guys from camp or 7-on-7. I did not want to go to a new locker room and have to start over. I love the campus, I love the university. I love going to school here. Carolina blue means a lot to me. You can’t beat Chapel Hill.”

ramsclub.com 17

BornBredAugust2023.indd 17

8/4/23 11:55 AM

BY

LE

E

HO

E M C

S

N CO D E

A P E

CAROLINA’S STANDOUT LINEBACKERS AREN’T TRADITIONAL HOMEGROWN TAR HEELS, BUT THEY’RE POISED TO BE THE STRENGTH OF AN IMPROVED DEFENSE PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI & THE ECHOLS AND GRAY FAMILIES

18

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 18

8/4/23 11:55 AM

SECOND HOME

I

n another time and place, Cedric Gray could be wearing the red, yellow and black of the University of Maryland. And Power Echols could be adorned in Spartan green and white and rampaging through Big Ten backfields.

Gray and Echols are the opposite of legacy members of the Tar Heel football roster, players like Drake Maye and Caleb Hood, whose fathers (Mark Maye and Errol Hood, respectively) wore the Carolina blue jersey many years ago.

Gray and Echols were born and grew up in distant locales with far-flung geographical influences, Gray spending 10 years in the District of Columbia area before moving to Charlotte in 2012 and Echols having the Big Ten influence of his father, a former Michigan State defensive back, and spending his adolescence in Arizona before moving to Charlotte when he was 12 years old.

But no matter.

Both fell under the umbrella of Mack Brown’s emphasis on recruiting in-state talent and, in particular, the Charlotte area. Gray came to Chapel Hill from Ardrey Kell High in south Charlotte in 2020, and Echols from Julius Chambers High (the former Vance High) northeast of the city the following year.

“If you control Charlotte, you win the state in recruiting,” says Tommy Thigpen, the Tar Heel linebackers coach who recruits the Queen City and the surrounding area. “And if you win the state of North Carolina, you’ll be right there for the ACC championship. Coach Brown made a big statement as soon as he got here, getting Sam Howell [from Sun Valley High in the southeast suburbs of Charlotte].

We’ve done well there ever since.”

And Gray and Echols represent the opposite ends of the spectrum in how their recruiting stories unfolded— with Gray getting scant Power 5 attention as a wide receiver and Echols establishing himself as a fierce linebacker in the ninth grade and able to write his ticket to any elite school in the country.

Gray was a victory for the Tar Heels in talent evaluation, in sniffing out a diamond in the rough.

ramsclub.com 19

BornBredAugust2023.indd 19

8/7/23 1:16 PM

HOMEGROWN

LEFT: POWER ECHOLS PLAYING YOUTH BALL AGE 12 IN ARIZONA. RIGHT: CEDRIC GRAY AS A YOUTH LEAGUE PLAYER. Echols was a win in offering a collegiate opportunity and program juice that beat off everyone from Clemson to Tennessee to Penn State.

“Coach Brown always says, the evaluation is the most important thing,” Thigpen says. “We don’t care about the socalled stars or whatever. People who give out stars are in the recruiting business, not the football business. There can be a huge difference.”

Gray won “offensive player of the year” honors on his team as a sophomore in 2017, prompting Kell assistant coach Trey Kavanaugh to tweet at various times, “Will be telling your story for a long time” and “This kid’s special.” He played both ways as his career evolved, lining up at receiver and at safety and linebacker on defense. But the consensus among the college scouts was that his size and skills were not ideal fits for either side of the ball.

Through 2018 and early into 2019, Gray’s social media timeline included “Blessed to receive an offer from ….” with Youngstown State, Campbell, Marshall, Kent State, UMass, Appalachian State, Toledo and Coastal Carolina the schools jockeying for position.

Thigpen saw something more.

“You talked to the local coaches and his name just kept coming up,” he says. “It’s not what the recruiting services think, it’s what do your peers think about you, what do opposing coaches think about you? A common theme about Ced was that he’s a dawg and he’s an alpha male. He loved football. He was crazy aggressive and had a huge football I.Q. As a 17 or 18-year-old, his demeanor was just different.”

Gray committed to the Tar Heels in April 2019, the spring before his senior year, signed in December and enrolled in January 2020.

20 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 20

8/7/23 1:16 PM

HOMETOWN IMPORTS

ramsclub.com 21

BornBredAugust2023.indd 21

8/4/23 11:55 AM

HOMEGROWN into the starting lineup as a sophomore in 2022, earning honorable He learned his way playing under Chazz Surratt and Jeremiah mention All-ACC honors while making 103 tackles, with 70 solo Gemmel as a freshman and was given the chance to start in the third stops that ranked fifth in the Power 5. At Miami in mid-October, he game of the 2021 season. Since then, he’s started 25 straight games, was all over the field, notching 14 tackles. hardly ever leaving the field, and in 2022 was first team All-ACC, his “Power knows one speed,” Thigpen says. “He will impose his will 145 tackles and 82 solos ranking first among all Power 5 defenders. on you. He loves football. He’s violent and extremely intelligent. He “I look at guys and the offers they had and see where they and Ced are both like Sam Howell—they’re football junkies. They’re are now and just kind of chuckle,” he says. “It was frustrating, always watching tape, always figuring out how they can get better.” but I carried a chip on my shoulder. It’s been there ever since.

Gray and Echols rarely left the field during the 2022 season not God had a plan for me, and it’s worked out best for me. You can only because they were so lethal together but also because the Tar only go to one school, so it doesn’t matter how many offers you Heels had limited depth at the position. Brown told them every week, get. I brought the mentality I was just going to grind until my “Don’t get hurt, don’t get a targeting opportunity comes.” flag and don’t let your helmet pop off.

Meanwhile, there was no question We can’t have you coming out.” Gray in about Echols.

No. 33 and Echols in No. 23 harkened Brian Echols played at Michigan comparison to another dynamic duo of State for head coach George Perles yesteryear—Michael Jordan and Scottie and secondary coach Mark Dantonio in Pippen from the Chicago Bulls’ 1990s the late 1990s. When his son was born, championship runs.

Echols wanted a name that reflected They also stood out in 2022 because the essence of “power.” they were the one position on defense “I had all these ideas and tried that was truly outstanding, with the different words that I thought unit in tandem ranking No. 101 among represented what the word ‘power’ FBS schools in scoring defense with 31 stood for,” says Echols, today a private points allowed per game and No. 115 in school athletic director in Mesa, Ariz. total defense with 436 yards allowed.

“Finally, I realized the best word was The front wall didn’t generate enough ‘power’ itself.” pass rush, the back line allowed too Father gave son an introduction and many explosive plays. With this being access to all sports as a youngster and year two in coordinator Gene Chizik’s watched as Power gravitated to football, -CEDRIC GRAY system, with some staff tweaks, with that passion enhanced by watching the return of several injured defenders NFL Films tapes of John Facenda’s voice and the addition of several newcomers via the transfer portal, Gray narrating old-school, smash-mouth games on the frozen tundra. and Echols are both confident the defense will stage a turnaround “His eyes lit up watching those films,” Brian says. “He was so in 2023. dialed-in. He connected the dots as a kid.”

“Last year everyone was getting accustomed to a new defense,” That’s what Thigpen saw when Echols was in the ninth grade. He Gray says. “I definitely think we were a very talented team on not only showed that signature tenacity but speed as well, clocking defense but definitely had a few wrinkles to shake out. Toward a 4.5 time in the 40-yard dash at summer camp in Chapel Hill before the end of the year, I think you saw better defensive play. We he played a high school down. will only grow now that we have that year under us. I am very “He was an alpha, alpha male, the most impactful and most confident. I think we will have a special year.” feared guy in Charlotte,” Thigpen says. “He was a natural terror on “I am really tired of talking about it,” Echols says. “It irks me we the football field. He was so much fun to watch. You throw a fade even have to have this conversation about the defense. I know he’s going to run to the fade. Blitz him and he’ll destroy your running how good we are. Now I just want to put it on the field.” back. His energy and love for football were really contagious.”

Thigpen says to have one player like Gray or Echols every 10 Carolina was the first school to offer Echols, this in the spring years is a delight to a coach. But have two at the very same time? of his sophomore year. He committed in January 2020, while a “Power and Ced make practice enjoyable,” Thigpen says. “I call junior in high school, then enrolled the following January. He drew it ‘recess.’ It’s fun. You go out there they push each other so hard. a round of “oh my” the first day of live contact that spring when The power and energy are like nothing you’ve ever seen.” he flattened a senior offensive guard in the backfield. He stepped

“

“LAST YEAR EVERYONE WAS GETTING ACCUSTOMED TO A NEW DEFENSE. I DEFINITELY THINK WE WERE A VERY TALENTED TEAM ON DEFENSE BUT DEFINITELY HAD A FEW WRINKLES TO SHAKE OUT. TOWARD THE END OF THE YEAR, I THINK YOU SAW BETTER DEFENSIVE PLAY. WE WILL ONLY GROW NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT YEAR UNDER US. I AM VERY CONFIDENT. I THINK WE WILL HAVE A SPECIAL YEAR.”

22

BORN & BRED

BornBredAugust2023.indd 22

8/7/23 1:16 PM

© 2021 Pinehurst, LLC

Gil Hanse thought of every angle. Now it’s your turn.

Play Pinehurst No. 4.

It’s time to test your mettle on this rugged masterpiece. Renowned course architect Gil Hanse transformed what Donald Ross first carved out of the sand a century ago into 18 dramatic holes you’ll want to play again and again.

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina | 888.206.8912 | Visit pinehurst.com ramsclub.com 23

BornBredAugust2023.indd 23

8/4/2311/30/20 11:55 AM 11:31 AM

24 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 24

8/7/23 11:24 AM

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN 2023-24!

Rams Club members can enjoy many membership benefits in 2023-34, including your membership packet - including car decals, membership card and gift - which will arrive in the coming weeks. Below, learn more about two other benefits you can enjoy this fall!

HEELS DEALS

Rams Club members can enjoy a revamped Heels Deals program featuring both in-person and online discounts at your favorite Carolina businesses! For the most up-to-date list of participating businesses and online codes, visit ramsclub.com/heels-deals.

RAMS CLUB PATIO

As a Rams Club member, you have access to the Rams Club Patio – a pregame entertainment area located just off the Bell Tower amphitheater at the Genome Science Building. At the patio, members can enjoy complimentary refreshments and giveaways before each home game.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND OTHER MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS, VISIT

RAMSCLUB.COM @THERAMSCLUB @THE

BornBredAugust2023.indd 25

ramsclub.com 25

8/7/23 11:24 AM

HOMEGROWN

KEEPERS OF THE RAM

The Hogan family has put in almost a century of caring for Carolina’s most recognizable symbol

BY ANDREW STILWELL

PHOTOS BY THE HOGAN FAMILY

W

hen considering the strongest family legacies in Carolina Football, there are several names that inevitably come to the forefront of fans’ minds. You might first think of the Barth family and their kicking heroics, the tight end/ offensive line tandem of Andy and Brian Chacos, or even the father-son quarterback duo of Mark and Drake Maye (along with Drake’s brothers, Luke and Beau).

However, another familial lineage exists that you might not immediately think of who have been just as an integral part of Carolina Football for nearly a century – the Hogan family.

The Hogan family’s Magnolia View Farm, located just five miles northeast of Kenan Stadium, is home to one of the longest-running traditions in Carolina athletics history—a Dorset horned sheep with painted-Carolina blue horns named Rameses. For four generations, the Hogans have been the caretakers of the live Ram mascot, which made its first appearance at a Carolina sporting event in 1924. The current mascot, Rameses XXII, has been appearing at games since the fall of 2020.

“It’s been the most amazing thing,” said Ann Hogan Leonard, whose late husband, Rob, was one of the primary caretakers for Rameses until his passing in 2010. “Rameses has been this wonderful and unusual tradition for both the university and our family to really cherish.”

THE BATTERING RAM

While Carolina’s athletics teams have competed as the “Tar Heels” since the 1880s, it wasn’t until about four decades later when the idea of a live mascot was first considered.

As the story goes, the year was 1924, and Carolina’s head cheerleader Vic Huggins felt that the Tar Heels needed a live mascot to “compete” alongside other teams in the southeast who had live mascots. Taking his inspiration from Carolina running back Jack “The Battering Ram” Merritt, Huggins petitioned the athletics department for a live ram mascot, which they approved, and provided the $25 to obtain the ram mascot from a farm in Texas.

Following Rameses’ first appearance at a pep rally followed by November football game against the Virginia Military Institute—a game the Tar Heels won 3-0 following a good luck head-rub to the mascot’s horns and subsequent made field goal by kicker Bunn Hackney—Rameses came home with football letterman Henry Hogan, and the ram has been an integral part of both Carolina athletics and the Hogan family ever since.

26 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 26

8/4/23 11:55 AM

KEEPERS OF THE RAM

Mitch Mason

ramsclub.com 27

BornBredAugust2023.indd 27

8/4/23 11:55 AM

HOMEGROWN

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Care of Rameses has always been a family affair. Henry Hogan’s brother Glenn was a longtime caretaker, and was succeeded by a nephew and family friend, and now multiple family members are responsible for Rameses’ daily livelihood, both during the football season as well as the off-season. Rameses lives in a pasture at Magnolia View Farm with Ann, who notes that while she “isn’t really a farmer, she just plays one in her daily life.”

“Fortunately, he’s pretty easy to get along with,” Leonard said with a laugh. “He’s a grazer, and we’ve got pasture for him to graze in, so he mostly manages himself. We of course maintain fences and water and hay and things like that but if the ram has plenty of room to move around and good pasture to eat, he’s a pretty happy guy.”

But it’s not just daily maintenance that the Hogan family is responsible for, and Leonard credits her husband’s first cousins Chris Hogan and Don Basnight for much of the effort required to get Rameses ready for gameday in Kenan Stadium. Growing up around the family farm, the three cousins would regularly keep watch over Rameses as pre-teens in the 1970s to prevent instances of “ram-napping.”

“When I was younger, we’d move the ram around to friends’ and family’s places to hide when we felt there was enough rivalry going on to hide him,” Basnight said. “We’d move Rameses from the herd of dairy cows to my uncle’s house to hide him. We’d get to go over and stay in the barn with instructions from my uncle to watch the ram and not let anybody come get him.

28 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 28

8/4/23 11:55 AM

KEEPERS OF THE RAM “It was a lot of fun and pretty magical. We’d have our sleeping bags, and a few of us had BB guns and we would wait up in the hay loft with anticipation just guarding the ram,” he continued. “Of course, I had a perfect record, and no one got him when I was in the hayloft!”

Over the years, while Rameses has been familiar to Carolina fans, the “process” has changed a little bit over time.

“When I was little, the ram that’d we’d take to games was whichever one we could catch! They were pretty feral.” Basnight laughed. “The animals we have now are like big pets. We watch closely, but you can safely take your children up there to kiss and love on Rameses and all will be okay.”

GAMEDAY READY

To this day, Basnight remains one of Rameses’ primary handlers, and noted that Rameses’ pre-game routine begins several hours before each home game.

“Each home game, we meet out at the farm to attempt to catch him about three hours prior to kickoff,” he said. “You have to use stealth, because I can’t just dive on him and tackle him like some of my nephews can do. We lure him over with some treats and get the rope on him, and he’s cooperative for the most part.”

The handlers then start to brush Rameses’ wool, and make sure he’s looking his best for each gameday, removing sticks and other pieces of debris from the ram’s coat. Luckily, they’re not alone, getting Rameses gameday ready with an assist from a group of dedicated Carolina fans.

“Part of Tar Heel nation knows what we’re doing two or three hours prior to kickoff, and they just come over,” Basnight said. “It’s not uncommon to have 15 to 25 people helping us wash him, rub him down, and get him all clean and shiny.

The signature blue water-based latex paint, nicknamed “Hogan Blue” by a local hardware store where the Hogan family purchases the paint, comes next. As you might imagine, a three-year old ram doesn’t exactly sit still for the semi-weekly touchups.

“He’s like a kid who doesn’t sit still for the haircut, and he has to wiggle and move around. He doesn’t dislike having the horns painted, he just has no interest in standing still,” Basnight laughed. “There’s a lot of strategies to get paint on him because it’s a beautiful color, and it looks best in gloss paint on the horns, and not on the wool!”

A custom-sewn embroidered blanket completes Rameses’ gameday attire. For years, it has been hand-crafted by Hogan family matriarch Carolyn Hogan. Emblazoned with the classic interlocking NC logo, the blanket is sculpted and contoured with piping, so it lays on Rameses’ back nicely, and has buckles that go around the ram’s belly and neck.

“It’s a labor of love, and we’re starting to evolve that,” said Leonard. “[Carolyn] made coat after coat for him.”

“I’m 65 years old, and I don’t know of anyone else to ever make Rameses a blanket,” Basnight added. “The most recent blanket was made by a local artist in Carrboro who is a family friend and Tar Heel fanatic. She was honored, but definitely intimidated.”

Rameses’ journey to Kenan Stadium then continues in a modified

landscape trailer through Carrboro and onto Franklin Street, passing the Ackland Art Museum and Fraternity Court en route to Kenan Stadium. While the journey has been routine for years at this point, a recent change to Kenan Stadium has provided a minor inconvenience to the ram’s gameday experience.

“We do miss the hedges,” Leonard said with a laugh, referencing the boxwood bushes that surrounded the field at Kenan Stadium for years, where Rameses would regularly enjoy a mid-game snack.

A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

There are only a few college football programs where a live mascot has had as long of a legacy as Rameses has had for Carolina. Rameses has roamed the sidelines in Chapel Hill longer than iconic live mascots including Uga at the University of Georgia, Smokey at the University of Tennessee, and Mike the Tiger at LSU. When taking Henry Hogan’s football career into account, there has been a member of the Hogan family on the football sidelines for the better part of a century, either playing football for the Tar Heels or walking the sidelines with Rameses, who will celebrate his 100th season as UNC’s mascot in 2024. That legacy is not lost on any member of the Hogan family, and they plan to continue to be Rameses’ caretakers for years to come.

“Recently, we’ve become really devoted to Rameses -- raising him and keeping him safe has become our main focus on the farm,” Leonard said. “Which I enjoy. I’ve actually checked in with other family members and asked, ‘Do we still want to do this?’ and they respond with ‘What are you talking about? We still want to do this.’ We’re all in.”

“It’s an outstanding sense of pride,” Basnight said. “I’m sure there’ve been some games over the years that we’ve missed, but that’s close to 800 football games that we’ve been a part of. It’s the blending of these family and Tar Heel traditions and this long history that’s just incredibly rich. For this partnership to have lasted as many years as it has lasted, it’s a remarkable level of support by our university, our community, and our family.”

ramsclub.com 29

BornBredAugust2023.indd 29

8/4/23 11:55 AM

1

2

3 4

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!

5

6 7 8

30 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 30

8/4/23 11:56 AM

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!

9 1) Jay Gladston of Durham at the Western Wall in Jerusalem; 2) Perry Collette of Chapel Hill flying long haul between Germany & Hong Kong; 3) Paulette Barbee of Chapel Hill with the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre in Paris; 4) Helen Herbert of Wilmington, NC, David Chapman of Charlotte, and Bonnie Richardson of Charlotte at Winter Park, CO; 5) Lynn Reep Fell of Pittsboro, NC, & Katie Fell of Westford, MA, at Herculaneum Archeological Park in Italy; 6) Jay Gould of Delray Beach, FL, at the site of the Olympic “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid, NY; 7) Michelle Hockman Cunningham of Glen Rock, NJ, at Annaberg Sugar Plantation on St. John Island in the US Virgin Islands; 8) Christy & Chris Holland of Clayton, NC, with Caleb & Carolina at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor; 9) Will Rimer & Taylor Howard of Chapel Hill at Cedar Ridge on the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon; 10) Michael & Sharon Leinwand of Wilmington, NC, with Adam & Ethan in Pisa, Italy; 11) Mark & Terry Gordon of Greer, SC , with Barry & Anna Gordon of Troutman , NC, in Pisa, Italy; 12) Brandon Hartzell of Stephens City, VA, at the Khor Virap monastery in Armenia; 13) Doug Blackburn (left) & Betsy Bigham Blackburn (right) of Lewisville, NC, at Roland Garros (French Open) in Paris; 14) Ann & Steve Yokeley with Barbara Haynes & Fred Eidson of Mount Airy & Elkin, NC, at Fat Bouza Winery near Montevideo, Uruguay

13 13

10

11

12 14

ramsclub.com 31

BornBredAugust2023.indd 31

8/4/23 11:56 AM

32 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 32

8/4/23 11:56 AM

KEEPING THE FAITH

KEEPING

THE FAITH Emmie Allen was raised a Tar Heel, and a trying end to her freshman season has only hardened her resolve to bring a national title to Carolina

BY ADAM LUCAS

PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI & THE ALLEN FAMILY

E

“

Emmie is playing for Carolina.’ I think mmie Allen was standing in goal about my dad all the time and how in her keeper position last fall as happy he would be if he could see her Carolina women’s soccer took on Duke in now. My mom is 100 years old and she Durham. The Tar Heels were dominating still asks Emmie every time she sees her, play—they would go on to win 3-0—and ‘Do you have a game today?’” the ball was at the other end of the field.

It’s a reasonable question, because It was her redshirt freshman season, and Allen has had a game, or been getting her first Carolina-Duke game. ready for a game, most every day of The High Point native had been raised her life. Her competitiveness became a Tar Heel. Her family connections to obvious early on; Laura remembers Chapel Hill run deep; her grandfather looking out the kitchen window when attended Carolina on the GI Bill, her her daughter was two years old and mother and aunt went to Carolina, and suddenly being alarmed. ’Oh my gosh!” every holiday as a kid she would give her she thought, “she’s out there on a bike!” grandmother something UNC-related.

-LAURA ALLEN But she smiles now when she So it meant something to her when she remembers the scene. “She kept falling off,” Laura Allen says, “and she looked around the Koskinen Stadium stands and noticed there were kept hopping right back on. That told me something.” more Carolina fans in attendance than Duke fans.

Her precocious daughter survived the bike with no major scars. She “I literally got chills,” Allen said. “Even in the moment, I realized this soon moved on to other competitive exploits, finding soccer at a young was a dream come true.” age and instantly falling in love with it. She moved into goalkeeping “The Duke game was the first game she played the entire game,” gradually, but once she got a taste, she was hooked. says her mother, Laura Allen (Emmie had split time in goal previously Now she’s a standout on one of the best pitches in the United States. during her redshirt freshman campaign). “I remember standing there— But even when she was playing on some rugged youth fields, there was because I have to stand by myself when she’s playing, I can’t sit around just something about standing in front of the goal that captivated her. other people—and thinking, ‘I can’t believe I am standing at Duke and

“WHEN I PICKED [EMMIE] UP FROM CAMP, WE WENT TO TOP OF THE HILL AND SAT OUTSIDE AND ATE. THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN AND IT WAS A PERFECT SETTING. SHE’D BEEN TO CHAPEL HILL PLENTY OF TIMES BUT THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME SHE’D EVER STAYED FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. SHE LOOKED AROUND AND SAID, ‘I FEEL SO AT HOME HERE.’”

ramsclub.com 33

BornBredAugust2023.indd 33

8/7/23 1:17 PM

HOMEGROWN “Goalkeepers are known to be different,” she says. “I’ve always had a different personality than everyone else. If the crowd goes one way, I don’t purposely go the other way, but I don’t have any problem doing something else.

“We didn’t have picture perfect fields when I was growing up. My goal was always to come home as dirty as possible. I loved the diving and the 1 v 1 situations. It’s just bravery. You know you’re getting hit in the face with the ball sometimes. The reward of making a save was always worth the physical pain to me.”

On a Carolina team with some teammates who have always been national level recruits and always been among the top prospects in their age group, Allen took a less heralded path. There was no doubting her work ethic and her willingness to compete. But she was sometimes left off lists of the nation’s top keepers.

But she was also growing up in the shadow of the nation’s preeminent women’s soccer program, one with which she was very familiar. She attended Carolina’s women’s soccer camp as a middle schooler, by which time she had already started thinking about playing soccer in college.

Despite their deep Tar Heel ties, her family made an effort not to push her towards any particular school. As it turned out, they didn’t have to.

“When I picked her up from camp, we went to Top of the Hill and sat outside and ate,” Laura says. “The sun was going down and it was a perfect setting. She’d been to Chapel Hill plenty of times but this was the first time she’d ever stayed for any length of time. She looked around and said, ‘I feel so at home here.’”

It wasn’t long before she got the opportunity to make it her official home. During her ninth grade year, just a few days after Clemson offered her a scholarship, Carolina did the same.

The decision was easy. Allen, not surprisingly, is a researcher. She wanted to know everything about the schools competing for her services. And ultimately, she asked herself one key question.

“Every time I went to a college campus, I asked myself, ‘Could I be homesick here?’” she says. “I could never see myself getting homesick at Carolina. And as I got further down the road in the recruiting process, I tried to visualize myself in the uniform of that particular school. It was always very easy to visualize myself in a Carolina uniform.”

Soon enough, it wasn’t just a vision. Allen redshirted her first year, a difficult absence from game competition for someone who thrives on game intensity.

But she didn’t treat it as a year off. Instead, she found a kindred soul in fellow North Carolina native Emily Moxley. The duo soon became workout companions, and very quickly began expanding their workouts beyond just the regularly scheduled practices.

Every single day, they arrived at the field more than 90 minutes before the start time. And every single day, they found a way to get in extra work for at least an hour before the regular team session.

ABOVE: EMMIE DRESSED AS FORMER TAR HEEL STANDOUT LINDSAY TARPLEY FOR A FOURTH GRADE SCHOOL PROJECT. BELOW: THANKFULLY, HER BROTHER, WISTAR, HAS NOW CONVERTED TO THE BETTER SHADE OF BLUE.

34 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 34

8/7/23 1:17 PM

KEEPING THE FAITH

ramsclub.com 35

BornBredAugust2023.indd 35

8/4/23 11:56 AM

HOMEGROWN might show highlights of the match. She has watched it back exactly “She’s one of the most committed people I’ve ever played with,” once, crying through the final moments.

Moxley says. “I don’t think we planned on those extra practices. It just Virtually everyone involved with the play who isn’t directly affiliated kind of got started on that first day and continued every single day with UCLA agrees the game-tying goal was a foul. Dorrance copied after that. We pushed each other. She’s a keeper and I’m not, but it Allen on an email he sent to an officiating supervisor; even that official was easy to work together and find a way to make each other better.” agreed it was a foul. During spring practice, Dorrance regularly referred The pair weren’t doing the extra workouts to grab the attention to the 2022 team as national champions. of the coaching staff. And Allen had no idea if Anson Dorrance even Allen now sees the disappointment as part of her journey. Her faith knew they were happening. is important to her, and Laura remembers her daughter reading the She soon found out. In her postseason meeting he told her, “I notice Bible cover to cover on their many drives from High Point to Raleigh everything you do. I know that you’re here early and you stay late.” for soccer practice. It’s sometimes As if she needed any extra incentive, Emmie who persuades Laura that they the legendary coach’s praise fueled her need to get up and attend church in willingness to spend even more time on person rather than logging on for online her game. service, and even this summer after “I just love to practice,” she says. “To summer league games, Emmie would me, training is my bread and butter. I love curl up in a chair, after 11 p.m., reading what people call the grind, the painful her Bible. part of the journey. I know that if I love “I was really down after the national that part, the reward is playing time.” championship,” she says. “I took In 2022, the reward quickly became some time to reflect and I redefined evident. After sharing goal with Marz what greatness means to me. It’s not Josephson early in the season, she anything you accomplish. It’s the impact moved into full-time duties by that first you have on people around you. My Duke game on Sept. 8. That’s where -EMMIE ALLEN purpose is to show that if you work hard she stayed for the rest of an impressive for your passion, then your dreams will season that took Carolina all the way to come true.

It sucked that I was the one who was fouled in the last 16 the national championship match against UCLA. seconds of the national championship. But it also gave me a platform It sounds like a glorious script. Native Tar Heel helps guide dominant to express my beliefs. That happening caused a lot of people who program back to the precipice of a title. Instead, it was the kind of wouldn’t otherwise know who I am to click on my Instagram profile experience that—even now, nearly a year later—you hesitate to bring up and learn about me and my beliefs. If you can lift up people around with her. you, even when things aren’t going great for you, that matters.”

In that NCAA final against the Bruins, Carolina led 2-0 late in the match.

After working through a knee injury this spring—“It’s helped me But UCLA began to take momentum in the final 15 minutes, scored to be Emmie Allen who is coming back from a knee injury and not once with ten minutes left, and then got an extremely controversial Emmie Allen the keeper who got fouled in the national championship,” goal with just 16 seconds remaining to tie the score. On that play, UCLA she says—she’ll be back in goal this fall. Carolina will once again be a conveniently changed its alignment and put a bigger, more physical national title contender and will play a formidable schedule against player in front of Allen. Allen took contact from that Bruin player, was the country’s best opponents. knocked to the ground in the back of the net, and no foul was called.

There is only one on-field goal: adding to the program’s stacked After the dubious finish to regulation, the Bruins would go on to win, trophy case. And for their goalkeeper, that’s a dream she’s cultivated 3-2, in extra time. for years.

In her room, Allen has two framed photos: one of she and Moxley “I think it makes a tangible difference in the way I play because celebrating a big Carolina win. The other of Allen on her knees after I’m representing North Carolina,” she says. “I remember being in the final whistle against UCLA…and Moxley helping her up. elementary school and you’d watch a Carolina game the night before “I still don’t know how she had the strength to do that,” Allen says. and that was all you’d talk about at school the next day. I’ve gotten “She was such a huge part of our journey to get there,” Moxley says. to play in some of those games. Putting on that jersey and having “And I didn’t want her to be by herself in that moment.” the chance to win a national championship for Carolina is incredibly As you might expect, the moment lingered. Allen, an avid meaningful to me.”

SportsCenter viewer, avoided the show for days on the chance that it

“

“I THINK IT MAKES A TANGIBLE DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY I PLAY BECAUSE I’M REPRESENTING NORTH CAROLINA...

PUTTING ON THAT JERSEY AND HAVING THE CHANCE TO WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR CAROLINA IS INCREDIBLY MEANINGFUL TO ME.”

36 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 36

8/7/23 1:17 PM

ramsclub.com 37

BornBredAugust2023.indd 37

8/4/23 11:56 AM

FIRST PERSON

Anything Is Possible

I

In Gastonia, not very many people get the opportunity to

In Gastonia, most people don’t sit around in high school

go to a place like the University of North Carolina.

thinking, “I know I’m going to graduate college.” When you

Carolina in 2009, and that was a really big deal. I had followed

in the work and take advantage of the opportunities, before

I was lucky, because A.J. Blue came before me. He came to

him as a kid, because he was a superstar in Gastonia. In 2007, North Gaston played in the state championship game in Kenan Stadium, and we thought that was amazing.

Seeing him go from Gastonia to Carolina made me realize

get to Chapel Hill, you see how difficult it is. But when you put you know it, you’ve only got a couple credits left. And now I’m working on a master’s degree.

I’ve learned a lot about myself during my time at Carolina,

but I’ve also learned a lot about the school and the people.

it was possible. I was always on the smaller side, but seeing

Carolina is one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

gotten to the Carolina level and saw how hard he worked.

understands right away what that means.

A.J. do it gave me a standard to work towards. I knew he had That was the way I wanted to work so I would have the same

When I go back to Gastonia and say I go to Carolina, everyone After spending so much time here, I can say that really

chance.

starts with the mindset in Chapel Hill. No matter what sport

hardcore Carolina basketball fan. Any time we could watch the

and they all have the same hunger for excellence that you do.

Carolina was a big deal to me because my mom is a

games, we always had them on television. I loved watching Ty Lawson. My dad likes Duke, so of course I wanted to go to

it is, there are national champions walking around campus, Carolina just breeds greatness.

Carolina so I could tell him I had beaten up on Duke.

There’s just something special about repping your home

state. This is where your family is from. This is where you were born and bred.

The first time I played at Kenan was against Virginia Tech

my freshman year. We were on kickoff, and I was looking

around, and that’s when I really realized I was at Carolina, at a place where all my family and friends could see me. My grandfather, Vincent Brooks, never lets people back home

forget. He is always telling me how proud he is and he talks

about it constantly to his friends and everyone in Gastonia.

That’s a special feeling.

I’m not sure I realized just how special it is until the first time

BRITISH BROOKS Football

Illustration by Jason McCorkle

I went home. I went back to my high school, and that’s when I started to realize how many of my teachers and principals also went to Carolina. Getting that education is so important,

and that’s something I have in common with them now. My

dad coaches in high school, and when I go home those kids

ask me a million questions about football. I always try to bring

it back to school with them. You can’t play football if you don’t go to school.

38 B O R N & B R E D

BornBredAugust2023.indd 38

8/4/23 11:56 AM

CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS

POWERED BY

ramsclub.com 39

BornBredAugust2023.indd 39

8/4/23 11:56 AM

The Rams Club P.O. Box 2446 Chapel Hill, NC 27515

BornBredAugust2023.indd 40

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID DURHAM, NC PERMIT #93

8/4/23 11:56 AM