Born & Bred // February 2020 // Chemistry

T H E

ISSUE XVIII

O F F I C I A L

M A G A Z I N E

O F

T H E

R A M S

C L U B

CHEMISTRY

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

YOU PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MOMENTS OF CELEBRATION. THE RAMS CLUB FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE RAMS CLUB AND HOW YOU CAN IMPACT THE LIVES OF CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETES, VISIT RAMSCLUB.COM. P.O. BOX 2446 | CHAPEL HILL, NC 27515 | (919) 843-2000 | RAMSCLUB.COM |

@THERAMSCLUB

WELCOME

Letter from the Editor

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Recruiting in college athletics could be easy.

The key part of the sentence is “could be.”

The common misconception is that recruiting is simply a matter of identifying the best players and then reeling them in. Can he or she play?

Do they like blue? Sign them up!

The reality is more challenging, which is what we wanted to convey in this issue. Recruiting is about much more than raw talent. Every team is made up of individuals, and every individual brings something different to that elusive characteristic known as team chemistry. We started by asking Carolina’s head coaches—a group that includes some of the most successful coaches in the world at their chosen sport—how they build a team.

It’s not enough for coaches to have the tactical knowledge to assemble the team with the most physical talent. There’s an element of psychology involved, of understanding how personalities fit together and how a locker room is balanced.

We didn’t want to know how many defenders and how many forwards they want to sign, or the right mix of guards and post players. We wanted to know how they’d learned to blend personalities from around the country (and the globe, in some sports) to make a cohesive team.

But that’s only step one. Carolina coaches are also working within the scholarship limitations established by the NCAA. It doesn’t matter if you find the perfect fit if your team is already at the mandated limit. Even Rams Club members, who generously fund the Tar Heel scholarship bill, aren’t always

PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS MARGARET HIGH, PAT JAMES & LEE PACE PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI & MAGGIE HOBSON DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING

aware of some of the constraints under which head coaches operate. Every single coach in the athletic department has that one story about the kid who would have been a perfect fit and was desperate to come to Carolina, but there simply wasn’t room. More often than not, the Tar Heels end up playing against that individual at another school.

Most importantly, we hope this issue introduces you to some Tar Heels you might not otherwise know who play important roles on some of the best teams in the country. And even those you do already know—like Garrison Brooks—you might not know in the way that you’ll read about in these pages.

And next time you’re looking down the bench at your favorite Carolina sporting event, maybe you’ll see the individuals on that bench—and how they arrived in Chapel Hill, and what their purpose is for being there—a little differently.

ADAM LUCAS Editor in Chief ramsclub.com

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“Garrison has grown so much from his freshman season to now. I told him last year that this year could be his team, and I don’t know that he quite believed it. Now he believes it.”--SEAN MAY

the

TEAM BUILDING

edition

ON THE COVER: Three years at Carolina have taught Garrison Brooks it takes more than talent to be a Tar Heel.

PHOTO BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

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TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

10 The Glue Guy: Garrison Brooks

Toughness forged in a small-town upbringing creates a leader

BY ADAM LUCAS

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

22 The Vocal Leader: Dallas Tessar

Senior sets the tone for the Diamond Heels

BY PAT JAMES

CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 18

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

32 The Leader by Example: Kristina Burkhardt Junior outfielder wants to help upgrade the standard for Tar Heel softball

BY PAT JAMES

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

36 Staff Dynamics: Making the Pieces Fit

Experienced Tar Heel coaches know a good staff is built of complementary pieces, not complimentary

BY LEE PACE

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

26 The Free Spirit: Zac Tucci

From Hot Wheels to face-offs, Zac Tucci is an intense competitor

BY MARGARET HIGH

FIRST PERSON

40 ‘The next level’

Experience has taught one of Carolina’s most successful current student-athletes about the difference chemistry makes

BY SARA DAAVETTILA

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R LISTEN AND LEARN

ONE OF A KIND

We asked a cross-section of current Tar Heel players to identify their most unique teammate.

Compiled by Pat James // Photos by Jeffrey Camarati

JILL SHIPPEE

JUNIOR TRACK & FIELD

I would say probably Anna Keefer because she says the strangest things I’ve ever heard. Like the way her brain thinks is just not like any other human being.

ALLY MASTROIANNI JUNIOR WOMEN’S LACROSSE

I feel like I’d have to say Ida Farinholt.

She’s a sixth-year and she’s one of my best friends. Coming in last year from Cornell, she and I just immediately clicked, even though I’m four years younger than her.

Nobody else has the same experience and background as her. She adds a different element to the team, and we love her and we’re happy to have her.

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BUILDING A

TAR HEEL

We asked a cross-section of coaches and student-athletes at Carolina about a specific trait possessed by a Tar Heel that they believe is world-class.

Surprisingly, very few of the answers mentioned a physical trait—instead, almost everyone surveyed named a mental characteristic.

Answers included: KATIE HOEG (WOMEN’S LACROSSE)

Vision

JACK PEZZULLA SENIOR MEN’S LACROSSE

CLAY LAUTT

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE WRESTLING

BRYN BOYLAN JUNIOR FIELD HOCKEY

My most unique teammate is definitely Tanner Cook. I have never had a guy have as many different words for certain situations. The things he says are absolutely ridiculous. And he eats like crap.

Zach Sherman is the most unique because he is a bearded dragon owner, he sleeps on the couch, he truly loves microwaved food and he has a special talent of freestyle rapping.

One of our freshmen, Brooke Behan, she is one of those people with a big personality. She gets along with everybody and always comes with huge energy. She’s the best.

AARON SABATO (BASEBALL)

Savvy

JAMIE ORTEGA (WOMEN’S LACROSSE)

Humility

SARA DAAVETTILA (WOMEN’S TENNIS)

Toughness

SAM HOWELL (FOOTBALL)

Poise

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R LISTEN AND LEARN

AARON SABATO SOPHOMORE BASEBALL

MATT GAVIN

SENIOR MEN’S LACROSSE

JULIA DORSEY

FRESHMAN WOMEN’S LACROSSE & SOCCER

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My most unique teammate has got to be Joey Lancellotti. I live with him, so I know him better than others. I’ve known him since my brother was here. I’ve known him for I think now four years. You talk about somebody who loves and cares and will do anything for others, but then has the complete goofy side; he’s hilarious. He’s not afraid of embarrassing himself, of putting himself in situations that others wouldn’t. Then you have the uniqueness of where he can go from this completely goofy kid to when you see him on the mound you’re like, ‘There’s no way Joey Lancellotti is like that.’ On the mound, he’s a tough, gritty, you’vegot-nothing-on-me pitcher. And off the field, he’s just the goofiest, coolest, funniest guy.

My most unique teammate probably would be Caton Johnson for the amount he talks about working out and his biceps and his stupid tattoos.

Lois Joel for the soccer team. The Brits are so funny, but she is just hilarious. And she always knows a quick comeback and is very lighthearted.

TA R H E E LT I C K E R FROM THE RAMS CLUB

SCHOLARSHIP SPECIFICS

Building a team is about more than just finding the right mix in the locker room. For Carolina’s head coaches, it’s also about following the NCAA’s limits on scholarships for each sport. The limits are as follows:

NCAA LIMITS ON MEN’S SPORTS TOTAL = 178.1 BASEBALL BASKETBALL

FOOTBALL FENCING GOLF LACROSSE SOCCER SWIMMING & DIVING TENNIS TRACK & FIELD WRESTLING

11.7 13 85 4.5 4.5 12.6 9.9 9.9 4.5 12.6 9.9

NCAA LIMITS ON WOMEN’S SPORTS TOTAL = 160 BASKETBALL FENCING FIELD HOCKEY GOLF GYMNASTICS LACROSSE ROWING SOCCER SOFTBALL SWIMMING & DIVING TENNIS TRACK & FIELD VOLLEYBALL

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THE RAMS CLUB IS PROUD TO HAVE OFFERED SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT TO CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETES FOR MORE THAN 80 YEARS!

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THIS YEAR ALONE, THE COST OF FULLY COVERING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TAR HEEL STUDENT-ATHLETES WILL BE IN EXCESS OF $17 MILLION—MORE THAN DOUBLE THE COST FROM JUST TEN YEARS AGO.

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T H E G LU E G U Y

GARRISON BROOKS Toughness forged in a small-town upbringing creates a leader

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

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EEP IN ALABAMA, THE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER SITS IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER. HE IS A PREP SOPHOMORE AND HE HAS RESEARCHED EXTENSIVELY TO FIND CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HIS DREAM SCHOOL, THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. HE LOCATES THE EMAIL ADDRESS OF TAR HEEL ASSISTANT COACH HUBERT DAVIS. THE PROSPECT ATTACHES HIS HIGHLIGHT VIDEO TO AN EMAIL, TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND CLICKS SEND. HE KNOWS HIS ODDS OF SUCCESS ARE INFINITESIMAL. OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, HE SENDS THE VIDEO TWICE MORE. HE DOES NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE, BUT HE KNOWS IT IS WORTH A SHOT. IN THE HISTORY OF THE CAROLINA PROGRAM, THE ONLY OTHER FOUR-YEAR TAR HEEL FROM ALABAMA WAS PETE CHILCUTT, WHO PLAYED IN CHAPEL HILL NEARLY 30 YEARS AGO. THIS IS NOT HOW MODERN RECRUITING WORKS. EMAILED HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS SUBMITTED WITHOUT INVITATION ALMOST NEVER TURN INTO A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP. THE HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER DOESN’T CARE. HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS: GARRISON BROOKS WANTS TO BE A TAR HEEL.

The day the offer comes from the Tar Heels, it makes Brooks physically sick. His emails went unreturned, but he still wants Carolina.

On the plane on the way out to an AAU tournament in Las Vegas the summer before his senior year of high school, he showed his mother, Tammala Colquitt, the schedule for the event.

Brooks’ team was due to play an opponent headlined by a highly touted guard in the first game. Carolina had already offered that guard.

“Carolina will be at that game,” he told his mother.

“Well, probably so, every coach in America is going to be at this tournament,” she replied.

“I’m going to get a North Carolina offer,” he told her.

“What was I thinking at that moment?” Colquitt says now. “I was thinking, ‘Dude, come on. They don’t know you from Adam’s housecat.’”

But with Davis sitting in the front row, Brooks played well in the first game. Intrigued, Davis came back for the next game and saw another Brooks double-double. In the event’s third game, Brooks did it again. And by the time Brooks returned home to Auburn, Alabama, word came through his coaching staff that Roy Williams wanted to visit and watch a workout.

Williams visiting Auburn is big news, and friends and classmates who get word of the special guest try to peer through the windows at the high school gym during the workout just to get a glimpse of the Hall of Famer.

All parties agree that the session was not particularly outstanding.

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But Williams sees enough. He offers Garrison Brooks a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina. It is a goal Brooks has been chasing for years.

It is the opportunity of a lifetime—and it gives Brooks a migraine. He has consistently said in the past he would accept an offer from the Tar Heels on the spot. Instead, he retreats to his room, where he lies down on the bed, consumed with stress.

“It was one of those decisions I didn’t want to have to deal with,” Brooks says now. “I knew I was basically either choosing Carolina or my dad. It was a lot of stress.”

The stress was caused by the fact that Brooks’ parents divorced when he was young, and he spent most of his time with his mother. He naturally wonders what it might be like to see his father every day, to work out with him on the court and watch game film and have the prototypical fatherson relationship he has never had.

George Brooks is an assistant coach at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs can’t offer the basketball pedigree of North Carolina, but they can offer that very enticing opportunity to spend time with his father. Eventually, Brooks bows to the pressure—largely self-imposed—and signs with the Bulldogs. Before the ink is dry, Garrison is having second thoughts.

“Essentially, my decision was emotional,” he says now. “I had always wanted to be around my dad, and this was my one chance to be around him every day and see him all the time and get some time back. I was essentially choosing based on my dad.”

WITH [HUBERT] DAVIS SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW, BROOKS PLAYED WELL IN THE FIRST GAME. INTRIGUED, DAVIS CAME BACK FOR THE NEXT GAME AND SAW ANOTHER BROOKS DOUBLE-DOUBLE. IN THE EVENT’S THIRD GAME, BROOKS DID IT AGAIN. AND

BY THE TIME BROOKS RETURNED HOME TO AUBURN, ALABAMA, WORD CAME THROUGH HIS COACHING STAFF THAT ROY WILLIAMS WANTED TO VISIT AND WATCH A WORKOUT.

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

It is an understandable decision. No one would have held it against him, and the same day he signed with the Bulldogs, Roy Williams called Colquitt.

“Coach Williams was the first person to call me that morning,” she says. “He told me I will always be family, and if I have a flat tire anywhere in North Carolina, to call him because he’ll come help me.

Here my kid has decided to go somewhere else, and Roy Williams calls me. That same day, I talked to Hubert and it was so emotional. Both of them were almost devastated because they just felt he belonged at Carolina and fit in there.”

Colquitt agrees with them, but is trying to let her son work through his decision. Along with his mother and step-father, Chris Colquitt, the rising senior decides to table all college discussion until after the conclusion of his high school season. In the interim, he has a stellar senior campaign. When it’s over, he realizes he doesn’t feel good about his college decision. He approaches his mother and step-father and asks a simple question: “What do I have to do to get a release?”

As with anything regarding the NCAA, the answer is not simple.

The school first denies his request for a release. But head coach Ben Howland eventually grants the release, allowing Brooks to reopen his recruitment. Within ten days, Brooks commits to Carolina, the school he’s been dreaming of for years.

“It was the hardest decision of my life,” he says. “You’re either choosing your family or you’re choosing a place that is in your best interests. Telling my dad no was tough. I think over time he’s realized it is a really good thing for me, but it’s still a tough deal for us. I always watch their games, because I want him to watch mine.”

LaFayette Lingo

GROWING UP IN A SMALL TOWN

To understand anything about Garrison Brooks, you must first realize that although he graduated from Auburn High School, he lists LaFayette, Alabama, as his hometown. He starts nearly 40 games at Carolina before he ever informs anyone in the basketball program that it’s actually pronounced, “Luh-FET.” Brooks loves his hometown in a way that is reminiscent of Tyler Hansbrough’s affection for Poplar Bluff, Missouri. LaFayette is a town of approximately 3,000 people and is also the birthplace of famed boxer Joe Louis. Located just over the Georgia-Alabama line, Brooks describes its distance from Chapel Hill as, “Eight hours if my grandma is asking, but I can do it in seven and a half.” It’s the type of town where a family-owned grocery store, Parker’s Foods, is the centerpiece of town for nearly 60 years before it changed ownership in February of 2019. Brooks still laments the closing of Newt’s Fried Chicken, which closed in 2018.

Everything about Brooks—except the way he plays basketball, but we’ll get to that—is small-town. When he arrives at Carolina, he is paired with Sterling Manley, a fellow freshman post player from Ohio who claims Brooks has such a drawl that he can’t be understood. The duo are soon inseparable.

Brooks also connects with Dontavian Smith, a sprinter on the Carolina track team. Luke Maye—who seems to know everyone on campus—is prone to greeting Smith by shouting, “Lil’ D!” To this day, it’s not unusual for Brooks to spot Smith across campus and shout, “Lil’ D!” Smith is from Roxboro, and his similar small-town upbringing quickly bonds the pair. “Until I met Garrison,” Smith says, “I had never

BROOKS DESCRIBES THREE FORMS OF SHORTHAND YOU’LL NEED TO KNOW TO CONVERSE IN HIS HOMETOWN OF LAFAYETTE, ALABAMA: YEUN: SHORT FOR “YOU HAVEN’T.” AS IN, “YEUN EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT.” CAN ALSO BE USED AS AN ABBREVIATION FOR “YOU’RE NOT,” AS IN, “YEUN MAKING SENSE.”

YOUN: SHORT FOR “YOU DON’T.” AS IN, “YOUN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.”

LAFELT: HOW A NATIVE MIGHT SPELL LAFAYETTE IN CASUAL CONVERSATION.

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BROOKS’ CAROLINA EXPERIENCE HAS INCLUDED MEETING RAP SUPERSTAR J. COLE, A NOTED CAROLINA BASKETBALL FAN, EARLIER THIS SCHOOL YEAR AT THE SMITH CENTER.

met anybody as country as me.”

One day, they are at Target on a shopping trip and they encounter two kids who don’t have a ride home. The kids approach Brooks and ask for a lift. He interrogates them, finds out more about their situation and learns that they live nearby. The kids are planning to walk home if they can’t get a ride. “Call your mom and tell her we’ll give you a ride home,” he tells them. And they’re soon getting a ride home from Garrison Brooks, Carolina’s starting power forward.

“I asked him what he was thinking,” Smith says. “And he just looked at me and said, ‘Man, it’s cold outside.’”

A BREAKTHROUGH CAMPAIGN

Brooks is part of a three-man big man class that also includes Manley and Brandon Huffman. He scores 14 points in his debut as a Tar Heel, the 2017-18 season opener against Northern Iowa, and then doesn’t reach that total again the rest of the year. By mid-February, he’s playing just single digit minutes, culminating with a career low of two minutes in a win at Syracuse.

But his production—and his playing time—climb in the postseason.

He’s stellar in the ACC Tournament win over Duke (ten points and four

rebounds in 16 minutes) and he plays 30 NCAA Tournament minutes in two games.

It’s good results for a freshman. Outside the program, the expectation is he will continue on that trajectory, a solid contributor but never a star. It is easy to forget that college basketball is intended to be a four-year sport.

“College basketball is far from easy,” Brooks says. “When I came to Carolina, I thought, ‘Luke is a good player.’ Then I got on the court with him and I was like, ‘Wow, Luke is a great player.’ He was abusing Sterling, Huff and me every day on the court during the summer. And he hadn’t even played much the previous year. That’s when I realized that experience is everything. It sounds crazy, but the more you’re able to see stuff and experience it, the more you’re able to work on your game. If you learn from that experience, you can get so much better.”

Which is exactly what happens as a sophomore. Brooks starts every game, wins 12 defensive player of the game awards from the coaches, and leads the team in field goal percentage. He is largely playing out of position at the center spot, but he never once complains, just continues to compete against opponents who are often bigger than him.

The signature moment of his sophomore season comes in the

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

ANOTHER PLAYER CUT FROM THE DO ANYTHING TO WIN CLOTH IS JACKIE MANUEL, WHO WAS THE GLUE GUY FOR THE 2005 NATIONAL CHAMPION TAR HEELS. NOW AN ASSISTANT COACH AT UNC WILMINGTON, MANUEL OFFERS THIS SCOUTING REPORT ON GARRISON BROOKS:

“I like his mentality of just getting the job done. Nothing else matters but helping the team. That takes a special type of person.”

second round of the NCAA Tournament, when he takes an elbow from Washington’s Noah Dickerson. The first half collision sends him immediately to the locker room, where he sits for the final 12 minutes of the half and receives stitches.

Improbably, he returns for the second half, playing 15 of a possible 20 minutes in an 81-59 Tar Heel victory. His stats are not flashy—three points, three rebounds and three assists in the second half—but his presence is noticed by all his teammates and his coaches. It even earns the admiration of 2005 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Sean May, now a member of the coaching staff and someone who has worked extensively in the film room with Brooks.

“What that shows his teammates is that he will sacrifice everything,” May says. “He’s willing to sacrifice his body to be out there for them.”

And then May adds a bit of foreshadowing; perhaps we should have listened more closely to such expert testimony about the progress of a Tar Heel big man.

“If you look at the foundation of what he is, it’s everything a Carolina big guy wants to be,” May says. “We just have to help him offensively, and that will come. You’re seeing a great player mold into shape.”

And that’s exactly what we get to see as a junior, as Brooks puts together a breakthrough campaign even as the Tar Heels struggle as a team. The outside world sees his gaudy numbers—his first career double-double in the season’s second game, the 35 points against Georgia Tech, the six straight double-doubles in the heart of the Atlantic Coast Conference season, the longest such stretch by a Tar Heel in nearly a decade.

He receives All-ACC chatter. He does national television interviews on ESPN. His teammates appreciate those numbers, because it’s those statistics that help Carolina tread water when the team is struggling.

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But even more, they appreciate the way he plays through another painful injury, this time an eye injury that nearly closes his right eye during the Tar Heels’ game against Michigan in the Bahamas. “I can’t see,” Brooks tells Roy Williams, “but I can guard.” He plays 33 minutes against the Wolverines and 32 the very next day against Oregon.

“Garrison is the epitome of how Coach always tells us to do what he says and we will be successful,” says classmate Andrew Platek.

“Garrison is our culture carrier. We go through him to play Carolina basketball.”

Brooks shrugs off most of the compliments. He is not particularly doing anything different than he did the first two seasons. He listens to the coaches, tries to implement what they tell him, follows instructions. He readily guards centers chained to the block and stretch fours who float around the three-point line without complaint, sometimes in the same game.

By the end of January, he has seven defensive player of the game awards for the season and 27 in his not quite three-year career. The rest of the team combined has six for the season and seven for their careers. For some context, Kenny Williams, generally considered a very good defender, won 20 defensive player of the game awards in his four-year career.

It is mentioned to Brooks that his production bears more than a little resemblance to George Lynch, a player teammates voted as the most valuable player of the 1993 national champions. This is ancient history to Brooks, who was born six years after those Tar Heels won the title. But he is intrigued by the comparison.

“I need to find out some more about him,” he says. “What I know is that he won a national championship, he was a pro, and he was a winner. That’s what I want to be. I’ll do whatever it takes to win games.

At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

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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) Rick & Sara Crowder of Winston-Salem, NC, on the Danube River near Vienna, Austria; 2) Sherrie & Pat McNamara of Lynchburg, VA, at the Furth bei Gottweig Abby in Krems, Austria; 3) Richard & Gaynelle Rabb of Simpsonville, SC, at the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; 4) Ronny Bennett of Kitty Hawk, NC, at Lac Moiseau near Waltham, Quebec, Canada; 5) Barry Gordon, Randy Gill, Ralph Teal, Thold Gill & Richard Gordon on the field at the UNC/Georgia Tech football game; 6) Glenn Lassiter & Glenn Lassiter III at the Santa Monica Pier, CA; 7) Bich & Terrence Tan of Chapel Hill, NC, in in front of Mt. Fuji in Hakone, Japan.; 8) Justin & Luke Leinwand of Centennial, CO, at the top of the Haleakala Crater in Maui, HI; 9) Ralph Sigler of Raleigh, NC, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 10) Alan Hicks of Roxboro, NC, with friends at Machu Picchu, Peru 11) Mike & Sue Becker of Burlington, NC, in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia; 12) Catherine Bridger Burns & Robert Burns of Kings Mountain, NC, and Perry & Kelly Collette of Kernersville, NC, at Sankaty Head Lighthouse on Nantucket Island, MA; 13) John & Dana Hatchett of Summerfield, NC, at Skógafoos, Iceland; 14) The Chaney family of Kannapolis, NC, (Richard, Terri, Sarah, Carter, Matt, Savannah, Sawyer, Ashelea, Baylor, Colson & Reid) at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL; 15) Aubrey, Kathleen, Keener & Jeff Linder of Raleigh, NC, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL; 16) Marcus Ginyard and his mother Annise of Chapel Hill, NC, at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

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17) Charles Purvis of Rocky Mount, NC, at Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; 18) Laura Smith Hodge of Rutherfordton, NC, at the Kruger National Game Park in South Africa; 19) Greg Butler of Roseboro, NC, and Dan Smith of Kipling, NC, the Trinity Site Monument at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; 20) Captain Jefferson Griffin of Raleigh, NC, at Camp Buehring, Kuwait; 21) Allyson & Harry Smith of Mount Pleasant, SC, at the Matterhorn in Switzerland; 22) Jenny Hausler of New York, NY, and Kurt Hausler of Charlotte, NC, at the top of the Stelvio Pass in South Tyrol, Italy; 23) Bob & Alanna Conder of Raleigh, NC, at the Gros & Petit Pitons in St Lucia; 24) Jamey, Stan, Melody & Josh Welch of Salisbury, NC, at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Israel; 25) Henry Fleishman of Charlotte, NC, with Scot Brower in Glacier National Park, MT; 26) Rick & Patricia Adams of Rocky Mount, NC, at Machu Picchu, Peru; 27) Marc & George Edwards of Cary, NC, in Bar Harbor, ME; 28) Rachel Lassiter & Glenn Lassiter III at Yosemite Valley, CA; 29) Keith & Julia McCombs of Fuquay-Varina, NC, at Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia; 30) Charlie Davis of Mebane, NC, with Steve Anders & Bill Humbert at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Australia; 31) Rozana Carducci of Greensboro, NC, at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan; 32) Steve & Ann Yokeley of Mount Airy, NC, and Jane & Steve Walsh of Asheboro, NC, at California Lighthouse in Aruba; 33) Kevin Copeland & Donald Holder of Camden, NC, at the top of Grandfather Mountain

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Senior sets the tone for the Diamond Heels

BY PAT JAMES PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI AND JOE BRAY

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THE VOCAL LEADER

DALLAS TESSAR

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f the many highlights from the North Carolina baseball team’s 2019 campaign, the Tar Heels’ three-game sweep of the Chapel Hill Regional is among the most memorable.

What Mike Fox will remember most, though, from the night of UNC’s regional-clinching victory over Tennessee didn’t happen during the game. Instead, it came roughly 30 minutes after the final out was recorded, down in the bowels of Boshamer Stadium.

Heading into the ACC Tournament a week earlier, Dallas Tessar had logged just four hits in 27 at-bats all season. But in helping Carolina capture its seventh ACC title, the outfielder, known more for his glove than his bat, started all four games and went 5 for 15 with three RBIs. That earned him the start in all three of the Tar Heels’ regional games. And once again, he capitalized on his opportunity, going 4 for 11 with four RBIs and his only home run of the season.

Given his stellar play in the regional, Tessar was one of two players asked to join Fox for the postgame press conference after the Tennessee game, at which point Tessar was asked about his sudden surge. His answer is one Fox won’t ever forget.

“At the end of the day, if you’re not playing it’s on you to control your mentality and just be ready when your name’s in the lineup,” Tessar said. “There are two options if you’re not in the lineup. You can pout and blame someone else but yourself, or you can look in the mirror and say ‘hey, I gotta set an example for these younger guys and be ready when my name’s called.’”

Ever since he enrolled at Carolina in the fall of 2017 as a junior college transfer, Tessar, a redshirt senior, has done the latter. That’s what’s made him one of, if not the, most respected players in the Tar Heel clubhouse. It’s also why his words carry so much weight.

“When I got here, he wasn’t playing that much, but the fact that everybody would listen to what he says and follow him the way they do and just the way he goes about himself, you really see Dallas Tessar is UNC baseball,” said sophomore slugger Aaron Sabato. “When you come in and realize that as a freshman, then

you’re like, ‘OK, let me follow him. Let me do what he does.’

“For somebody who is not playing as much, never gets down and always wants the best for UNC baseball, that’s someone who you follow religiously.”

But admittedly, that’s not the type of person Tessar has always been.

Coming out of Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, Calif., Tessar hoped to follow in the footsteps of his brother Brando, who pitched at Oregon from 2011-14, and play immediately as a freshman at Washington. When that didn’t happen, though, he found himself bitter and discontent. So after a back injury ended his season prematurely, he elected to transfer.

Because NCAA rules would have forced him to sit out a year if he transferred to another Division I program and he could have been drafted after one season at a junior college, Tessar decided to attend Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz. His one year there and at Washington ultimately helped him gain maturity and perspective.

“Going to Washington and having that adversity, I think that’s played a huge part in my journey,” Tessar said. “I think that’s made me who I am today, being able to experience that, make some good relationships there and kind of get my foot in the door in terms of what Division I baseball is like. And then to be able to play for Coach (Ryan) Cougill and Yavapai, that was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball.

“That’s when I had that kind of epiphany that, ‘I know baseball is all hard and I’ve got to put pressure on myself. But it’s fun. We’re playing it because it’s fun.’”

Tessar always does his best to remind his Carolina teammates of that.

Upon arriving in Chapel Hill, Tessar made creating relationships with his new teammates a top priority. Being the same age as the upperclassmen helped. And along with Kyle Datres, he managed the Dose Board, a scoreboard that tracked the team’s hit-by-pitches and proved to be something the team rallied around on its way to

“

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU’RE NOT PLAYING IT’S ON YOU TO CONTROL YOUR MENTALITY AND JUST BE READY WHEN YOUR NAME’S IN THE LINEUP. THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE LINEUP. YOU CAN POUT AND BLAME SOMEONE ELSE BUT YOURSELF, OR YOU CAN LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SAY ‘HEY, I GOTTA SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THESE YOUNGER GUYS AND BE READY WHEN MY NAME’S CALLED.’”

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

the College World Series.

Tessar played a pivotal role in getting the Tar Heels back to Omaha for the first time in five years. An infielder his entire career, he embraced a move to the outfield and became a spark plug both defensively and offensively.

Of UNC’s 64 games, he started 31, including 19 of the last 23.

Even when he wasn’t in the lineup, he still made an impact with his energy and enthusiasm. That became somewhat harder to do last season.

Multiple shoulder procedures sidelined Tessar during the fall of 2018 and slowed his progress heading into the spring. Once healthy, he primarily saw the field as a late-inning defensive sub. At times, he said that was frustrating.

Still, he continued to stay positive and work hard. And once the postseason came around, he was rewarded for his patience.

Throughout the season, Tessar constantly told the younger

players who weren’t playing much that eventually their time would come and they needed to be prepared for it. He certainly was when his did, and his success backed up his message.

“You can say whatever you want,” Tessar said, “but if it’s not put into action, then everyone is just going, ‘This guy is just talking. It’s not really going to happen.’ But I think that was a great opportunity for not only this year but for years to come for guys who are struggling to get on the field and are struggling with themselves and they’re trying to figure out, ‘Man, why am I not in the field?’ You’ve got to stick with it. You’ve got to because your opportunity is going to come when you least expect it, and you better be ready because you only might get one.”

Caleb Roberts heard Tessar say that a lot last season.

A starter in 32 of Carolina’s first 33 games, Roberts moved into

“

“WHEN I GOT HERE, HE WASN’T PLAYING THAT MUCH, BUT THE FACT THAT EVERYBODY WOULD LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS AND FOLLOW HIM THE WAY THEY DO AND JUST THE WAY HE GOES ABOUT HIMSELF, YOU REALLY SEE DALLAS TESSAR IS UNC BASEBALL. WHEN YOU COME IN AND REALIZE THAT AS A FRESHMAN, THEN YOU’RE LIKE, ‘OK, LET ME FOLLOW HIM. LET ME DO WHAT HE DOES.’”

24

BORN & BRED

a bench role after hitting .228. It would’ve easy been then for just about anyone, especially a freshman, to get down on themselves.

But instead, Roberts heeded Tessar’s advice. And it paid off for him, too, as he delivered four of his best performances in the ACC Tournament final against Georgia Tech and in the Chapel Hill Regional, a stretch in which he went 5 for 11 with two doubles.

“When you come in, your goal is to play every day, but that’s not the case all the time,” Roberts said. “Last year, me and Dallas sort of had similar roles. At the beginning of the season, I was playing pretty much every day. Toward the middle and end, it was spotty.

He was in the same boat as me, and his attitude was something for me to look up to and model my game after.”

Roberts wasn’t the first to do that. And he surely won’t be the last.

As part of some recent renovations to Boshamer, the hallway between the Tar Heel clubhouse and the batting cage is now lined with plaques recognizing all the players in program history who have received national and conference honors. Two quotes have also been painted onto the walls outside the clubhouse. One belongs to Andrew Miller. The other, right by the door, is Tessar’s from after the Tennessee game.

For a program that always talks about the idea of “team over me,” it speaks volumes that Fox allowed a quote from a current player

to be placed in such a prominent position, somewhere it can’t be ignored. It also says a lot that Tessar’s teammates pay as much attention to it as they do, taking a moment to read it whenever they come in from the dugout.

“When I first heard the quote last year, that’s not easy, first off, to say,” Sabato said. “And the fact that that can come out of your mouth, that wasn’t a motivational quote to boost others.

That wasn’t like, ‘I’m on the podium. It’s my chance to speak.’ That was genuine Dallas Tessar speaking about his experience at the University of North Carolina. And when I heard that quote, I was like, ‘That’s really powerful.’”

Tessar might not have realized just how powerful his words were when he said them. Nor could he have imagined that they’d end up where they are now.

But they describe exactly what Tessar is about.

“This program has been around for a long time, and that quote is going to be up (on the wall) for a little bit,” Tessar said. “It’s very humbling. I couldn’t be more thankful to be a Tar Heel. It’s been the best three years of my life, and to be able to have an impact like that, it’s special to me.

“I think the baseball thing is important and to have an impact on the field is important. But the impact you have on people, I think that goes a long way.”

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26

BORN & BRED

THE FREE SPIRIT

ZAC TUCCI

From Hot Wheels to face-offs, Zac Tucci is an intense competitor

BY MARGARET HIGH PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

Z

achary Tucci reacts before the referee’s whistle stops, forcing his lacrosse stick against Jakob Phaup’s, the highly touted Syracuse face-off specialist, then popping up the ball and beginning his sprint toward the goal. Finding no one for a pass, Tucci faces the goal, powers up his legs, and launches a shot from 15 feet out to which the goalie can’t react.

It’s his second goal of the season and the Tar Heels tie the Orange with three minutes left in the 2019 ACC Championship. UNC needed the win to keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive, and Tucci delivered when the Heels needed it most. Deemed a “furious comeback,” the Heels won and advanced to the next round.

“He’s like the energizer bunny on the field, his motor never stops,” head coach Joe Breschi says.

It was a big game and a big moment for Tucci. Given his raw desire to win and ability to outrun most players, it was uncommon but not unexpected for Tucci to pull it off. Uncommon is a word often used to describe Tucci, maybe because of his wild card comments, making the All-ACC Academic team, or unconventional interests.

“He’s very energetic and vibrant, but also a self-focused person,” says teammate Will Bowen, a sophomore defenseman. “You can kind of just feed off of it. He’s really focused and hyper-energetic toward succeeding on his own but also benefiting the team.”

His curly brown hair recovering from a mullet marks the beginning of his uniqueness. He’s affectionately known as a “free spirit,” but he identifies as “entrepreneurial.”

“I have always gone to the beat of my own drum,” Tucci says. “I kind of do whatever I think is interesting and cool to me.”

ramsclub.com 27

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

Fishing, a notebook full of inventions, documentaries about coral reefs, antique collectible toys, flea markets, libraries, and lacrosse; the 19-year-old from Bedford, N.H., is always looking for what’s next, including the next opponent he’ll crouch inches from, waiting to win a head-to-head battle for the lacrosse ball.

“You have to be a little bit special to choose to be a face-off specialist,” says Greg Gurenlian, a professional lacrosse player who trained Tucci at The Faceoff Academy. “We’re all a little weird.”

Face-off is a position predicated on wrestling, requiring fast reaction times and strong contact. It used to be a position with little respect— usually some stocky lacrosse player thrown into the center circle and told to win the ball. But that’s changed over the last 10 to 15 years, Gurenlian says. Face-off specialists went from weird guys no one liked on the team to championship winners.

Tucci has developed a reputation in the lacrosse world for his face-off prowess and ability to evolve with the position. As a first-year at Carolina, he won 50 percent of 328 face-offs, an impressive percentage for an 18-yearold going against older and larger guys. Tucci, however, isn’t happy with those stats and wants to win more during his sophomore season.

Drew Tucci, Zac’s father, isn’t surprised he ended up a face-off specialist. From a young age, Zac was all gas and no brakes. While his parents enjoyed his contagious energy as a child, it required some outwitting, like drilling down his elaborate Thomas the Tank Engine playset tracks to the table so he couldn’t fling them across the room.

When it came to sports, baseball didn’t have enough action, football was his first love, and lacrosse was a safer sport that still allowed roughness.

Drew realized Zac had a thirst for contact when his son was in the sixth grade. Everyone knew he hated losing, so when the opposing middle school football team was about to take a knee, Zac wasn’t going to go down easy. As soon as the ball was snapped, he hurdled the offensive line and tried to get to the quarterback before his knee could touch the ground. The stadium was in disarray: Players shoving each other, referees trying to figure out what exactly just happened, fans shouting in protest, and coaches arguing about the validity of the play.

“Son, why did you do that?” Drew recalls asking after the stunt was deemed a late hit.

“I calculated I could knock the ball out of that kid’s hands before his knee hit the ground. Troy Polamalu did it.”

Lacrosse didn’t totally tame him, however. When Zac played his junior and senior year at Avon Old Farms, an all-male boarding school in Connecticut, he singled out an opponent that was also a linebacker, hitting him as hard as possible because Zac “wanted to make sure he knew who I was.” Black and blue on the sidelines, Zac started reciting

math facts to make sure he wasn’t concussed.

“You know, Zac is unique. Like, he would go to a competitive sport and then go fishing,” Drew says. “He’d want to go to a flea market, he wanted to go to a yard sale. I mean we were doing that since, like, probably six years old.”

In the myriad of things that interest Zac, antique toy collecting has lasted since childhood. Specifically, Redline Hot Wheels. It started as a bonding experience; Drew would encourage Zac to negotiate down a Hot Wheel at the flea market, giving his son a little shove in the right direction then standing back and watching him learn.

Like everything else Zac does, he took it up a level. By age seven, he was known at local flea markets for being an impossible negotiator. He knew the price he wanted and didn’t budge. What was truly remarkable, Zac’s mother Lynn noted, was his ability to retain all the details about what made a Hot Wheel valuable.

Maybe it was a rare interior and exterior color combination. Maybe it was how many were produced that year.

Leaning into his entrepreneurial spirit, Zac learned pretty quickly he could make money trading collectibles. It started with his discovery of eBay, which prompted him to dig up everything in the attic and put a value to it. Eventually, he scoured dirt parking lots. Frequent flea market vendors would point Zac to someone with a rare collectible. Elderly locals would call him to pick up items from their garage.

He graduated to the Disney World of flea markets when Drew and Zac traveled to Brimfield, Mass., for the annual Brimfield Antique Market.

Probably 10 years old, Zac navigated the multi-acre market wearing a white T-shirt with “Looking for Hot Wheels” written in black marker.

The countless Saturday mornings starting at 6 a.m. developed into a collectibles website called “Zac’s Toy Chest.” It still operates, but university classes and lacrosse command his attention a little bit more than his pre-teen days. Now he spends most Saturday mornings on the field, haggling for the lacrosse ball with speed and aggression.

“You can definitely see the fierce competitor in him,” Bowen says. “It rubs off on people, it’s pretty contagious. He’s always wanting to win his individual matchup and obviously wants to win games.”

Tucci’s pure athleticism helped him stand out in the lacrosse world at first, but Gurenlian says he’s constantly learning and trying to be the best in his position. Breschi agrees; Tucci asked for a face-off specialist coach during end-of-season interviews last year. It was a direct conversation, Tucci presented the facts, and Breschi was sold on why the UNC program needed to continue developing their faceoff players.

“He brings this hunger, this energy,” Breschi says. “You have to love

“

“HE BRINGS THIS HUNGER, THIS ENERGY. YOU HAVE TO LOVE A GUY WHO IS SELFMOTIVATED AND DRIVEN. AND GUYS FEED OFF THAT. MORE GUYS HAVE TO BE LIKE HIM.”

28

BORN & BRED

a guy who is self-motivated and driven. And guys feed off that. More guys have to be like him.”

Teammates and classmates know Tucci as a quirky, focused guy who isn’t bothered by what others think of him. He races teammate Bowen to morning practice on their electric bikes; he constantly asks classmate Jules Micchia what grade she got on an assignment, hoping to have the upper hand; he spends hours in the library every week, well before midterms or finals start piling up; he buys inflatable rafts from Walmart to sneak onto a lake without public access for a chance to fish; or he’ll drive to Charlotte on a Sunday morning to see Gurenlian for a few face-off practice reps, simply taking advantage of Gurenlian being in North Carolina.

Tucci met Gurenlian after his parents realized people actually trained to be a face-off specialist. For so long, Tucci won by natural dominance. His parents overhead others grumbling about Tucci winning all the face-off battles even though they were paying for their child to get all these lessons.

His lacrosse proficiency landed him a scholarship offer to Cornell University by his freshman year, causing him to evaluate how seriously he took his academics before going to an Ivy League. While Cornell didn’t work out and Tucci is happy to be at Carolina, he’s thankful he ended up at Avon Old Farms starting his junior year, where he met mentor Dr. Henry “Skip” Flanagan. On his second day at Avon Old

Farms, Flanagan took Tucci to the library and told him that’s where he would spend the majority of his time. They continued to meet and talk about academia for the next two years.

“He caught on very quickly, the understanding that lacrosse would be four years but an education 40,” Flanagan says. “He was the first one in the library and the last one out every night.”

Tucci has a tendency to shake things up. Or as Flanagan calls it, he’s “Puckish,” alluding to the Shakespearian trickster in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Years of negotiating at flea markets made him a fearless networker, always looking for an interesting conversation.

He knows the thrill of getting the price he wants, usually convincing someone by flashing “that charming Tucci smile.” Somehow he seamlessly floats between being a source of entertainment, to a locked-in competitor, relentless in battle. As his dad puts it, “the kid is a thinker and a competitive warrior.”

Most of all, Tucci follows his passions. Whether that means watching countless YouTube videos about fishing or studying the latest developments in face-offs, Tucci’s ability to unashamedly pursue his goals placed him in a starting position as a first-year at Carolina while making the Dean’s List in the Kenan Flagler Business School.

“An awful lot of good things happen in this life when passion is at the very heart of it all,” Flanagan says. “I think he manifests that passion.”

ramsclub.com 29

THANK THANKYOU YOUFOR FORBEING BEINGA APART PARTOFOFTHE THE CAMPAIGNFOR FORCAROLINA CAROLINAATHLETICS! ATHLETICS! CAMPAIGN The Campaign for Carolina Athletics is about providing opportunities for Carolina student-athletes. Thank you for being a vital part of the team that makes these opportunities possible!

The University’s $4.25 billion For All Kind campaign – of which the Campaign for Carolina Athletics is a part – is 63% of the way to its December 2022 finish.

Your gifts in support of Carolina student-athletes put us 65% of the way toward our goal of $500 million! Please consider how you can help Carolina Athletics finish strong in this campaign!

TIME ELAPSED

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BORN & BRED

AVG. YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP

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GOAL GOAL $500M $500M

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TOTAL ACTIVE MEMBERS

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PERCENT TO GOAL

Every Rams Club member is a participant in the campaign through their annual membership gifts. We’re thrilled to say that Rams Club membership is at an all-time high as of the end of 2019! Thank you for believing in our studentathletes! Please ask your friends or family to join our efforts as a member, and offer their own support to Carolina.

CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES PRIORITIES PRIORITIES TheThe Campaign Campaign forfor Carolina Carolina Athletics Athletics established established a goal a goal of $500 of $500 million million in support in support of our of our TarTar Heel Heel student-athletes student-athletes in four in four primary primary categories: categories: Scholarship Scholarship Endowment Endowment ($200M), ($200M), Capital Capital Projects Projects ($115M), ($115M), Team Team Support Support ($65M) ($65M) andand Annual Annual Fund Fund ($120M). ($120M).

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Junior outfielder wants to help upgrade the standard for Tar Heel softball

BY PAT JAMES PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

32

BORN & BRED

THE LEADER BY EXAMPLE

KRISTINA BURKHARDT

I

n the 42-year history of the North Carolina softball program, many teams have won more games and possessed more talent than the 2019 squad.

That, however, didn’t keep the Tar Heels from making history last season.

Of their 38 victories, nine came against ranked opponents, three more than they’d beaten in any season before. Two such wins even came on the same day, when UNC swept a doubleheader against No. 3 Florida State to notch its first-ever wins over a top-5 team. A month later, Carolina’s season ended with a loss to Tennessee in the Knoxville Regional. But its three NCAA Tournament wins also set a school record.

None of that would’ve happened without the leadership of seniors Destiny DeBerry, Berlynne Delamora, Leah Murray and Kiani Ramsey.

Knowing she and her teammates would soon be without them, though, Kristina Burkhardt spent much of last season studying them in preparation for a larger leadership role this spring.

“I just started soaking in what they were doing,” Burkhardt said. “I was like, ‘What are the leadership strengths that they have that I can take with me the following year?’ So, halfway through last year, I tried to be more vocal and get my presence out there.”

Heading into this season, Burkhardt said that certainly helped. But even then, that way of leading isn’t what the redshirt junior outfielder is accustomed to.

Ever since she started playing sports, Burkhardt has considered herself a leader by example. That falls in line with her easygoing personality. It’s also something she shares in common with her older sister, Ashley, who played professional softball for the Dallas Charge in 2015 after a four-year career at Purdue (2012-15). Ashley is currently a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame.

“I would say Ashley and I are pretty similar in the way we lead,” Burkhardt said. “Start with leading by example and then as seniors would graduate or older girls who had vocal leadership positions would leave, you’re like, ‘OK, I have the ability, so it’s a matter of

stepping up.’

“Ashley has become more of a leader in her job now, and I’ve been always looking up to her, like, ‘I have the same potential.’”

In some ways, Burkhardt started realizing that potential as a freshman.

Six games and just as many starts into her Tar Heel career, Burkhardt suffered a wrist injury that ultimately sidelined her for the remainder of the 2017 season. Forced to be a spectator, she could’ve sulked.

But instead, she used her vantage point from the dugout to pick up on things her teammates on the field might not have noticed, then relayed that information to them.

She didn’t have that same perspective for the majority of the 2018 and 2019 seasons; she played in all but three of UNC’s 114 games, starting 108. That experience as a freshman has helped her, though, making it easier for her to stray from her comfort zone and give her teammates advice.

“What I love about Carolina Softball is everyone respects each other,” she said. “So, I didn’t feel like I was overstepping at all. I’ve never really felt that way. As the years go on, you kind of develop more confidence and more respect for one another.

Everyone receives things well here.

It’s not like if I say something to you, it’s not out of disrespect or I’m better than you. Everyone kind of takes it as, ‘We all care for each other and want each other to improve.’”

Burkhardt has had to remind herself of that now that she’s speaking up more often.

When practices started last fall, Burkhardt said no one knew for sure who was going to fill the team’s leadership void. But eventually, the coaches turned to her, junior Megan Dray and sophomore Abby Settlemyre, none of whom had been in prominent leadership positions before.

Burkhardt called the fall a “trial-and-error period” for them. They’ve grown more comfortable, though, to the point that Burkhardt said she’s surprised herself with how vocal she’s been.

“I think I’ve caught a few girls off guard,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that came from Kristina?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ But they know.

“

“SHE’S JUST BEEN SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN VERY TRUSTWORTHY, EVEN-KEEL. SHE’S JUST CONSTANT. EVERY DAY YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GETTING WITH KRISTINA. A LOT OF PEOPLE KIND OF FLUCTUATE AT PRACTICE, BUT SHE’S JUST A VERY CONSISTENT PERSON. SHE DOESN’T HAVE HER UPS AND DOWNS; NO MATTER WHAT’S GOING ON IN HER LIFE, EVERY DAY SHE BRINGS HER 100 PERCENT TO PRACTICE.”

ramsclub.com 33

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

They’re like, ‘We know it’s from a place of love and you know we all want each other to improve.’ They’ve been great. If I didn’t have this group of girls to come at this with, then I don’t know where I’d be.”

Donna Papa and the rest of the coaching staff have been just as important.

Burkhardt said Papa regularly sends her, Dray and Settlemyre quotes, some of which they’ve shared with the team and others that have been intended specifically for them as they’ve adjusted to their new roles.

They’ve also met with the coaches weekly to discuss leadership.

“We usually reflect on ourselves,” said Burkhardt of the weekly meetings. “We’ll say, ‘What things did you do well as a leader this week? What did you not do so well? Were there opportunities where you could have said something but didn’t?’

“Then the coaches will say things they may have seen. And then we kind of just talk about how the team is doing. Is there anything that we should look out for? Or is there a struggle that someone is going through that we wouldn’t know?’ (We do that) kind of to keep the team moving forward at all times and just keep each other accountable.”

Although Burkhardt, a career .293 hitter entering this season, is doing that more with her voice now, her actions still speak loudly.

“She’s just been someone who has been very trustworthy, evenkeel,” senior Campbell Hutcherson said. “She’s just constant. Every day you know what you’re getting with Kristina. A lot of people kind of fluctuate at practice, but she’s just a very consistent person. She

34

BORN & BRED

doesn’t have her ups and downs; no matter what’s going on in her life, every day she brings her 100 percent to practice.

“She’s someone who whenever she gets up to the plate or whenever she’s playing in the field, you can rely on her because she’s going to be someone who is going to pull through in tough situations. She’s going to be someone you want to have up in that pressure situation, for sure.”

Hutcherson has good reason to think that given Burkhardt’s play in the Knoxville Regional last season. After Carolina dropped its opening game against Ohio State, Burkhardt went 3-for-11 with two home runs and four RBIs as UNC fought through three elimination games, defeating the Buckeyes, Longwood and 11th-seeded Tennessee. Her solo home run accounted for the only run scored in the Tar Heels’ win over the Volunteers.

Unfortunately, Burkhardt couldn’t do quite enough to get Carolina to its first NCAA super regional. But if anything, last season gave her and her returning teammates more confidence that they are capable of getting that far. And in her new leadership role, Burkhardt is going to do everything she can to ensure they do.

“Every year it’s always been, ‘Let’s win the ACC Tournament and get to a regional,’” Burkhardt said. “Now I feel like it’s shifted to, ‘Alright, we’re winning the ACC Tournament because we’ve been there too many times and not gone out on top. And let’s win regionals, get to a super regional.’ We’re definitely switching the standard here, and I’m really excited for it.”

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

STAFF DYNAMICS:

MAKING THE PIECES FIT

BY LEE PACE // PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

Experienced Tar Heel coaches know a good staff is built of complementary pieces, not complimentary

A

Anson Dorrance was a young head coach in the 1980s when he took a course offered by the Gallup organization on leadership skills.

“When you’re really young, you think in order to be an effective leader or coach, you’ve got to check all the boxes yourself,” says Dorrance.

Instead, he learned a skill that has served him well through four decades leading the Tar Heel women’s soccer team and collecting nearly 900 wins and 22 national titles: Accept that nobody does everything well and hire a staff not of clones but of complements.

“If you want to be truly effective, what you have to do is surround yourself with people

36

BORN & BRED

who are strong where you are weak,” Dorrance says. “It’s that blend that makes it work.”

Coaching staffs across the spectrum of Carolina athletics are comprised of Types A and B, introverts and extroverts, strategy wonks and fundamental drill-sergeants. Some lead with the left brain (logical and structured), others with the right (artistic and intuitive). The good ones are a blend of both.

Dorrance points to long-time assistants Bill Palladino (Carolina staff 1980-2019), Chris Ducar (1998-current) and Tom Sander (current operations chief, hired 1998) as cogs who have made the Carolina soccer wheel whirl

seamlessly.

With Palladino, Dorrance had a svelte mix of yin and yang.

“I’m more a shark with blood in the water and he’s more of a warm teddy bear,” Dorrance says.

The head coach hates paperwork and tends to accumulate it by the pile in his office. That’s why the uber-organized Sander fills a niche.

The soccer program as one of the most visible components of the Carolina athletic scene is inundated year-round with email from prospects, campers and kids wanting a poster or an autograph. The patient and workmanlike

Ducar is perfect to sift through them and respond.

“What I love about Tom Sander is he checked every organizational box for us because he’s got an incredible attention for detail,” Dorrance says. “When we brought Chris in, first of all he checked a coaching box for us because he was a former professional goalkeeper, so he did all of our goalkeeping training. But Chris also has a wonderful sense of personal responsibility and is very conscientious. We needed someone with those skills to be the point person in recruiting because of the incredible volume of requests we get.”

Football coach Mack Brown has an interesting angle in his interview process for

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Bill Palladino was a part of 22 national championships at Carolina.

“IF YOU WANT TO BE TRULY EFFECTIVE, WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE STRONG WHERE YOU ARE WEAK. IT’S THAT BLEND THAT MAKES IT WORK.” assistant coaches: He requires the candidate bring his wife along for the interview. Brown meets not only with the coach one-on-one but with the coach and his wife together and tries to schedule a meal with his wife, Sally, and the visiting couple.

“If I hire someone and he’s a got a problem at home, then I’ve got a problem in the office,” Brown says. “Having a spouse who fits is just as important as a coach who fits.”

Brown says that “one of the hardest but one of the coolest” parts of being a head coach is putting the pieces of a staff together.

“Those pieces are the reasons you make it or not,” he says. “They have to fit the place and be able to work with each other in a family atmosphere. You have to be able to have hard conversations and then move on.

“I was told once by an older coach, ‘Ordinary people making a poor decision but all being on the same page going forward can still make it work,’” Brown relates. “’But if really smart people make a great decision and fight over it, it won’t work.’

“It’s all about everyone being on the same page and working together. Managing that and seeing that all the pieces fit is one of the better things I do.”

During a time out of a Carolina women’s basketball game, head coach Courtney Banghart orchestrates a confluence of opinion and insights from her three assistant coaches on their various niches and areas of expertise. Carrie Moore was a wing player at Western Michigan and set nine school scoring records, so she’s in tune to the play of the Tar Heel guards and how they’re attacking the opponent.

Associate head coach Scott Forbes has received national accolades during a 14-year career at Carolina that has Joanne Aluka-White was a center included seven College World series appearances. at Middle Tennessee State and sees the game from an “insideteam to six College World Series. He’s had out” perspective. And Tim Taylor Scott Forbes alongside for all but three of became a defensive ace during stints at the those years, and other assistants like Chad University of Virginia.

Holbrook and Robert Woodard played and/ “Everyone brings a vital piece in a really or coached under Fox before leaving to organic way that has been a huge reason take head coaching jobs (Holbrook at South we’ve been able to right this ship so quickly,” Carolina and now College of Charleston, and Banghart said in mid-January of a 12-4 start in Woodard at UNC-Charlotte). As Fox has gotten her first year as head coach that included un older (he’ll turn 64 in 2020) he’s been keen to upset of previously unbeaten N.C. State. “We’re blend in younger assistants and have an open incredibly complementary in every way.” eye toward the kind of analytics favored by Baseball coach Mike Fox has led the Tar younger minds in the game.

Heel program for two decades and taken his

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BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

Courtney Banghart’s first Carolina staff includes longtime ACC experience with Tim Taylor and significant playing experience with Joanne Aluka-White (below).

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“EVERYONE BRINGS A VITAL PIECE IN A REALLY ORGANIC WAY THAT HAS BEEN A HUGE REASON WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO RIGHT THIS SHIP SO QUICKLY. WE’RE INCREDIBLY COMPLEMENTARY IN EVERY WAY.”

Jesse Wierzbicki played for Fox a decade ago and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2011 College World Series. He joined the Tar Heel staff in 2016, and one of the elements Fox likes is his ability to coach the players “hard.”

“He is just really tough, has that edge about him,” Fox says. “He was a little bit of a challenge to coach because of that. He was the type that walked that line of being over competitive.

He brought that trait into coaching, and that’s something that I really needed and our staff needed. He coaches them hard—like he played. I think our players really respect that.

Once they get over the shock value of him being brutally honest, they see how much he cares and how much he wants to help them.

As you get older as a coach, you mellow a little

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BORN & BRED

bit and you need someone on your staff that can coach them hard.”

The Diamond Heels benefitted during the 2017-19 seasons from the statistical analysis from Micah Daley-Harris, who as a freshman at Carolina in August 2016 offered his services to crunch numbers and provide data to help Fox and his staff. Over three years in school before graduating in 2019, Daley-Harris analyzed countless data points (having as many as 100,000 available at any one time) and provided tendencies on the most productive infield shifts, analyzed pitchers’ statistics with various pitches to different locations in the strike zone, broke down bunting statistics and even knew the tendencies of dozens of umpires to call tight or loose strike zones.

Robbert Schenk added to his international experience by being part of a Tar Heel national title in 2019.

Daley-Harris graduated in three years and went to work for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, but Fox vowed to make sure that kind of analytics work remained a part of the program.

“I never thought analytics would be part of my coaching,” Fox says. “But the game has changed and you have to be willing to look at things a little differently. This information is something you have to pay attention to.

There’s value in it. Then you have to decide how much you want to use or not use. We have kids like Micah coming to Chapel Hill, they’re incredibly bright and they love baseball. I’m willing to listen.”

Karen Shelton, like Dorrance, has four decades leading her team, and the Carolina field hockey team has won eight NCAA titles and 22 ACC championships. Both Shelton and Dorrance in recent years took the initiative to pluck new assistant coaches from “out of the box” arenas, with Damon Nahas joining the soccer staff in November 2015 from a

player development academy in Raleigh and Robbert Schenk signing on for field hockey in the summer of 2019 from a boarding school in England.

Dorrance noticed over a number of years in recruiting and scouting that Nahas and the coaching he was providing at Next Level Soccer Academy in Raleigh and in leading the U15 National Team “was the future of the sport” and offered him a job with the Tar Heels.

“Damon is taking us to another level because of his expertise from working in the trenches and developing skills that in my opinion no one else in the country has,” Dorrance says.

“I think he’s not just the future for us, I think he’s the future for the United States because of this expertise he developed.”

Schenk has played and coached in Holland, England and Australia. Most recently he served as Hockey Development Manager at Hurstpierpoint College, a boarding school just south of London. He and his American wife were thinking of moving to the States, and

Schenk learned of the opening on Shelton’s staff and reached out. Shelton and associate head coach Grant Fulton interviewed him several times via Skype, checked out his references and offered him the job.

“One thing attractive about Robbert is he was a relatively current player,” Shelton says.

“He’d played at the highest levels in Holland, England and Australia the last 10 years.”

It also helped that Schenk is skilled at executing himself as a player and teaching the drag-switch shot, a specialized offensive maneuver wielded from the corner.

“All the pieces fit,” Shelton says. “He came last summer and worked our camp and the chemistry was immediate—both with the staff and the players. The team and the staff are collaborations. You get the right people in the right place, and good things can happen.”

Good things, indeed, as in the Tar Heel field hockey team winning the 2019 national title and the coaching staff being named the best in Division I for the second year in a row.

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FIRST PERSON

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‘The next level’

When I first visited Carolina, Coach Kalbas told me that the court. he recruits the person, not the player. That’s something What helps is that Carolina is an incredibly supportive you learn very quickly in college athletics: with building a environment. I’ve never been part of a community that gives team, it is not always pure talent that makes the difference. you as much total support as what we have in Chapel Hill.

That was one of the biggest differences I learned when When I was honored at halftime at a basketball game this I went from playing individually in high school to playing fall, I couldn’t stop smiling when I came off the court. I have on a team in college. Talent gets a team to a certain level. never felt such overwhelming joy and happiness. It’s hard But then there’s an element of chemistry and teamwork to put into words how much that meant to me. It showed that gets you to the next level. There’s a legitimate boost how tight the community is and how much chemistry there you get from wanting to play for is here. It’s never about one person your coach, your school and your at Carolina. But when someone has teammates. The bigger picture makes success, the rest of the community has an actual difference in your on-court no problem celebrating that. There is “As you get more experience as a performance. truly a Carolina family.

Team season is my favorite part of college athlete, you start to figure college tennis. When you’re playing out more about what your role on with your closest friends and you’re the team should be. Team chemistry putting in all that work together every day, there is a sense of accountability is about building relationships. that pushes you to give your best. You It’s finding commonalities among want to work even harder for them. everyone, and making the best of It’s a spectacular feeling when you’re the last player playing and all your those dynamics and qualities that teammates are out there cheering for each team member brings to the you. group—both on the court and away As you get more experience as a college athlete, you start to figure out from the court.” more about what your role on the team should be. Team chemistry is about building relationships. It’s finding commonalities among everyone, and making the best of those dynamics and qualities that each team member brings to the group—both on the court and away from the court.

When you’re a college athlete, you spend so much time with your teammates. You’re with them on the court, of course, but you’re also with them so frequently off the court. You get to know them almost as well as you know yourself. These moments set the foundation for friendships that are much larger than tennis.

You find that you want to spend time with the people who know you best, and that’s your teammates.

I’ve always been the person who wants everyone to get along and everyone to have fun. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I have to get outside my comfort zone occasionally, SARA DAAVETTILA in order to do what is best for the team. I’ve tried to step up Women’s Tennis more in a leadership role and lead by example on and off Illustration by Jason McCorkle

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BORN & BRED

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CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS

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