A Lifelong Committment

A Lifelong Commitment

Steve and Debbie Vetter have formed lifelong friendships with their scholarship recipients, including baseball player Mike McKee

WRITTEN BY ADAM LUCAS PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY CAMARATI & JOE BRAY

W“We knew this was essentially going to be a start-up company,” said McKee, who played at Carolina from 2006-09. “And I was fortunate that I knew someone who was very experienced in the business world and had some great advice.”

That person was Steve Vetter, a Greensboro resident and Rams Club member for nearly 40 years. Steve and his wife, Debbie, first endowed a baseball scholarship in the late 1980s. He’d been a baseball player in school and is a longtime friend of Tar Heel head coach Mike Fox, so the connection to the program was natural. Since then, the Vetters have had a long list of scholarship recipients who they have enjoyed getting to know. They recently met the wife of former second baseman Bryan Steed, who received their scholarship in the mid-2000s. They once met a relatively unheralded freshman named Colin Moran, who was best known primarily for being related to former Carolina great B.J. Surhoff; Moran later became the sixth overall player selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. When Moran made his big league debut in 2016, the Vetters received a text from him thanking them for their support.

Given the baseball program’s level of success over the last decade, the Vetters have met a steady parade of professional prospects and College World Series participants. But it’s McKee, a native of Arden, N.C., with whom they developed the closest relationship.

“Over the years, Mike was so appreciative of the opportunity to play baseball at Carolina,” Steve Vetter says. “He wasn’t the most talented kid on the team. But he loved his role and he participated in a lot of different ways.”

The donor and scholarship recipient first met at the annual Rams Club scholarship dinner, the same way the Vetters usually meet the beneficiary of their generosity— they’ve since also contributed scholarships for volleyball and basketball. It can sometimes be a nervous encounter for a college freshman who is meeting a virtual stranger who has a big stake in their future.

McKee, who radiates a permanent warmth that makes him a natural in his profession, never seemed to feel that anxiety. “It felt like we clicked that same night,” he says. “And it’s lasted through today. The initial common ground was that we were all diehard Carolina

When former Carolina baseball player Mike McKee was moving to Atlanta to help start a church, he knew

exactly who to contact for advice.

fans. Steve is a baseball guy, so we hit it off there. And from that point, it became clear how easy they were to talk to and fun to be around. There was a natural friendship built on the Carolina family and their care for the program and the school, but they also made it clear they genuinely cared about me as a student-athlete.” McKee began noticing the Vetters at home games, and then some road games. Then he saw them in Omaha, which turned out to be quite a commitment—this was around the time of the Carolina baseball explosion. Every year of McKee’s Carolina baseball career, the Diamond Heels advanced to the College World Series, including a pair of national runner-up finishes in 2006 and 2007. Most of those wins were built on extraordinary talent like Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard, Josh Horton and Chad Flack. In his four years as a Tar Heel, McKee recorded just seven base hits in 18 at-bats. His teammates, however, knew he was making a difference. “From day one, Mike uplifted the culture within our program with both his actions and his words,” says Robert Woodard, the

program’s all-time wins leader and current pitching coach. “He was a blue-collar southern Christian who always punched in early and stayed late and made the most of every day at the Bosh. We don’t get to play for two national championships in 2006 and 2007 without Mike McKee. He had that kind of impact on our teams.”

While some of his teammates knew they were preparing for an eventual job in baseball, McKee was realistic enough to realize his calling might be elsewhere. He worked closely with the campus chapter of Athletes in Action, and was so indispensable to the team that Fox regularly placed him on the travel roster for road series even though there was little chance of him getting into the game.

The relationship between some scholarship donors and student-athletes ends on senior day. McKee and the Vetters wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.

“We all agreed we didn’t want this to be the end of our relationship,” McKee said. “They’d been an incredible blessing to me, and I wanted to continue that. We started an official/unofficial tradition where every baseball season we would watch one or two Carolina baseball games from the stands together. That was a great way to stay in touch, and to watch a game together and reminisce about the teams I was on. But they also wanted to know about my life. They made it clear they didn’t want to just be friends with me while I was playing. They still wanted to be involved in my life.”

McKee took a job with an area church that kept him regularly around campus. The Vetters continued to be an important part of his life; they were there when he married his wife, Ashley, and Debbie Vetter attended the baby shower before Ashley had the couple’s first child, Adalyn Grace.

“If I walked into a room with him today, the first thing he would bring up would be how grateful he is for the role we played in his attending Carolina,” says Steve Vetter. “We’ve tried to tell him he doesn’t need to continue to thank us. But he’s just that kind of person. He has treated us like a family member since the very beginning.”

When McKee’s church sent him to Atlanta to plant a new church, he had a slight dilemma. He understood the basics of his day-to-day job and how to connect with people. He had less experience starting what was essentially a new company from scratch.

Fortunately, he had a friend with significant experience in that area. McKee and Vetter arranged a meeting in Burlington to talk through some of the details.

“He had some great ideas for me,” McKee says. “He told me to leverage my

“If I walked into a room with (McKee) today, the first thing connections and leverage that I’m a Tar Heel. He reminded me to stay dedicated to the task at hand, because there will definitely be bumps in the road, and as a leader my job is to stay strong and pursue the goal.” Leveraging his Tar Heel status was challenged soon after McKee arrived in Atlanta. An acquaintance told him, “You’re in Georgia now—pick a team.” he would bring up would be how grateful he is for the role we played in his attending Carolina. We’ve tried to tell him he doesn’t need to continue to thank us. But he’s just that kind of person.”“ McKee gave him a blank stare. “You know,” the friend told him. “Georgia or Georgia Tech?” McKee responded the only way he knew how: “I already have a team. Carolina.” That’s the McKee who so endeared himself to the Vetter family. They currently have three Tar Heel student-athletes on

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: ZACK GAHAGAN, BASEBALL “The opportunity to attend UNC has meant the world to me. UNC has not only blessed me with a great education, but it has blessed me with the chance to meet great people that will be a part of my life long after I graduate.”

scholarship, and they’re regular in the stands at Carolina athletics facilities across campus. They estimate they attended around 60 Tar Heel sporting events during the 2016-17 athletics year, and plan to do the same this year.

Their involvement with the scholarship program, and with the lives of the students who utilize those scholarships, has enabled them to watch the games a little differently. They still exult at the latest championship and despair after a tough loss, but they’ve gained a little perspective. They’re just as likely to ask a player about an upcoming test as about a key play in the game.

“It’s easy to talk about sports when you first meet them,” Steve Vetter says. “But as you learn more about their families and what they’re interested in, that’s more of the focus as they mature and we move forward. It’s so much fun to get to know these kids instead of just sitting in the stands watching. When you get to mingle with them, you start to understand how absolutely incredible they are. Every time we’re around them and see how talented they are, both in their sport and in the classroom, we’re reminded that we are moving in the right direction.”

The Vetters attended a baby shower for Mike and his wife, Ashley.