Born & Bred // December 2020 // Finding Home

T H E

ISSUE XXI

O F F I C I A L

M A G A Z I N E

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T H E

R A M S

C L U B

FINDING HOME

TAR HEEL ORIGINS

YOU PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BREAK RECORDS. 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

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR We all arrived here from somewhere.

We hear quite a bit about the Roy Williams trajectory, in which someone is born (mostly) a Tar Heel, bred a Tar Heel, and is unquestionably a lifelong Tar Heel.

But there are far more examples of individuals who weren’t always part of Carolina athletics. Dean Smith went to Kansas. Mack Brown went to Florida State and didn’t come to Chapel Hill until his third head coaching job. Michael Jordan was (don’t tell anyone) an NC State fan.

Even Anson Dorrance, who joins Williams as the current best examples of what are considered born and bred Tar Heels, grew up around the world before coming to Carolina as an undergraduate.

With this issue, we wanted to find out more about what makes North Carolina such a destination for those in athletics, from players to coaches to administrators to — yes, even us — fans. Sometimes we’re so ingrained in life as a Tar Heel that it’s difficult to see Carolina as an outsider.

What we found is exactly what you’ve probably suspected: there’s something different about Carolina. Whether you’re a head coach like Steve Robinson who had to compete against the Tar Heels with Florida State, or a coach like Chris Miltenberg eyeballing Chapel Hill from across the country in his lofty perch at Stanford, or even a student-athlete at a rival school who understands what it takes to compete against the Tar Heels—Carolina is always on the radar.

Maybe it’s as simple as the uniforms. After all, you never hear anyone say they’ve grown up dreaming of wearing red. But there’s something about that Carolina blue that remains as distinctive as it was when Williams was falling in love with the Tar Heels as an undergraduate. Think of that feeling of instant recognition you get anywhere in the world when you spot someone wearing that blue

or the Alexander Julian argyle. Student-athletes and coaches understand the power, too.

What you’ll find in the following pages is that while the colors are important, there’s one common Carolina asset mentioned by every single person we spoke to for this issue: the people. The reception they receive in Chapel Hill from Rams Club donors and fans and their fellow community members is what turns strangers into lifelong Tar Heels. It’s why so many former basketball players live in the area in the offseason, and why a lifelong nomad like Dorrance never wanted to leave.

Whether you’re lifelong born and bred or a recent convert, we hope this issue is a worthy reminder of exactly why we’re all here: there’s just something about being a Tar Heel.

Adam Lucas Editor in Chief

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

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“Carolina is a deepness that goes inside your blood. I didn’t go to school here, but I see it every day. The love for the University and for the basketball program here is something that goes so deep.” — STEVE ROBINSON

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FINDING HOME edition ON THE COVER: A mural outside He’s Not Here welcomes Tar Heels from all over the world.

COVER PHOTO: MAGGIE HOBSON MURAL: SCOTT NURKIN TABLE OF CONTENTS: JEFFREY CAMARATI

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& EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

FINDING HOME

16 A Winning Partnership

A chance meeting led Steve Robinson to find a kindred spirit and eventually turned him into a Tar Heel

BY ADAM LUCAS

FINDING HOME

24 Finding the Fit

Eighteen months after transferring to Carolina, Chris Gray is excited about his first full season as a Tar Heel

BY ANDREW STILWELL

FINDING HOME

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28 A Major Move

Chris Miltenberg saw the potential at Carolina that persuaded him to leave Stanford

BY ANDREW STILWELL

TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

FINDING HOME

34 Family Time

An early trip to Chapel Hill proved to be a harbinger of an unexpected return that was the perfect fit for Phil Longo and his family

BY LEE PACE

FINDING HOME

40 A Second Home

Graduate transfers Kerrigan Miller and Katie Bourque are a new part of a Carolina women’s lacrosse team again expected to be a national contender

BY PAT JAMES

FIRST PERSON

44 FORevHER a Tar Heel A recruiting visit turned Sue Walsh into a lifelong Tar Heel

BY SUE WALSH

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THANK YOU, DAWN AND SUE The Carolina Family gains its strength from people who believe in their fellow Tar Heels and care deeply for their success. The Rams Club celebrated two outstanding examples of that type of person recently – wishing Dawn McPherson and Sue Walsh happy retirements after decades of service to our student-athletes and members.

Dawn McPherson, a 1982 graduate of Carolina, joined The Rams Club staff in 1984. She served a variety of important roles culminating in her position as Chief Operating Officer. While her service made her integral in so many ways, her care for those around her made her invaluable.

“When I think of Dawn and what she meant to Carolina for 36 years with The Rams Club, I think of someone who was totally involved,” said Roy Williams, head coach of Carolina Men’s Basketball. “It wasn’t a job for her. Her life had many facets, but she always made us feel like she was devoted to the Tar Heels and The Rams Club. I trusted her, had tremendous faith in what she was trying to do and loved working with her. I wish her nothing but great times in her retirement.”

“Rarely has someone made such a tough job look so fun and easy,” said Vanessa Wittman, a member of The Rams Club’s Executive Board of Directors. “Thank you Dawn for leading us through the largest Campaign ever, and for your endless dedication to our student-athletes!"

Sue Walsh was a national champion (many times over!) swimmer at Carolina and Olympian on the 1980 team. The 1984 Carolina graduate connected her love of the Tar Heels and her commitment to student-athletes when she joined The Rams Club staff in 1989. A familiar face and representative of the importance of scholarships to student-athletes, Sue retired on September 30

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as Associate Executive Director for Scholarships & Legacy Gifts.

“I’ve always felt the sport of swimming demanded more of people than any other sport as far as the dedication and the work ethic that they have to have,” shared Eddie Smith, former chair of The Rams Club’s Executive Board of Directors and long-time member. “Sue brought that same dedication and work ethic to her job at The Rams Club. She made everyone on her team better and made everyone at The Rams Club better. She had such a positive and lasting impact on our scholarship endowment and our student-athletes.”

Karen Shelton, head coach of Carolina Field Hockey, saw her impact first-hand. “For Sue, fundraising for our student-athletes and our scholarship fund was never just a job. It was a passion!”

The Rams Club wholeheartedly thanks these two amazing individuals for their 30+ years of service and congratulates them on their well-deserved retirements. “On a personal level, I am excited for Dawn and Sue to have time with their own families and their young grandchildren,” said John Montgomery, Executive Director of The Rams Club. “I also want them to know how much they have meant to our studentathletes, our coaches, our members, and their teammates in the office. Dawn and Sue have had an incredible impact on this University, and we all thank them for being such a caring and committed part of the Carolina Family.”

C A R O L I N A FA M I LY

FINDING HOME

We asked Rams Club members who weren’t “born and bred” how they found Carolina.

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1982 the year. 12 years old the age. I walk into my uncle’s house. He instantly insists that I make no noise. I sit on the floor as my family looks intensely at a small screen tv. You know the kind with two knobs and an antenna that worked your last nerve. Two teams playing both unfamiliar to me. My family all pulling for Georgetown. Yet as I watch #23 – you know #23 – my eyes widened at the tiny screen. Minutes ticking and the game is close.

Timeout. The house is silent. I bravely raise my voice and say, “I like the team from NC.” Eyes pierce me. Game back on. Shoot. Score.

Turnover. Win. My uncle looks at me and tells me to leave. No problem … I walked out a Tar Heel and a winner!

In the summer of 1966, my mother and I took a road trip from my hometown in Miami to look at colleges. First stop was U of F. It was a good school, but I felt it would be like 13th grade with so many of my high school classmates probably going there. Second stop was Emory in Atlanta. I liked it. Third stop was Duke, but it just didn’t feel right. Fourth stop was UNC. I had a meeting with Pat Earey, the head swimming coach. He took my mother and me on a tour and I was sold. We cancelled our other visits and went home.

-KATRENA JOHNSON MONCKS CORNER, SC

-TODD ENGSTROM RALEIGH, NC

I was in 4th grade when I received a burn on my right leg after mowing grass. I was admitted to the UNC Burn Center. The doctors and nurses were amazing, and while there I watched UNC athletics and spoke about football and basketball. The nurses gave me special treatment and spoiled me.

From that moment on, I was a Tar Heel fan. I have had season football tickets with a friend since 2006 … and just last year, I joined the Rams Club. I am proud to say I am a Tar Heel.

-JEFF ALLEN BENSON, NC

In the summer of 1960, I was a recent high school graduate in Ohio working as a lifeguard at a community pool. After successful high school football seasons, I was planning to attend a small college in western Pennsylvania. In early June, I received a call from my high school football coach asking if I might be interested in playing in an inaugural all-star football game later in the month. It sounded more interesting than working at the pool. The Ohio team was blessed with large offensive linemen, and I was fortunate to have a very successful game as a running back. After the game I was introduced to two recruiters, one from Miami (Fla.) and an assistant coach from UNC, Bob Thalman.

The UNC coach just happened to be visiting family in the area, heard about the game, and decided to attend. In July, I flew into RDU (my first flight) and met with UNC head coach Jim Hickey. He had reviewed some of my films and offered me a full scholarship. After meeting the football staff, visiting the campus and football facilities, I knew I was in the right place. I am still amazed at how many things had to come together to bring me to Carolina, and so blessed because of them!

-THOMAS BROOKS CARY, NC

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“ “ “ “ We first met in a history course. Michael was working at a car wash at the time and was the biggest Carolina basketball fan I’ve ever met. Naturally, I introduced him to the Jarman family who owned the independent pharmacy I was working for since they were all Carolina graduates. Michael revealed to me that he always aspired to be a nurse; I worked the register at the pharmacy and became more interested in the pharmacist’s role there. The Jarman family encouraged us to take courses at the community college with the intention of eventually transferring to UNC to pursue these careers. With unfading encouragement and mentorship from the Jarman family, I eventually transferred to UNC and graduated with a Biology degree in 2009 and from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2013. Michael finished nursing school and completed his Masters in Nursing at UNC in 2017 and is now on Faculty at the UNC School of Nursing as a Clinical Instructor with the Undergraduate Nursing Department. We are both passionate about teaching and mentoring prospective and current students in the same way the Jarman family brought us to UNC. Even though we both don’t have a long lineage of roots to UNC, we are both products of what Carolina values and encouragement can do.

-KEIKO & MICHAEL BURY CHAPEL HILL, NC

I’m a military guy born and raised in Mississippi, but I have been a Tar Heel fan since I was 5 years old. The Army brought me here in 1990 when I was stationed at Fort Bragg. We bleed Tar Heel Blue!! The Carolina Family is like nothing else. I’m always wearing my Carolina Blue no matter where I go. It’s a part of who I am from my watch, shoes, and wallet, just to name a few items.

I’m not a Tar Heel born, nor a Tar Heel bred, but when I die I’ll be a Tar Heel dead.

I am from Delaware and applied to schools based on their undergraduate business programs. Carolina accepted me, as well as other universities. After an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill, I had made my decision. From that date forward, I was and always will be a Carolina Girl.

-BRIAN BILLUPS KNIGHTDALE, NC

-EVA CHANG MEYER GLEN ALLEN, VA

My mom and stepdad were newly married. We lived in Chicago suburbs and moved southeast to Rocky Mount. I was a kid learning to live with a new, bigger, extended family in a strange town. But in 1982 when I was 10 years old, I watched the Tar Heels win the NCAA Title over Georgetown! I was hooked and fell in love for the first time! Ever since then I have been a passionate UNC fan living in several other states but carrying the UNC fan pride.

-THADDEUS FINE LAPORTE, TX

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R

“ “ “ “ In 1984, I was on the yearbook staff at Stamford High School in Connecticut. The publisher sent us several college yearbooks as samples for layout and content.

One of them was the “Yackety Yack” and the school looked incredible. My dad and I took a road trip and he loved the color Carolina Blue, I loved Franklin Street, and the rest is history.

I grew up under the Golden Dome in South Bend, Ind. My older sister wound up at Duke, which was on my list of schools to consider. While in the area, a Durham (and high school) friend took me to Chapel Hill to see “a real school.” That did it! Now an “obnoxious” Carolina fan.

-ERNIE OARE WARRENTON, VA

-DEBBY O’CONNELL LARCHMONT, NY

I grew up crazy about basketball on a chicken farm in small town central Arkansas. As far back as I can remember all I ever wanted to do was play basketball. By 11 I was basketball obsessed. I ate breakfast with a ball, I slept with a ball, I drew basketballs on all of my notebooks and homework and I only played basketball at recess. Then one day I came home to find that my parents had gotten satellite TV. At that point I had only heard of ESPN. I flipped on ESPN and who so happened to be playing? The University of North Carolina in the most beautiful color I had ever seen. For better or worse I was a Tar Heel for life.

-RICHARD WELLS DURHAM, NC

We have never lived in North Carolina nor attended UNC. I grew up in Fresno, Calif., and from the time I was in junior high, I have loved college basketball. I followed the local college team growing up but found myself drawn to cheering for the Tar Heels each year in the NCAA tournament and against any team they played. Michael Jordan’s years at UNC intensified that love for UNC basketball. This interest became more intense when my daughter ended up having to have some dental work done and needed a specialist that practiced at UNC. Our family made their first trip from California out to UNC in 2005 to meet with this dentist and have some work done. This trip just happened to be as the team was playing in the NCAA tournament. The team won the championship that year and our family got to go to Franklin Street and buy t-shirts and greet the team in the Dean Dome. As we walked down the hill to the Dean Dome that day and looked back up into the sea of Carolina Blue – I knew that I was a Tar Heel fan for life.

-LAUREL WHITE BAKERSFIELD, CA ramsclub.com

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“Go Heels!” This is one of my favorite refrains. I’ve said it at weddings and funerals, in bars and churches, on several continents. But I never expected to shout it from the Intensive Care Unit, my head wrapped in surgical gauze and swollen to the size of a basketball. Last year I had brain surgery at UNC Hospital to remove a tumor on my balance nerve, which had made everyday life a nightmare of vertigo, dizziness, headaches, and blurred vision. It was a long and complicated procedure, but to describe it simply: a team of doctors put me to sleep, cracked my skull open, pushed my brain aside, and cut the sucker out. Once I regained consciousness, the first thing I did was turn to my wife and ask if they’d gotten the whole thing. When she gave me the good news, I screamed at the top of my lungs “Go Heels!!!” as if the surgeons had just dunked on Duke.

-EVAN GURNEY ASHEVILLE, NC

I found Carolina on April 6, 1993, when stationed at Camp Casey, South Korea as a US Army Field Artillery Lieutenant. Due to the time and date difference, it was Tuesday morning in Korea, and the NCAA Championship being played Monday night in New Orleans was broadcast live on Armed Forces Network. Some of my soldiers who knew I would soon be heading to Fort Bragg invited me to watch the game. They insisted I would become a Tar Heel soon. I was blown away by Dean Smith’s coaching, the outstanding performance of Donald Williams and the other Tar Heel players. At that moment, I found Carolina. After leaving the Army, I attended and graduated from the UNC School of Law. During law school and afterwards, my wife and I have enjoyed many UNC football and basketball games. I am a Tar Heel.

-JIMMY SPROUSE RALEIGH, NC

I grew up in Raleigh as a Wolfpack fan, and quite honestly, I hated UNC. My sports idols were David Thompson and Ted Brown. In fact, my father was a professor at NC State and worked there for 38 years. When I was a senior in high school, our family couldn’t afford out-of-state tuition, so I focused my college search just in North Carolina. I hated the Tar Heels so much that I wasn’t even going to apply for college there. Then fate happened when my father, a true man of academia, told me that I must focus my search for a college based on academics, not sports. So, I applied to Carolina along with several other schools, and I feel blessed that I was accepted by Carolina.

This is where the story takes a turn. Remember, I paid absolutely NO attention to Tar Heel sports. In my freshman fall semester, I sat in the back of the one of my classes next to a tall skinny kid who also was a freshman. We chatted small talk before and after every class. About halfway through the semester, he started missing classes here and there. He would ask me if I minded sharing my class notes about the classroom discussion when he returned, but that he had another mandatory obligation, so he was going to miss the next class. Then, toward the end of the semester, he said he was going to be out for an entire week, and he really wanted to connect with me when he got back to help him get up-to-speed on the class notes before exams. Of course, I was happy to help, but I was also concerned. I asked him if everything was alright? He said something like, “Well, I will be traveling with the team that week.” Of course, I was baffled. I said, “What team”? He said, “You don’t know who I am?” I looked at him with confusion on my face and said, “No.” He then told me that his name was James Worthy and he played on the men’s basketball team. We laughed a bit, and then he seemed very impressed by the fact that I was helping him because he was a fellow student in our freshman class, not some celebrity basketball player.

So ever since I was in school at UNC, I’ve been bleeding Carolina blue. I have been a season ticket holder for many years now, and I have supported the Tar Heel sports through both thick and thin. I’ve been a Rams Club member now for over 30 straight years.

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-HAYES HYMAN CARY, NC

TA R H E E LT I C K E R

“ “ “ “ “ I became a Tar Heel in 1963 at seven years old, ironically at Duke. With President Kennedy’s assassination, the Tar Heels/Blue Devils football game played at Duke was moved to Thanksgiving Day. Walking to the horseshoe entrance of the stadium my father bought me a flannel Carolina pennant. He purchased tickets and I saw my first live football game from our end zone seats. The Tar Heels kicked a game ending field goal to win and I was a Tar Heel for life! My Carolina Blue flannel pennant with the 16-14 final score written by my hand in permanent marker given to me by Dad as we walked into the stadium proudly hangs on my wall with all the many other Tar Heel memorabilia.

Sixty-four years has passed since I was 13 years old, listening to all the Carolina basketball games in 1956-1957. I followed Lennie Rosenbluth, Bob Cunningham, Pete Brennan, Tommy Kearns and Joe Quigg as they battled to the end of the third overtime and won the national championship.

Since then I have been a dedicated Tar Heel fan.

-SPENCER MATNEY DURHAM, NC

-MICHAEL GRAHAM CONCORD, NC

I grew up a Myrtle Beach Seahawk and was interested in the University of North Carolina. One day in April of 1968, I picked up some clothes from a nice men’s shop in Myrtle Beach. The owner, Bivins Hendrix, was a Carolina alumnus. I asked Biv about my chances of getting into Carolina. Right then Biv called Moyer Smith. Moyer probably rolled his eyes but took down my name and address and mailed me a letter requesting information and game films. About two or three months later, Moyer called me and offered me a football grant-in-aid. I was stunned. It certainly was not my lifelong dream, but that phone call changed my life!

-BILL CHAPMAN LEXINGTON, KY

I found UNC while doing research on my family in 2016. My 6th great-grandfather is George Durant, referred to as “The Father of North Carolina.” When he came to the New World, he brought his family bible which today is believed to be the oldest book in North Carolina. My research uncovered that the book was given to UNC and is housed safely at Wilson Library for all to enjoy. At the time we were living in California and took our first trip ever to UNC to visit the book and for my wife to see the state where I was born. We were not college sports fans, but during our visit to UNC we really enjoyed the friendliness of those we spoke with on campus and at a football game. I wanted to thank UNC for taking care of the Durant Family Bible, so we joined the Rams Club.

-STEVE DURANT YOUNGSVILLE, NC

I grew up in North Carolina was a Carolina basketball fan throughout middle and high school. But somehow when it came time to apply to colleges, UNC was not on my radar. Just too big for someone like me, I thought. I went to a small, private school. On breaks and in the summers, I worked for a UNC alumnus who never stopped talking about Carolina. So finally, during the Spring semester of my Sophomore year, I sent the application for transfer to Carolina just to appease him. Back at my college dorm, a friend of mine said that she had a friend at Carolina and why didn’t we just take the short drive to Chapel Hill and let her show us the campus? I agreed, but first I called my mother who said, “Oh, by the way, your acceptance letter to Carolina just came.” We met the friend in a parking lot. I opened the car door, stepped one foot out of the car, stood up and immediately knew . . I was Carolina bound.

-DEVONA BLAKE RALEIGH, NC

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“ “ “ “ “ I found Carolina in the 7th grade during a trip to Eastern NC for vacation. An impromptu stop at campus, and I fell in love and never wanted to go anywhere else! Being an out-of-state student from NJ, I knew my chances were slim to be accepted but I applied early decision. I was waitlisted initially. While I was crushed, I decided to keep my name in front of Admissions by continuing to send updates about anything I did my senior year, including a Christmas card that said, “All I want for Christmas is to be a Tar Heel”. It was either the due diligence and persistence or the Admissions office got tired of hearing from me. I’m not sure which one, but I don’t care, as my wish was finally granted. Currently hoping that at least one of my children are fortunate to attend so I can relive my college days vicariously through them!

-NICOLE MAZZEI-WILLIAMS LAUREL, MD

I was a Tar Heel long before I enrolled. My oldest brother, Bob, was president of the Student Body, Class of 1938. I read everything I could about Carolina football and track. As a Freshman in ’46, I was a walk-on to the Track Team. Coach Ranson converted me from a high school halfmiler to a cross-country runner and distance runner at Carolina. Track was terribly important to me as it taught me how to persist when the going got tough. One of the great benefits of track was in the life-long friends and acquaintances I made. I ended my professional life as a development officer at Carolina, following 16 years as president of two colleges.

-SAM MAGILL CHAPEL HILL, NC

As a senior in high school I applied to Williams, Duke, and Dartmouth. I won Dartmouth’s Daniel Webster merit scholarship.

I was a competitive tennis player and I packed my bags for Dartmouth where I intended to play on the varsity team. I was also nominated for the Angier B. Duke and the Morehead scholarships. At Morehead finals weekend, Mebane Pritchard, the Executive Director, pulled me aside and said, “It’s customary that Morehead scholars apply for admission to the University.” I had completely overlooked that detail! I applied the next Monday, turned down the Angier B. Duke, declined admission to Williams, rescinded my acceptance to Dartmouth and made the best decision of my young life by enrolling at UNC!

-FRANK SPENCER CHARLOTTE, NC

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Well, I married a Tar Heel fan. I graduated from a HBCU, but I AM A TAR HEEL NOW. I can remember when I met my husband – if the Heels didn’t win it wasn’t a good day. I had never met a true fan until I met Al. Me being a football lover, we clicked when we met so I became a Tar Heel too.

-TERRY RAYNOR FRITTS PORTSMOUTH, VA

I grew up in a military family and in 1976, when I was in 5th grade, my family went to West Point to see an Army football game. When I was little, I always cheered for the teams that had the better-looking uniforms. On this day, Army was playing UNC, and I fell in love with the light blue and white at that moment. I never got a chance to go to college at Chapel Hill, but made a point to one day move to North Carolina. For the last 20 years I have been living in Clemmons, and I have been an usher for UNC football for the last 4 years.

-BRIAN BILLUPS CLEMMONS, NC

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I grew up extremely poor, so poor in fact we did not have indoor plumbing! We had an old Motorola antenna black and white TV. When weather permitted, we were able to get the NBC, ABC and CBS channels, but we always got the UNC educational channel as an antenna station was in my hometown of Columbia, NC. They used to telecast the Carolina home basketball games. Oddly while I grew up watching Bob Lewis’ sweet drives, Larry Miller’s precision corner shots and Rusty Clark’s hooks and put backs, I was – GULP – an NC State fan. I grew into my high school years and matured to the point where I was thinking of my future and college choices. It was time to apply for college and I was nervous as I knew college applications also came with a fee. Granted $15 is not a lot now but back in 1971 in my family situation, it was a lot of money. I started thinking, what would be more valuable and beneficial – a degree from NC State or a degree from Carolina? At that moment, the proverbial light bulb went off, and I knew it was Carolina. I got my acceptance letter on my birthday in January 1972. I was humbled and thankful. My father is long gone, but I still have a copy of the cancelled check he wrote to the UNC Admissions Office for my application fee.

““ “ In 1956 I always listened to college basketball on the radio. In 1957 I had the chance to listen to the championship game with Kansas that Carolina won in 3 overtimes. I have been a Tar Heel all this time and will be a Tar Heel until I die.

-DAVID RHODES BOILING SPRINGS, NC

In middle school, Michael Jordan was my favorite player – so naturally that drew me towards Carolina. The interesting part is that I live in Columbia, SC. Gamecock country.

I would always get questioned about it. I didn’t care though. It’s always been the Tar Heels for me.

-MITCHELL JONES COLUMBIA, SC

-KEVIN COPELAND CAMDEN, NC

My high school was located almost on the UNC campus.

During my three years at Chapel Hill High School the school backed up to the fraternity courts. Great location on Franklin Street that was torn down after the 1966 year to make way for Granville Towers.

Easy decision about where I wanted a degree from and a diploma.

-JEFF NEELON WINSTON-SALEM, NC

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How did I end up here? Coming to North Carolina from Chicago is kind of random, right? Ironically enough, I ended up at UNC-Chapel Hill because I was inspired by the endeavors of the main character in a cheesy young adult romance book. As I read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han as a measly high school freshman, I was intrigued by the university Lara Jean mentioned.

Coming from Chicago, I had never heard of UNC until reading the book. However, I found myself scouring the internet for information on this character I aspired to be; and the school seemed to be just my fit. Nice weather? Check. Excellent programs for my intended majors? Seemed like it.

Near some cool cities? Indeed. UNC became my dream school, and after my admission my college decision was as easy as it gets. Lara Jean both added to my interest in storytelling and introduced me to the school of my dreams.

-CHARLOTTE GEIER PARK RIDGE, IL

In 1965 when I was a senior at Woodberry Forest, I had an interview set up at the Admissions office. The only advice we were given by WFS was that if there was a pause, start talking about the books you had been reading. Dick Cashwell was the Assistant Dean of Admissions, and sure enough there was about 30 seconds of silence as he was reading my application. So, I started in with trying to tell him about the books I had been reading. He held up his hand to stop me, picked up the phone, dialed (!) a number and waited. The conversation went something Ike this: “Hello, Coach (Conrad Steele), I have a boy here in my office who is co-captain of the lacrosse team at WFS. Would you Iike to talk to him? OK, I’ll send him right over.” I walked over to Woolen Gym, met Coach Steele on the sidewalk, chatted for 5 minutes, and he sent me back to Dick Cashwell’s office. Well, he said, ordinarily we couldn’t admit you because of your dismal academic record, but we are trying to build this lacrosse program, so we will take you!

-TEMPLE GRASSI CHEVY CHASE, MD

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My Carolina story begins in high school. I was the head manager for the football team and had been accepted to Carolina. When college football recruiting rolled around in the spring of my senior year, Coach Vic Spooner came to our high school for his annual recruiting visit.

My coach told him about me, and we talked about my being a football manager at Carolina. He told me I should write to Coach Joe Hilton and let him know I was interested.

I was hired and ended up working for the Athletic Department for the next 23 years.

-CHRIS SCHLETER HATTERAS, NC

My story starts in the mid ‘70s when my sister and I would “Sail with the Pilot” every Saturday to watch Tar Heel basketball. We felt our very existence hinged on the Heels winning, especially against NC State since our aunt and cousins were more than happy to rub it in when the Wolfpack prevailed! But this story is really about my husband Ed. Fast forward to 1984 when I met and fell in love with … a Duke fan. Can love conquer all? No one changed their allegiance, that’s for sure. Our first son, Will, was born and he followed in his fathers’ footsteps and pulled for Duke. Our second son, Sam, was born and my sister and I were determined he would be a Tar Heel. Thus began years of Carolina Kids Club, UNC basketball camps, Women’s ACC Tournament Weekends and Ball Boy experiences. When it came time for college, Sam was chosen as a Morehead Cain Scholar at UNC. His choice was easy. And imagine my surprise when my diehard Duke husband bought his first UNC apparel when we attended Freshman Orientation! Yes, love can conquer all.

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-BETH LOWE ELON, NC

TA R H E E LT I C K E R

“ “ “ “ “

I am a North Carolina native and my dad was a Clemson football player. He used to take me to the UNC/ Clemson games that were played at Chapel Hill when I was a child. I was captivated

by UNC’s history, its beautiful campus, and its academic reputation. UNC was the only college that I applied to, and it did not disappoint. I still go back to visit.

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and knew Carolina as a college basketball power and Michal Jordan’s school. My high school college counselor included Carolina on a list of good college choices for me. We visited during spring break in my junior year. We left behind freezing temperatures and snow at home, only to find 80 degrees and sun in Chapel Hill. We parked for our campus tour near the Admissions office and there were girls sunbathing on Connor Beach. I think that was the moment I decided I needed to be a Tar Heel!

-TIM GRUBB ATLANTA, GA

-STEVE LARSON CHARLOTTE, NC

Back in the mid-70’s my family moved to Raleigh with all the other IBM employees that transferred to the Triangle. As a result, my parents had no clue about ACC teams and rivalries. Fortunately, on my first day of preschool, I became friends with a 4-year-old who explained how “Carolina is the best team ever” and “The Tar Heels are #1.” By the end of the school day, I had been totally recruited. As I got buckled into my car seat at the end of the first day, I proclaimed to my mother that “I am a Tar Heel!” Now a double graduate from UNC (BS Bio ‘95 and DDS ‘99) and all these years later, I shudder to think what could have happened if my preschool friend had been a fan of one of those “other” teams and not a Tar Heel.

-DAVID OLSON CREEDMOOR, NC

I was 5 years old when my family moved south to North Carolina in the early 1990s. Days before the big move, my father presented my brother and me with two t-shirts: an understated, heather gray shirt with “North Carolina” emblazoned across the chest; and an ostentatious, bright red garment bearing the name of that other school. By virtue of him being younger, my brother was allowed to choose the one he liked best. As fate would have it, the Carolina shirt was relegated to me, representing the start of an almost lifelong love affair with all things UNC. I often think back to those two t-shirts and how differently (and less enjoyable) the last 25 years of my life could have been had my brother been drawn to the other shirt. He did eventually see the light, graduated from Carolina a year after I did, and now avidly follows the Tar Heels.

-JOHN EICK ALEXANDRIA, VA

“So, did you go to Carolina or are you from North Carolina?” I hear this question frequently when I’m driving either of my cars which feature Ontario license plates emblazoned with “GO HEELS” and “GDTBATH” respectively. And as surprised as I am when they know what the Tar Heels are, those that ask are equally surprised that somebody who answered no to both questions is as big of a Carolina fan as I am. The year was 1993. My older brother was a huge fan of the Fab Five and the University of Michigan. I was 6 years old. I can’t recall whether it was just wanting to go against the grain and pick the opposite of my brother, or whether it was the stunning Carolina blue uniforms, or a combination of the two, but I just fell in love with the Tar Heels. While I didn’t attend UNC, I’ve always felt welcomed by those who did, and have formed some incredible friendships through this passion. So, while I may not have been a Tar Heel born or a Tar Heel bred, when I die this Canadian will be a Tar Heel dead.

-MIKE FORTUNA HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA ramsclub.com 15

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A WINNING

PA R T N E R S H I P

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HOBSON

A chance meeting led Steve Robinson to find a kindred spirit and eventually turned him into a Tar Heel

I

n his longtime work career at the Dean E. Smith Center, Steve Robinson has coached in games to decide the regular season championship, buzzer beaters, and triple-overtime record-setters. But he has been nervous only once.

That day happened in July of 1988, and it was the first time a young Robinson had ever set foot in the building. It was an eventful summer in the world of college basketball. Kansas University had just won the national championship under the direction of Carolina alum Larry Brown. But Brown had bolted for the San Antonio Spurs in June, leaving the Jayhawks under the cloud of an NCAA investigation (and eventually one season of probation). Kansas’ best player, Danny Manning, left for the NBA Draft and was the number-one overall pick.

The Jayhawks inquired about several head coaches to fill their vacancy. But when Dean Smith made a trip to Topeka to visit his parents, he also met with KU athletic director Bob Frederick. That conversation convinced Frederick he should at least interview Roy Williams.

Frederick hired Williams on July 8, 1988. And just a couple days later, Williams— whose first contract in Lawrence was for $78,000 per year—was back in Chapel Hill, where he had served on Smith’s staff for ten years, to clean out his office.

Robinson, in his second season as an assistant coach at Cornell after starting his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Radford, was on one of those multi-city recruiting trips that is a staple of summer life for college coaches. He’d been in Chicago, where he ran into Jerry Green, the longtime head coach at UNC Asheville who was headed to Kansas to coach under Williams. Green told Robinson that Williams had one spot open on his staff. And when Green and Robinson ended up on the same flight from Chicago to Charlotte, Robinson slid into an open seat next to the veteran coach and made his case for the next two hours.

That same evening, Robinson received a phone call from Roy Williams that would eventually change the course of his career and his life.

“He invited me to come see him,” Robinson says. “He said he only had about 30 minutes because he was packing up his office. I wasn’t that familiar with how far it was from Charlotte to Chapel Hill, so I drove up the next day and I was about an hour and a half early. I just walked around the concourse of the Smith Center, and I was nervous as all get out … The whole place was like, ‘Wow.’ It made you step

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back and marvel. You could spend a lot of time just walking around being immersed in the history of the program. It was incredible.”

It was the first time the two coaches, born seven years apart, had ever met each other. The planned 30-minute session turned into 90 minutes. Two days later, Williams offered Robinson a job on his staff at Kansas.

“I went home that night and told my wife, ‘I think I’m going to hire him,’” Williams says. “She said, ‘You just met him.’ And I had just met him, but I got a great first impression.”

The fit was immediate and their backgrounds were remarkably similar. Both men once dreamed of being high school coaches.

Robinson got into coaching because of his admiration for his high school basketball coach, Charlie VanLear. “In my mind,” Robinson says, “when I was deciding to be a coach, I thought I would be a high school coach.”

But VanLear also planted a seed of respect for the college game. Every year, the veteran coach would attend the Final Four.

He’d bring a game program back to Roanoke, where young player

“

“I JUST WALKED AROUND THE CONCOURSE OF THE SMITH CENTER, AND I WAS NERVOUS AS ALL GET OUT…THE WHOLE PLACE WAS LIKE, ‘WOW.’ IT MADE YOU STEP BACK AND MARVEL. YOU COULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME JUST WALKING AROUND BEING IMMERSED IN THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM. IT WAS INCREDIBLE.”

Steve Robinson would devour it, imagining what it might be like to attend—or even play in—an event as high-profile as the Final Four.

He carried that same dream first to Ferrum and then to Radford, where he was coached by Joe Davis. “Coach VanLear probably got me more involved with trying to understand strategy and why you play the way you play,” Robinson says. “With Coach Davis, I was constantly asking him questions, trying to find out how you recruit and other aspects of college coaching. I have a great deal of respect for both of them. I wanted to be them.”

Williams, of course, had the same admiration for his high school coach, Buddy Baldwin, and his college mentor, Dean Smith. Their experiences in those initial years in Lawrence bonded them even more. In the second season at Kansas, the Jayhawks attended a preevent dinner for the Preseason NIT at the Tavern on the Green in New York City. Some of the sport’s elite were on hand; Kansas had already beaten second-ranked LSU and was set to play top-ranked UNLV. Nationally ranked St. John’s was also in the field.

Each coach was announced to the gathering. When it was Kansas’ turn, the evening’s MC said, “And here’s the coach of Kansas, Ron Williams.”

Despite the case of mistaken identity, the Jayhawks went on

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A WINNING PARTNERSHIP

to beat the Running Rebels and win the tournament. The productive partnership between Robinson and Williams continued until 1995, with Kansas making Final Four trips in 1991 and 1993, both of which ended with losses to Carolina.

Tulsa hired Robinson as head coach before the 1995-96 season, and he directed the Golden Hurricane to the NCAA Tournament for two straight seasons, winning a game in the 1997 event.

That opened the door for Robinson to become the head coach at Florida State, a difficult job with dated facilities and not always voracious support from the administration. His fiveseason tenure included one NCAA Tournament appearance, where they upended fifth-seeded TCU as a 12 seed and then were an overtime away from a Sweet Sixteen appearance.

When his stint ended in Tallahassee, Robinson went back to Kansas for one season—just in time for Williams to make the move to Chapel Hill after the 2003 campaign. That brought him back to the Smith Center, where the partnership had begun 15 years earlier.

Robinson had coached five games in the building as the head coach of the Seminoles (his team won during the 2000

season), so he knew exactly what to expect.

“When I had to coach against Carolina, I had to make our guys try to hate Carolina,” he says. “I felt that if they didn’t, we would lose by 120. You come in here and you warm up and start looking around and seeing all the banners and you’re mesmerized, and before you know it you’re down 25-0.”

His Virginia roots meant Robinson always had a deep appreciation for what it meant to coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I grew up watching ACC basketball,” he says. “I watched Charlie Scott and all the ACC guys who used to play, Thacker and Packer, all of those Saturday games on our black and white television. As a young kid, you always dreamed of having the opportunity to be part of a program like that.”

And Robinson has become an integral part of Carolina’s program. At practices, he can most often be found with the guards and perimeter players, and everyone from Raymond Felton to Cole Anthony has mentioned the benefits they received from Robinson’s tutelage. They also appreciate Robinson’s sly sense of humor (“People don’t realize how

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hilarious he can be,” says Williams), and the perspective he has from 30 years of working with Williams. No matter what troubles a player is encountering, Robinson has probably seen it before. He’s the secondlongest tenured assistant coach in Carolina basketball history, trailing only Bill Guthridge.

“People on the outside don’t understand how much he does for our program,” says Brandon Robinson, who graduated in 2020. “When I got here, it was incredible how much he helped me.”

Tar Heel fans might forget about the luxury of having a former ACC head coach on the sideline, but they’ve been reminded of it on two separate occasions—when Williams had to leave games at Clemson and at Boston College because of vertigo episodes. Robinson took over to help lead Carolina to victories in both games, then quietly stepped back into the background after the wins.

The two games were occasions when the basketball world sees what the Tar Heels see every day in practice.

“Coach Rob has been in my ear since he started recruiting me in Concord,” says Leaky Black. “He might seem quiet, but he will talk to you every time he sees you on the sideline in practice or a game.

He’ll make sure if you forget something, you won’t do it again. It’s not nagging, but he’ll coach you up.”

“I’ve been together with Coach Williams for so long that we know what each other are thinking,” Robinson says. “At practice, he can be on one side of the court and I can be on the other side, and we might separately say the same things. I’ve said something to a guy and then Coach says the same thing out loud, and they look at me wondering if we planned that. We didn’t. That’s just 30-some years together as coaches.”

Life has changed during the nearly 20 years that Robinson has been in Chapel Hill. His sons graduated from Carolina, with Denzel a member of the basketball team and Tarron playing for the Diamond Heels. He’s been inducted into the Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame.

And that kid from Virginia who used to gaze goggle-eyed at the Final Four program has climbed a ladder on three separate occasions to cut down the nets on the last Monday of the college basketball season.

He’s done it all three times as a Tar Heel, a definition he’s learned to appreciate. Remember, this is someone who sat in the audience at graduation watching two of his children receive a diploma. He understands there is a broader institution beyond just the basketball program.

“The pride of wearing that Carolina blue is such a big part of Carolina,” Robinson says. “It’s not just basketball. It’s all of the sports and they have the same passion in the School of Dentistry or education or business. Everything at Carolina is at a very high level, and there’s a support for each other that is a special feeling. What I’ve given to this University and what this University has given to me, I’m a Tar Heel, and I’m proud of it and very honored and blessed that I had the opportunity to be a Tar Heel.”

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“

“IT’S NOT JUST BASKETBALL. IT’S ALL OF THE SPORTS AND THEY HAVE THE SAME PASSION IN THE SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY OR EDUCATION OR BUSINESS. EVERYTHING AT CAROLINA IS AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL, AND THERE’S A SUPPORT FOR EACH OTHER THAT IS A SPECIAL FEELING. WHAT I’VE GIVEN TO THIS UNIVERSITY AND WHAT THIS UNIVERSITY HAS GIVEN TO ME, I’M A TAR HEEL, AND I’M PROUD OF IT AND VERY HONORED AND BLESSED THAT I HAD

THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A TAR HEEL.”

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FINDING THE FIT EIGHTEEN MONTHS AFTER TRANSFERRING TO CAROLINA, CHRIS GRAY IS EXCITED ABOUT HIS FIRST FULL SEASON AS A TAR HEEL

BY ANDREW STILWELL

PHOTO BY REBECCA LAWSON 24

BORN & BRED

FINDING THE FIT

F

ollowing his sophomore season as an attackman for the Boston University lacrosse team, Chris Gray sported quite the impressive resume. In 17 games for the Terriers in 2019, he tallied 49 goals, 62 assists and was one of three NCAA Division I lacrosse players that season to combine for more than 100 points for the season. He would go on to become the only sophomore selected as a Division I first-team All American by Inside Lacrosse in 2019.

So, it came as a bit of a surprise then to those who cover the sport when Gray entered the transfer portal following his sophomore campaign. Even though veteran UNC lacrosse head coach Joe Breschi had never seen him play in person, he was well aware of Gray.

“We keep an eye on the portal because you never know, and you always want to keep your options open,” Breschi remembered thinking on Gray’s decision to enter the transfer portal. “We heard from his club coach, who told us he had an interest in Carolina, and quite frankly, everyone was interested in him. We were fortunate enough to have a spot available from an admission and roster standpoint.

“I got in contact with him the day after he entered the portal,” Breschi continued. “I went up to New York and made a home visit with [UNC defensive coordinator] Coach [Kevin] Unterstein, who was actually from the same high school and town, Shoreham-Wading River on Long Island.”

Breschi wasn’t the only person from Carolina who contacted Gray after he chose to transfer from Boston.

“Right when I hit the portal, I think I heard from about every guy top down on the roster,” Gray said. “Just them expressing how they would love to have me, and they would welcome me with open arms.”

After a whirlwind tour of potential colleges that included a campus visit to Chapel Hill that featured lunch with some of his future teammates and a meeting with Carolina football head coach Mack Brown, Gray made the decision to transfer to North Carolina in June of 2019.

“The guys called me after Chris’s visit and they were just like ‘Coach, he’s one of us!’” Breschi remembered. “That was pretty cool to hear. The team knows our culture and our mentality of the guys we’re looking for. Even on his visit, he just fit like a glove with our guys, immediately.”

FAMILY, ACADEMICS, LACROSSE

While lacrosse was certainly a factor in his decision, according to Gray, the decision to transfer was motivated more by academics.

“I’ve always kind of thought of lacrosse as a ‘second option,’” Gray explained. “Even though it’s my passion, I’m at school to get an education. While I was looking at transfer options, I put a lot of emphasis where I could find something I was really interested in and find a great major with interesting classes that could teach me things that I can use when I graduate.

“Once I came to UNC, I had a great meeting with Mike Greene, the academic coordinator, and he kind of just laid out all these different options that really allowed me to pursue the career that I want to after college,” he continued. “That was all really appealing to me.”

Currently majoring in Management and Society, Gray earned a 3.5 GPA his junior year, and noted he was also very impressed by Carolina’s options in post-graduate education, which he’s also currently working towards.

Gray arrived on campus at UNC as junior transfer in fall of 2019, eligible to play the following spring. It didn’t take long for him to assimilate into the Carolina Lacrosse family.

“A lot of the credit goes to the coaching staff, specifically Coach [David] Metzbower whom I work with a lot on the offensive side,” he said. “It’s exciting playing in his system, and with the guys on the offense, attack and middie-wise. They really did a great job introducing me to the offense, making sure I was comfortable with everything, so by the time we stepped on the field for our first scrimmage, I felt like I was best friends with those guys.

“

“THE GUYS CALLED ME AFTER CHRIS’S VISIT AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE ‘COACH, HE’S ONE OF US!’ THAT WAS PRETTY COOL TO HEAR. THE TEAM KNOWS OUR CULTURE AND OUR MENTALITY OF THE GUYS WE’RE LOOKING FOR. EVEN ON HIS VISIT, HE JUST FIT LIKE A GLOVE WITH OUR GUYS, IMMEDIATELY.”

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“The motto for the lacrosse team is ‘Family, Academics, Lacrosse’,” Gray continued. “The family piece is something I’ve noticed that is something that is really prioritized in the locker room. From the coaches down to the team. Just how close the team is. It really is a family atmosphere. That bond you build on the field continues off the field and continues for the rest of your life.”

Breschi realized he had found a special player to add to the family during the 2019 fall training season.

“Prior to his arriving at Carolina, we had only seen Chris on film, but never in person,” Breschi said. “He brings a different element as a player. He can score, he can distribute, but he doesn’t force it. He lets the game come to him. I think from an on-field perspective, that’s what unique about his game, it’s got a little bit of everything. He makes everyone around him better.

It’s a unique talent to have.

“In the fall [of 2019], he came in, played fall ball for a month, and he showed flashes of his ability. He would work hard and do the little things. He would always keep his teammates engaged, and wouldn’t try to shine any moment. It was never about him,” Breschi continued. “That’s what was really impressive. He wasn’t a guy who was like ‘Oh, a first team AllAmerican is coming in to step on toes.’ He just played the way he was capable and when the light shined the brightest, his mindset was ‘Alright, I’m going to elevate everyone’.”

FROM FULL THROTTLE TO FULL STOP

Following a roller coaster 2019 campaign that saw the Tar Heels finish 8-7 and miss the NCAA Tournament, the team began the 2020 spring season by winning seven straight games, including wins over ranked foes, Johns Hopkins and Denver. The lacrosse team was leading the nation in several key offensive statistics, and Gray was certainly on pace to repeat his first-team All-American honors, rewriting the UNC lacrosse record book along the way.

UNC was scheduled to take on ninth-ranked Georgetown in a top-10 showdown on March 14. If you’ve been living in 2020 with the rest of us, you can probably guess what happened next.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. I know the rest of our team does as well,” Gray recalled. “We had a big team meeting the day after one of the leagues got cancelled. We had just finished practice and were all hanging out in the locker room waiting to hear what the word was. We heard more leagues got cancelled, and the basketball tournament got cancelled, and then finally they told us that we were done for the year.

“It was definitely a terrible feeling, because not only were we 7-0, just because we knew the potential that the team

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really had,” he added. “We didn’t want to let that go. It was an unfortunate situation, but it’s been fueling us since it ended. It’s been in the back of our minds, and we’re using it as motivation.”

Though the 2020 season had been cut short, throughout the elongated off-season, the lacrosse team continued to train and prepare while managing to stay connected, virtually.

“We did Zooms as if we were preparing for the next opponent each week, to keep the guys engaged,” Breschi noted. “We were going through our season, showing film, not only of ourselves, but of our opponent that we would have played.

We stayed in touch over Zoom during the summer, and after returning to campus this fall, we were able to continue to stay connected virtually, and started our pre-season training in midSeptember.”

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Despite the frustrations and “what-ifs” that resulted from the shortened season, with an additional year of granted eligibility for much of this past season’s team, Gray considered the abbreviated 2020 campaign as a bit of a blessing in disguise.

“It was basically like a warm-up for me,” he said. “I felt like I had a really good understanding of all the guys and their tendencies, but now after seven games and getting to play together last year, I think we’re really going to be able to hit the ground running this spring, which is a great feeling.”

Following the recently completed fall preseason, Gray was unanimously selected by his teammates as one of the lacrosse team’s captains for the upcoming pre-season, an honor that he doesn’t take lightly.

“It meant a lot when Coach Breschi told me I was nominated for captain,” Gray said, with a hint of pride. “I know I was nominated by the rest of the team, and it shows the respect they have for me, but also that I have respect for them. I’m really happy to be in a position to help lead this team.”

Along with his teammates and coaches, there is a feeling of “unfinished business” for Gray.

“We’re lucky that we have just about our entire team coming back,” he said. “We’re all on the same page when it comes to ‘unfinished business.’ We know the potential our team has, and unfortunately, we didn’t get to show it for a full season last year. It’s a big emphasis this year for our team to show it for all of the games.

“We had such a blast last year. Every practice, every game, we were laughing and having a great time. I think that’s what made us so good is that we all just had each other’s backs and wanted to go out there and play lacrosse. I’m just ready to get out there and play again with my team.”

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A MAJOR MOVE

A MAJOR

MOVE

Chris Miltenberg saw the potential at Carolina that persuaded him to leave Stanford

I

BY ANDREW STILWELL // PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

n an athletic department like Carolina’s, where national championships are the norm, many people might not realize the storied history of the University’s track and field and cross country programs. Under longtime head coach Dennis Craddock, the Tar Heels won nearly 40 combined ACC track & field and cross country titles during his 27-year tenure.

However, following Craddock’s retirement in 2012, the teams’ results slowly began to trend in the wrong direction, and in 2019, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham felt it was time for a change in the program’s leadership.

“Unfortunately, after Coach Craddock left, our athletic success in [track & field and cross country] wasn’t quite what we hoped it would be,” Cunningham explained.

“With all of our teams, we strive to be a Top-3 or Top-10 program, both academically and athletically, and since we were missing our mark, I thought it was time that we make the change and see if we couldn’t achieve that status.”

Nearly 2,500 miles away in Palo Alto, California, Stanford University’s Track & Field and Cross Country Director Chris Miltenberg had recently finished his seventh season at the helm of the Cardinal program. The men’s program had just been named the 2019 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Program of the Year, a year after Stanford’s women’s program won the same award in 2018. However, despite building a powerhouse program at Stanford, he too was ready for a change.

Fortunately for both Miltenberg and Cunningham, they had similar mindsets on what that “change” meant, and Carolina hired Miltenberg as the Director of the Track & Field and Cross Country teams in June 2019.

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FINDING HOME “We wanted a coach who could have success athletically and academically,” Cunningham said. “Certainly, the head coach at Stanford was able to meet that threshold, and I believed that he could do it here. It’s Carolina that lures people to Carolina.

The combination of professional and personal opportunities for he and his family just made sense.”

Miltenberg agreed.

“I really wanted to be at a place where we could be at the absolute highest level academically, athletically, and where people could actually be happy and thriving,” he said. “That was what I saw at Carolina from a distance that I hoped it would be. It’s been that and more.”

CAROLINA CAMARADERIE

“THE LEVEL OF APPROACHABLENESS THAT ROY WILLIAMS HAS IS UNBELIEVABLE. IT’S AMAZING! IT’S SINCERE! IT’S NOT AN ACT! HE ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT WHAT WE’RE DOING WITH TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY, AND HE’S NOT JUST SAYING IT. HE MEANS IT AND FOLLOWS THROUGH WITH IT.”

In the past 18 months, one of the biggest differences for Miltenberg between Carolina and Stanford is the camaraderie of the athletic department and head coaches.

“The community and connections among the coaches here is incredible and something I could talk about all day,” Miltenberg said.

It didn’t take long after his hiring announcement for Miltenberg to get his first helping hand from the Carolina athletics family.

After Miltenberg accepted the job at Carolina, one of the first people to contact and congratulate him was his neighbor in Palo Alto, Stanford basketball head coach (and former UNC assistant) Jerod Haase.

“After I took the job at Carolina, Jerod knocked on my door,” Miltenberg recalled. “He told me, ‘Hey, you’ve got to call this guy, [UNC Basketball Director of Player Development] Eric Hoots. He knows everyone!’ When we flew to Chapel Hill a few days later to look for a house, Hoots was in the hotel lobby waiting for us. He told us that Coach Haase and Coach Williams asked him to help us with whatever we needed.”

After a day of “striking out” while looking for houses in the area, Miltenberg, his wife Colleen, and their four children, would eventually become next door neighbors to Hoots and his family, who also lived near basketball assistant coach Hubert Davis.

“It was crazy,” Miltenberg said with a laugh. “I went from living next door to a former Carolina assistant coach in Palo Alto, to living next door to Hoots and Hubert in Chapel Hill!”

The ability to connect and collaborate with a host of national

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“

championship-winning coaches at Carolina is both refreshing and inspiring for Miltenberg.

“When I got here, I got to talk to [UNC women’s soccer coach] Anson Dorrance, who I had studied for 10-plus years from a distance. Being able to walk over and sit in Anson’s office, which I’ve since done many times, to ask about how he built a certain culture or handled a specific part of his recruiting. I just appreciate how much he is willing to help,” Miltenberg said.

“And Roy Williams!” he continued. “The level of approachableness that Roy Williams has is unbelievable. It’s amazing! It’s sincere! It’s not an act! He actually cares about what we’re doing with track & field and cross country, and he’s not just saying it. He means it and follows through with it.”

Miltenberg also enjoys being a part of the greater Carolina community.

“The community that our family would be a part of was really important to us in making the decision,” he noted.

“Since we’ve been here, it’s been phenomenal. The first time we went to a football game in Kenan, I thought to myself, ‘This is what we wanted.

This is awesome!’ Then we went to the first home basketball game, and forget about it! My kids were in love right then.

“The community has been incredible. I’ve connected with so many people who love being here and care so much about the Carolina community.”

ESTABLISHING A CULTURE

A former collegiate runner who captained the track & field team at Georgetown University for two years, Miltenberg has always been a fierce competitor, and with coaching stops at Columbia, Georgetown and Stanford, has always been around a strong academic environment. In his relatively short tenure at Carolina, one of his biggest takeaways is the healthy balance between academics and athletics in Chapel Hill.

“At Carolina, there’s this combination of people that want to be challenged academically and athletically, in an environment that is really supportive of them,” he said. “It’s not that Carolina is any less challenging academically than a program like Stanford, but the culture is different. That culture is key to people having great experiences, and it’s the kind of environment we want to raise our own kids in. That’s

A MAJOR MOVE exactly what we thought it would be, hoped it would be, and it’s turned out to be that and more.”

One of his main goals has been to establish a culture of support and unification within the track & field and cross country programs.

“When we arrived on campus, we started with a really basic level of getting to know the people who were already here.

One of the things we found out pretty quickly that was within our teams, we had a lot of people who didn’t know each other at all,” Miltenberg recalled. “We wanted to unify the entire team in order to determine what we wanted to do and who we wanted to be. We wanted to establish our core values that our team would stand for; not just about athletic results, but how we do things every day.”

The synergy was evident to Miltenberg in February, during the Tar Heels’ final indoor track meet of the year, at the ACC Championships.

“When our men’s 4x400 relay won in the last event of the meet, our entire team was running around the building going crazy for them,” he said with pride. “That’s everyone -- the men, the women, the shot putters -- the entire team were all cheering on the sprinters. You could feel the difference in the air then.”

SLEEPING GIANTS

According to Miltenberg, the Tar Heels’ program is one of the biggest “sleeping giants” in all of collegiate track & field, and he is eager to re-establish the culture of the program to regain the prestige that the program had under Craddock.

“Certainly, there was a lot of success in the 80s and 90s and it showed what was possible at Carolina. The success of other sports has shown what is possible here,” Miltenberg said. “I wanted to come to Carolina and do something that had never been done here before, and all the pieces are in place to do it.”

When asked if there were any qualms about moving across the country from Stanford to North Carolina, Miltenberg was quick reaffirm his decision.

“Every day that I’m here, I’m certain that I made the right choice to come to North Carolina,” Miltenberg said. “Even through the challenges of the pandemic in the last seven or eight months, it’s confirmed that even more. There’s no doubt in my mind that this was 100 percent the right choice for me and my family. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and that’s exactly what I want to do, is do the work and build something special at North Carolina.”

BREAKING RECORDS PHOTO BY ALLISON F. SMITH

Many people think they can break a world record. Carolina track and field assistant coach Dylan Sorensen is one of those people who can actually back up the claim. He broke a world record. Twice.

In May of this year, Sorenson broke the world record for fastest mile run while dribbling a basketball.

“A friend of mine told me about someone he knew who had just broken the record,” Sorensen said. “His time was 5:08. I had never really thought about it, but I told him I thought I could run it way faster, just in jest.”

On his 30th birthday, Sorensen was able to back up his prediction, breaking the world record with a time of 4:37. However in Sorensen’s words, “records are meant to be broken.”

Over the summer, the record was broken again, with a time of 4:33.75. A lifelong competitor, Sorensen was determined to try again, except this time he would be running to raise money and awareness for FORevHER Tar Heels, The Rams Club’s campaign to increase opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics.

On November 18, Sorensen bested the world record by .02 seconds, clocking in at 4:33.73. However, it was never about the record for the second-year coach.

“I consider myself to be a really small part of the University North Carolina, but one of the reasons I love being at Carolina is that I’m a part of something so much bigger than myself,” he said. “In raising money for FORevHER Tar Heels, it’s been to fun to know that I played a role in something that impacts more people than just me.”

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THE CAROLINA VICTORY FUND

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CAROLINA NEEDS YOUR HELP Tar Heel fans are a loyal and generous group – especially those who give through The Rams Club. As we come together to meet the needs of our student-athletes and coaches in this challenging time, we ask you to consider giving in two important ways: 1. Complete your 2020 annual membership.

2. Make a new gift to the Carolina Victory Fund in addition to your annual gift.

Your annual gift and a gift to the Carolina Victory Fund are unrestricted gifts – allowing Carolina to use the funds to address the most immediate needs of the program. With the significant budget shortfalls anticipated this year, unrestricted giving will give Carolina the best opportunity to preserve the level of academic and athletic excellence we all have grown to appreciate from UNC.

TO COMPLETE YOUR MEMBERSHIP AND MAKE A GIFT TO THE CAROLINA VICTORY FUND: • Log in to your account at ramsclub.com and use a credit card.

• Contact us at ramsclub@ramsclub.com or 919-843-2000 to speak to a staff member.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT RAMSCLUB.COM/CVF.

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FAMILY

TIME

BY LEE PACE

PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

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FAMILY TIME

An early trip to Chapel Hill proved to be a harbinger of an unexpected return that was the perfect fit for Phil Longo and his family

P

hil Longo was a high school coach in New Jersey and then an assistant at LaSalle University in Philadelphia in the early 2000s when he traveled to Chapel Hill regularly in the spring to visit his old head coach from Rowan College, John Bunting. Longo met the Tar Heel staff, visited haunts like Lucy’s Bar & Grill on Henderson Street and even crashed on the couch in Bunting’s office late one night.

“It was part Xs-and-Os and watching and talking ball, but it was mostly about supporting your coach in his dream job,” Longo remembers. “As a kid in New Jersey, we’d visited the Outer Banks, so I knew a little something of North Carolina. I loved to visit college campuses, and the UNC brand was well-known. Those were fun times.”

Nearly two decades later, Longo was back in Kenan Football Center, this time accompanied by his wife, Tanya, and being interviewed for the job as Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach by Mack Brown, newly installed as the Carolina head coach.

“I knew the stadium, I knew my way around town,” Longo says. “I walked around the offices and said, ‘I know these offices. Gosh dang, here I am at North Carolina. Of all the schools in the nation, what are the chances I end up back here, at one of my coaches’ alma mater?’ It’s a smaller world than you think.”

Carolina, the Chapel Hill community and Brown’s family-centric program have been perfect fits for the Longo family—Phil, Tanya and four young children, Gianna (nine), Marcaria (seven), and twins Morgan and Nico (two).

It works from a football perspective as Longo’s version of the “Air Raid” offense with the added gear of always having a viable running threat meshed with exactly what Brown wanted in assembling a staff and program template.

And it works from a family standpoint as Tanya, a former head coach at two collegiate women’s basketball programs, and the kids are welcome and encouraged to be active and visible around not only the Tar Heel football program but the university athletic scene as well. The fact that Tanya had newborn twins her first year to mind and the Covid-19 restrictions the second year are the only things having tempered their visibility.

“Mack and Sally have what is the epitome of a family environment,” Tanya says. “This is a great match, and I can be involved and they want us involved. I love sitting with parents and with recruits, getting to know them and helping them sort through their thoughts. That’s what I did for 15 years.

“The deal when I quit coaching was that I could live vicariously through Phil’s coaching job. This is the perfect environment for that.”

Longo played running back at Rowan University from 1988-91 under Bunting and then went into high school coaching in 1996 at Parsippany Hills High in New Jersey. He was intrigued watching the evolution of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch as he threw for

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FINDING HOME

nearly 4,000 yards under an innovative system called the “Air Raid” that was run by head coach Hal Mumme and offensive coordinator Mike Leach. In the spring of 1998, Longo drove to Lexington to attend a clinic where Leach spoke of a system built on using four wide receivers, going fast, having a limited playbook and letting great athletes play more by instinct than strict regimens.

“I left there knowing I’d found my offense,” he says. “It made sense to me.

I adopted that philosophy and have been adapting it ever since.”

He’s developed his playbook over two decades at a half dozen stops, most recently at Sam Houston State and Ole Miss. Now the Tar Heel offense and a bevy of skill players have rewritten the record books on multiple levels through two seasons.

The unit’s totals of 33 points a game in 2019 and 43 in 2020 and 474 yards a game in 2019 and 557 in 2020 dwarf any pair

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of seasons in school history. Carolina was 12th in the nation in total offense in Longo’s introductory season, fourth in his second. Sam Howell, Michael Carter, Javonte Williams, Dazz Newsome and Dyami Brown have the statisticians working at warp speed to keep up with new records. The unit was more prolific in year one with the passing game and pivoted more during the second season to ride the sturdy backs of the two tailbacks—not only on running plays but as receivers out of the backfield.

“The term ‘Air Raid’ makes you think you throw it every time, and you don’t,” Brown says. “It offers a good balance, and you can do either. A lot of it is taking what’s there. I really like what Phil has done with our offense—a lot of moving parts that make it difficult to defend.”

Longo was offensive coordinator at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2005-07 and was immersed in spring practice in April 2007 when the Bulldogs hired a coach from

“MACK AND SALLY HAVE WHAT IS THE EPITOME OF A FAMILY ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS A GREAT MATCH, AND I CAN BE INVOLVED AND THEY WANT US INVOLVED. I LOVE SITTING WITH PARENTS AND WITH RECRUITS, GETTING TO KNOW THEM AND HELPING THEM SORT THROUGH THEIR THOUGHTS.”

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FAMILY TIME Santa Clara to head the women’s basketball program. Tanya Nash’s office was in the same building as the football staff, and Phil took particular interest because Tanya liked to brew coffee into the evenings.

“We were both working long hours, and she would make coffee late at night,” he says. “Her office was the only place I could find coffee without going out. I’d walk down the hallway, steal some coffee and we got to know each other.”

One thing led to another, and they were married in 2010 and were able to coordinate concurrent jobs at Southern Illinois, Youngstown State and Slippery Rock.

They were busy with the business of coaching and parenting at Slippery Rock in 2013 when one day they realized that Gianna, then just two years old, had three separate babysitters in a single day.

“We were like ships passing in the night, as football and basketball schedules are polar opposite, particularly when you get into recruiting,” Longo says. “Tanya said, ‘You go back to Division I football and I’m going to call it a day and raise our kids the right way,’ We didn’t want to keep handing her off.

Tanya gave up her career to let me pursue what I love. She’s been the leader of the family ever since.”

“It’s not possible to do both things really well,” Tanya adds.

“It was a very difficult decision. It was a tough transition to not be on the sideline coaching and in that day-to-day grind. But it’s worked out fine. We’ve been very selective in choosing programs that are all about family.”

Enter Mack and Sally Brown. Brown has made it requisite in interviewing potential assistant coaches that the candidate bring his wife for the visit so the Browns can see if the couple together will be a good fit for the program. When Brown and Longo arranged Longo’s visit in December of 2018, Longo didn’t mention that Tanya was eight months pregnant—with twins. She conferred with her doctor about making the trip and got the green light with certain precautions and restrictions.

“Mack’s jaw kind of dropped when he saw Tanya waddle in, and she was huge with those twins,” Longo says. “Afterward they both said, ‘She is definitely a coach’s wife.’”

Gianna as the oldest child has had the most opportunity to visit her dad in the office or on the practice field. She’s diabetic and has developed a friendship with receiver Beau Corrales, also a diabetic who, Longo says, “has been a wonderful example of how to do things the right way.” Gianna spends a couple days a week helping the trainers or equipment staff with assorted chores during practice and will often spend the entire day with her dad around the football office.

“It gives me a real kick to be running a quarterback drill and turn around and my daughter is standing there with a water

bottle and a towel,” Phil says. “That’s something you don’t see in a lot of places.”

“She has this glow about her when she gets to go to work with Dad,” Tanya adds.

The Longos made the decision when their girls became of school age that Tanya, who holds a degree in elementary/ middle school education from Wisconsin-Eau Claire, would home-school them, partially because it would provide consistency if and when the requisite job changes in the life of a coach evolved. Little could they envision the calamity that would engulf the world in March 2020.

“There are many reasons we chose to home-school,” Tanya says. “It’s certainly helped during the transitions from one stop to the next. But with Covid, it’s turned out to be a great decision. Still, it’s not been easy. We can’t take the afternoons and go out and explore. I look forward to things getting normalized. I love taking the kids to college sporting events. College athletes are some of the best mentors and role models for the young ones to see and be around.”

During games, Longo chooses not to work from a detailed call-sheet as he doesn’t want to get bogged down trying to find a certain call for a specific situation. Instead, he’d rather call plays by feel and instinct. But he does rely on Tanya helping him with a rigorous memorization session on Thursday nights to cement opposing defensive tendencies and the calls Longo thinks are the best ideas given downand-distance and defensive personnel situations.

“She’s been a coach, she understands what it’s all about, the rapid-fire decisions you have to make,” Longo says.

And is Mrs. Longo just like everyone else in the stadium, in the press box and watching on television an “armchair playcaller?”

“Not at all,” she says with a laugh. “Sadly, I don’t know as much about football as I’d like to. Basketball? I might have a few more questions. I leave the football to Phil.”

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FINDING HOME

FOUR YEARS OR 40 YEARS? Are you making a decision on where to play football for four years or where to find friends, mentorship and a network for four decades and beyond?

That’s the question Mack Brown asks every high school player he’s courting for a potential scholarship offer to play football at Carolina.

“Mack told me, ‘If you take a chance on the University of North Carolina, it will take care of you for the rest of your life,’” Tommy Thigpen remembers of being recruited to play linebacker in the late 1980s, then adds that every step he’s made in a two-decade-plus coaching career has been helped by a boost or recommendation from Brown or someone he met during his Carolina career.

“When Coach Brown recruited me years ago, he sold me on UNC because of the connections and the people,” adds Ethan Albright, an offensive lineman of the same era. “He has been true to his word.”

In Brown’s two years back as the Tar Heels’ head coach, he’s hammered home the “40-year decision” concept at every turn. A total renovation of the ground floor of the Frank Kenan Football Center included positioning a large photo on one high-trafficked wall with a random Tar Heel walking through the tunnel onto the field, draped in a cap and gown, holding a jersey in one hand and pair of cleats in the other with the words, “It’s a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision.”

“We can only play 22 guys at a time,” Brown says, “and we have 120 on the team. We tell them that a bunch of them might not ever play or play very much. We tell them that most will never make it to the NFL, and those that do will have an average career of 3.4 years. “So let us help you have a better life when you get out of here.”

An important element toward that end is the Bill Koman Game Plan for Success and its branding initiative, Blueprint 919, that were announced in the summer of 2020. It will help players develop their skill sets in areas such as job interviews, resume writing, public speaking, financial management and developing their personal brands through social media and public relations.

“I had a kid the other day say, ‘Coach, I’d like to learn about the stock market, I don’t know anything about it,’” Brown related last summer. “Another said, ‘Coach, how do you buy a house?’ There are so many things we can do to help these kids be better prepared when they go out into the world beyond football.”

BY LEE PACE // GRAPHIC BY CAROLINA FOOTBALL

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FINDING HOME

A SECOND

HOME

Graduate transfers Kerrigan Miller and Katie Bourque are a new part of a Carolina women’s lacrosse team again expected to be a national contender

BY PAT JAMES // PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2016 according to Inside Lacrosse, Kerrigan Miller had her pick of any school coming out of Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) High School.

That might be the case for just about any player of her caliber. But for her, it was something she actively tried to take advantage of once her parents insisted she visit every school that showed interest in her, no matter the pedigree nor the distance.

If not for their support, Miller likely wouldn’t have visited Southern California, more than 2,800 miles from home. Thankfully for her, though, she did, as that trip – her first to any school – lived up to expectations. It also became the standard by which all of her future visits were judged.

No school, she said, evoked the same feelings as USC. Then she visited North Carolina.

Highlighted by a UNC win over defending national champion Northwestern and a chat with Roy Williams in his Smith Center office, Miller said the trip left her “absolutely speechless.” But, as a high school freshman, she wasn’t quite ready to make a college decision. Her dad, Mark, on the other hand,

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A SECOND HOME knew it was all but certain she would end up in Chapel Hill.

“I specifically remember leaving Coach (Jenny) Levy’s office,” Miller recalled, “and he was like, ‘Let’s just do it. Let’s go here.’”

Ultimately, Miller couldn’t pass up the opportunity to fulfill her dream of living in California or to help put the USC program, coming off its first season, on the map. So, in the fall of 2013, she committed to the Trojans, for which she eventually starred for four years.

Seven years later, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought her senior season to an unsatisfying end, Miller was once again offered the chance to become a Tar Heel as a graduate transfer. This time, she couldn’t say no. The campus she stepped foot on when she arrived in Chapel Hill in July, though, was significantly different than the one she’d visited.

Gone was Fetzer Field and the old team locker room, replaced by Dorrance Field and a state-of-theart team building. Renovations had also been made to the Finley Practice Fields. The biggest difference of all, however, had nothing to do with the campus itself.

Instead, it had everything to do with the protocols in place to combat the virus, from temperature checks and face coverings, to hybrid learning and sociallydistanced introductions.

All those factors, as unusual as they are for everyone, could be especially disruptive for a college transfer.

But just a few months removed from fearing that her collegiate career was over, Miller has made the most of her Carolina experience.

“Everything that’s true to Carolina, it’s still evident, COVID or not,” she said, “The coaches, and their passion for this team and this game, that shines through every practice. Even the weight staff. Obviously, there are some setbacks with COVID and having to wear masks and socially distance and stuff like that. But if there’s a will, there’s a way, and I feel like everything I’ve experienced at Carolina has blown my expectations of what I thought it would be with COVID.” She’s not alone in that regard.

Like Miller, Katie Bourque earned Inside Lacrosse Media All-America honors in 2020, leading Dartmouth to a 5-0 record and a No. 9 ranking in the final Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association poll. But unlike her new teammate and the vast majority of spring sport seniors across the country, Bourque didn’t have the opportunity to return to her school; the Ivy League chose not to allow its spring sport athletes to have an additional year of eligibility.

The Ivy League’s decision left Bourque scrambling to find somewhere to attend grad

“

“[THE WOMEN’S LACROSSE COACHES] WERE REALLY UNDERSTANDING AND REALLY NICE, JUST HELPING ME THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS. I KIND OF TOOK MY TIME AND WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE BEST DECISION FOR ME. THEY DIDN’T PRESSURE ME OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. IT WAS REALLY PRETTY ORGANIC.” -KATIE BOURQUE

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FINDING HOME school and to continue her lacrosse career. Making matters even more difficult, she couldn’t visit any of the schools that reached out to her because of the rapid spread of the virus.

But through phone and Zoom calls with the coaches, Bourque built enough of a rapport to feel comfortable transferring to UNC, despite never stepping foot on campus.

“They were really understanding and really nice, just helping me through the whole process,” she said. “I kind of took my time and was able to make the best decision for me. They didn’t pressure me or anything like that. It was really pretty organic.”

The same goes for the relationships she and Miller have since developed with their teammates.

Among Miller’s best friends is Katie Hoeg, a fifth-year attacker for the Tar Heels and a valuable resource for Miller as she considered transferring. She also already knew senior Emma Trenchard, new assistant coach Emily Garrity Parros and Levy – the head coach of the U.S. national team – from playing on the U.S. national training team. Bourque didn’t have existing relationships with anyone at UNC. But she did play with Miller, Hoeg and senior Taylor Moreno in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game, so there was some familiarity there.

Getting to know the rest of their teammates could have been a struggle with teams functioning very differently amid the pandemic. But Miller and Bourque said it’s been anything but.

“I feel like the girls on this team have gone out of their way to include not only me but Katie Bourque and all of the freshmen,” Miller said. “I’ll talk to Katie all the time, and I always joke with her, like, ‘It’s funny that we’re 23-year-old freshmen.’ But it’s true. We didn’t really know any of the inner workings of the team when we came in. The girls were just awesome about it.

“I don’t think it’s anything we necessarily did. I feel like the girls just kind of took us under their wing and didn’t even have to say anything.”

While typical relationship-building activities such as getting dinner on Franklin Street might be out of the question because of COVID-19 concerns, Bourque said she’s gotten to know her teammates best before, during and immediately after practices.

She hasn’t had the same sort of opportunities, however, to meet her classmates in the Master’s in Educational Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (MEITE) program.

“

“I think the one thing I’m really missing is that in-person education and the walking to class and sitting in a classroom, meeting the other students in my graduate program in person,” Bourque said. “That’s just different because everyone is online. In terms of the Carolina experience, that’s probably been the most different, or what’s lacking.”

That hasn’t been an issue for Miller, though.

Miller knows many people view her decision to transfer from USC – which she helped become a top-20 program – to Carolina – a perennial national title contender and the consensus No. 1 team in 2020 – through strictly a lacrosse lens. But getting to play for such a program and with the likes of Hoeg and Jamie Ortega, Inside Lacrosse’s National Players of the Year, wasn’t what most intrigued her. It was UNC’s sport administration graduate program.

Through one semester, the program has met Miller’s lofty expectations, in large part because of the relationships she’s formed with members of her cohort through three in-person classes as well as helping athletic event management with a couple of home football games.

“We’re all very close at this point, now that we’ve had a semester,” said Miller, who hopes to become a high school athletic director.

“So, I appreciate their feedback, and they definitely make me a better student and person. I couldn’t be happier with the sports admin program.”

Bourque feels the same about her decision to transfer to UNC. “I’m so happy that I chose to play again because I love playing lacrosse and being able to play at Carolina is such an honor,” she said. “I’m so excited. I’ve made so many good friends already and can’t wait to see what happens this year.”

Miller still talks frequently with her USC teammates, who she says didn’t even get the chance to step on the field in the fall as coronavirus cases surged in California. That gave her even more appreciation for being where she is now, exactly where her dad thought she would be.

“It’s funny now how everything is kind of coming full circle now that I get this year back and I get to go to what was my No. 2 school – an amazing school – and I get to meet all these new faces, I get to play with new girls who are extremely talented,” Miller said. “It was definitely a silver lining for me with COVID. “Even with the semester that we had, it wasn’t normal, but it was awesome for me.”

“I’M SO HAPPY THAT I CHOSE TO PLAY AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVE PLAYING LACROSSE AND BEING ABLE TO PLAY AT CAROLINA IS SUCH AN HONOR.”

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FIRST PERSON

‘FORevHER a Tar Heel’

M

Many of you may not know that I was neither born nor didn’t know what a dogwood was, nor the legacy of a man raised a Tar Heel. You probably thought my first breath was named Dean, nor the accomplishments of a football player taken in Chapel Hill because of my very obvious passion named Choo Choo, but I loved Carolina Blue, and a place for The University of North Carolina and Carolina Athletics! like Chapel Hill sounded like a heavenly place to be. And My love for the University, however, it was, and is. People often ask, “Given began the minute I stepped foot on what you know now, would you make our beautiful campus for my recruiting the same choice?” I don’t hesitate in visit as a 17 year-old swimmer. But, saying, “Heel yeah!”

“I was a timid young girl from as Charles Kuralt poetically observed, I am grateful for my coaches, Hamburg, N.Y., who didn’t know it wasn’t the Bell or the Well, but the teammates, professors and classmates what a dogwood was, nor the people who made an impression on for the lessons they taught me me. From the random undergrad who lessons about fortitude, discipline, legacy of a man named Dean, nor acknowledged me with “Hey ya’ll” as selflessness, and courage - many the accomplishments of a football if we were best friends, the professors of which I have carried with me well player named Choo Choo, but I loved beyond my time as a student-athlete. who took the time to speak with an anxious high schooler about how I Carolina Blue, and a place like Chapel John Montgomery, Moyer Smith and would be challenged academically Hill sounded like a heavenly place to the late Ernie Williamson, as well as (and I was!), to the athletic training all of the Rams Club past-presidents/ be. And it was, and is.” table staff who greeted me as if I was chairpersons, deserve my gratitude for already a national champion, there their vision and dedication, especially was just that indescribable feeling that this was where I regarding the scholarship program, a belonged; this was the place that I wanted to call home the program about which I will forever next four years of my life. I never could have imagined the be passionate and proud. memories I would create nor the friendships I would be This has been an amazing race privileged to form during my time in Chapel Hill. and I want to thank each and My freshman year I knew that I needed to find a every Tar Heel for supporting way to give back to the University and the Carolina The Rams Club and Carolina swimming & diving program, both of which gave me Athletics.

Opportunities at so much. I didn’t hesitate, therefore, when a position Carolina start with scholarships. at the Rams Club came available soon after I Please accept this one last graduated. How many people are fortunate to do thank you from someone what they love (in my case, soliciting scholarship who took advantage of every support for the nation’s best and brightest opportunity her scholarship student-athletes), at a place that they love, for offered her and whose life more than 30 years? you impacted in such a I am beyond thankful for the early leaders meaningful way. of the Foundation who recognized the need to establish an athletic scholarship fundraising organization. In the 80 years since its incorporation, The Educational Foundation’s SUE WALSH mission remains the same, “providing educational The Rams Club and athletic opportunities for Carolina studentathletes,” including me.

Illustration by I was a timid young girl from Hamburg, N.Y., who Jason McCorkle

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CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS

POWERED BY

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