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

Following 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 “ “THE GUYS CALLED ME AFTER CHRIS’S VISIT AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE ‘COACH, 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 HE’S ONE OF US!’ THAT WAS PRETTY COOL TO HEAR. THE TEAM KNOWS OUR CULTURE in and find a great major with interesting classes that could teach me things that I can use AND OUR MENTALITY OF THE GUYS WE’RE when I graduate.

LOOKING FOR. EVEN ON HIS VISIT, HE “Once I came to UNC, I had a great meeting with Mike Greene, JUST FIT LIKE A GLOVE WITH OUR GUYS, the academic coordinator, and IMMEDIATELY.” 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 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 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.”