T H E
APRIL 2017
O F F I C I A L
M A G A Z I N E
O F
T H E
R A M S
C L U B
THE BLUEPRINT
HOW TAR HEELS PREPARE FOR SUCCESS
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WELCOME
Letter from the Editor
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Hopefully, the cover of this issue looks a little familiar. That was the idea behind the cover concept. We wanted to remind you of a Tar Heel photograph you might remember—the Sports Illustrated cover from the fall of 1981 featuring Dean Smith and four of his five projected starters from that season’s team, which would eventually win the head coach’s first national championship. That particular photograph was taken through a sheet of plexiglass to provide the illusion Smith was writing on a chalkboard. This year’s version was a little easier, as we had head coach Jenny Levy diagram a play on an iPad and then superimposed the image on top of Jeffrey Camarati’s photograph. Tar Heels are forever, but technology changes. The missing fifth player in the 1981 photo, of course, was Michael Jordan. Smith declined to include him on the cover because he was still a freshman and hadn’t yet played in a game. There are no freshmen on the cover of this issue, either, but that’s not the only reason Smith might appreciate it. The year before he retired, he answered a query about Carolina being a basketball school by saying, “This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them.” At that time, women’s lacrosse at Carolina had just begun, as the Tar Heels would go 12-4 in the program’s first season in 1996. In the last two decades, they’ve started to compile a resume that looks a little Anson Dorrance-esque, including two national championships in the past four seasons and six Final Fours in the past eight years.
PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEE PACE & TURNER WALSTON PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING
But you’re already somewhat familiar with all the on-field success of Levy’s team and that of the rest of the athletic department. Scores and achievements are easy to access. This issue, though, is less about what they achieve and more about how they achieve it. We wanted to dedicate an issue to the preparation that goes into every game. As fans, we tend to think the only output of a Carolina student-athlete’s sports life is when we see them in competition. There’s so much more than that, and Rams Club donors deserve the access to take a look behind the scenes. So, for this issue, we want you to watch film with Roy Williams and his coaching staff. We want you to see a half-dozen NCAA championshipwinning coaches diagram—in their own hand—a key play that led to a title. You’ll read about how Mitch Trubisky utilized even his time as a backup in Chapel Hill to help him become one of football’s most sought-after players as we approach the NFL Draft. The issue concludes with a first-person column from 2005 national champion Jawad Williams, who over a decade later, still remembers one of the key thoughts of the day that headlined Carolina’s practice plan during his playing tenure: “Everyone has the will to win, but only champions have the will to prepare to win.” We hope you enjoy reading about some of that preparation. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue, or suggestions for future issues—including our special Where Are They Now edition released in mid-May—by contacting me via email at adam@ramsclub.com.
ADAM LUCAS Editor in Chief ramsclub.com
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Everyone has the will to win, but champions have the will to prepare to win” —2005 UNC BASKETBALL PRACTICE PLAN
the
PREPARATION
edition
ON THE COVER: Molly Hendrick, Marie McCool, Carly Davis and Caylee Waters watch as Jenny Levy diagrams the next Tar Heel game-winner. COVER BY JEFFREY CAMARATI // OPPOSITE: BRIAN BATISTA
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THE BLUEPRINT
10 The Eye in the Sky
Go inside a film grading session with the Tar Heel basketball coaches BY ADAM LUCAS
THE BLUEPRINT
14 The Chalkboard
Six NCAA Tournament-winning coaches diagram the key plays that helped them win the title BY TURNER WALSTON
THE BLUEPRINT
Ready 22 Ever Mitch Trubisky’s time in Chapel Hill prepared him to be on the national stage this spring BY LEE PACE
28 EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3
32 TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6
THE BLUEPRINT
28 Making Strides
RJ Alowonle found a way to contribute to Tar Heel athletics on and off the track BY TURNER WALSTON
36 CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 20
THE BLUEPRINT
32 Team Player
While achieving huge individual success, Hayley Carter has found the ultimate reward is being a Tar Heel BY TURNER WALSTON
THE BLUEPRINT
36 Family, Philanthropy and Football
After a standout football career, William Fuller prioritized giving back BY SPEED HALLMAN
FIRST PERSON
40 First Person: Jawad Williams
A Tar Heel basketball champion on the importance of a key quote from a practice plan BY JAWAD WILLIAMS
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R S U R V E Y S AY S
LOST ON AN ISLAND KENNY SELMON, TRACK & FIELD
CODY ROBERTS, BASEBALL
My secret talent is: Volleyball
My secret talent is: I don’t really have one
The best pregame song: ‘The Motto’ - Drake
The best pregame song: ‘Mobbin’ by Grandtheft
Best teammate to be stranded on a desert island with and why: Daniel Belk, because we would undoubtedly survive. The game I would like to relive in my sports career is: Olympic Trials
Best teammate to be stranded on a desert island with and why: Kyle Datres, because I know him the best and I think we could find a way to survive together. The game I would like to relive in my sports career is: My first college game against UCLA.
WILLIAM BLUMBERG, MEN’S TENNIS My secret talent is: I play some good golf. The best pregame song: Jungle Remix, by Jay-Z. I just lock in when I hear it. Best teammate to be stranded on a desert island with and why: Bo Boyden. Dude is hilarious. That guy cracks me up. He’s one of the best kids that I’ve ever met. Funny and with a really kind heart. Really good kid. The game I would like to relive in my sports career is: Two matches. One where I played a Junior Davis Cup against Korea in the finals. I played a really good match. I beat Chanyeong Oh 6-2, 6-2 to get our team started. That was a really good win, not only for myself but for the country, which made it a lot more special. And then I beat Michael Mmoh, who’s one of my best friends, in La Partidas, an absurd three-set match. It was probably one of my luckier wins in my whole life.
DESTINEE WALKER, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL My secret talent is: I can sing The best pregame song: ‘Party’ - Chris Brown Best teammate to be stranded on a desert island with and why: Jamie Cherry. She is hilarious and would make the trip so much fun! The game I would like to relive in my sports career is: I would want to relive my state championship game my senior year of high school! We won in overtime. I hit the shot at the buzzer to go into overtime and I got my first state championship ring.
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HEARD AROUND THE HILL
BEFOREEVERYGAME HOW TAR HEELS PREPARE FOR GAME DAY
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“As Woody Durham would say…Just “go where you go and do what you do!”
– SCOTT STEPHENSON, RAMS CLUB MEMBER
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“Wore a blonde wig to all ’15 football games post-bye week. Wig went 7-1. Trashed it after ACC championship game.”
– DANNY GASSAWAY, RAMS CLUB MEMBER
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“I started shooting baskets pregame in Avery dorm my junior year on my Little Tikes hoop. Been with me in three apartments and now my wife and my home.”
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—JOE PETRIZZI, RAMS CLUB MEMBER
“I am someone who gets really excited and really nervous, so I maintain my balance by being super relaxed- almost overly relaxed. I talk to people in the stands, and Brian (Kalbas) tells knock-knock jokes to me on the sidelines. I listen to the slowest music in the world before a match. There’s a song called ‘Sad Song,’ by We The Kings. It’s a really nice, slow song. Or The Fray. Any slow music.”
– HAYLEY CARTER, WOMEN’S TENNIS
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“I just try to get some quiet time. I try to close my eyes and just think about what I want myself to do and what I want my team to do. I visualize myself hitting shots, and then I also try to visualize our team playing good defense. I try to see guys cheering, because when we’re cheering and motivating each other, I know that we’re doing something good. I listen to the same rap music. I listen to Drake, Lil Wayne, and that’s pretty much it.”
—JOEL BERRY, MEN’S BASKETBALL ramsclub.com
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R FILL IN THE BLANK
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT PREPARATION FROM BEING A
CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETE IS
SARAH HOWARD, SOPHOMORE, TRACK & FIELD
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“...flexibility is key. I could schedule my day out to the hour and minute, but life doesn’t follow that schedule, ever. Being a student-athlete especially, I’ve had my best-prepared plans thrown out the window because of unexpected events, like weather delays, injuries and helping out my teammates. It becomes incredibly stressful to balance everything when I tried to have a very strict schedule, and it became more feasible once I included more open margins in my schedule and allowed myself to expect that unexpected things come up. My teammates in my event group always know they can come to me if they need a snack or anything, because I’m ready for pretty much anything with what I keep in my bookbag. I have become able to take a nap pretty much anywhere so if I wasn’t quite able to get enough sleep at night I can squeeze some in whenever possible.”
C A R LY D AV I S , S E N I O R , W O M E N ’ S L A C R O S S E
“...it truly fuels confidence in oneself, which in turn leads to success on and off the field. Being a student-athlete at Carolina has instilled in me the importance behind investing time and energy in preparing for games, tests and practice. Whether it be mental imagery, watching film, or studying your opponent/subject matter, preparation always gives me an edge. I have learned that preparation, to me, means confidence in the work I have put in, thus giving me an advantage over my opponent.”
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R O B E R T K E L LY , J U N I O R , M E N ’ S T E N N I S
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“…the amount of time you put in before the match compared to when I was playing Juniors is just a hundred times more. Preparation is huge. I think when guys aren’t calm and collected on the court, it’s because they haven’t prepared well. You know that, and coaches reiterate that. If I’m losing, but I’ve prepared well, then I feel fine. And you can see that on the court. When guys aren’t prepared, they’re flying off the handle and yelling at the refs. The minute you walk into Carolina, you have four meetings about preparation, whether it’s academics, nutrition, everything . . . Right away, they hit you with that, and by the end of your first year you’re a pro at doing it your way and fine tuning the things that make your preparation different. Everybody prepares differently. Depending on how well you’ve trained during the week, you know how you feel.”
TA R H E E LT I C K E R FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER
JUMPING INTO THE DEEP END BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
For the cover of this year’s swimming and diving media guide, the senior class wanted to do a group photo underwater at Koury Natatorium. That image took eight strobes on the pool deck and the help of four assistants to pull off. Following that part of the shoot, we decided to make some individual portraits and get a bit more creative with the light. This image of senior Hellen Moffitt was lit by a single strobe with the ripples on the surface of the water creating a circular pattern on the pool floor. This also allowed the rest of the pool to go dark giving the image a more intense look.
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THE BLUEPRINT
THE EYE
IN THE SKY GO INSIDE A FILM GRADING SESSION WITH THE CAROLINA COACHING STAFF BY ADAM LUCAS PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
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BORN & BRED
April 2017
It’s 12 hours after his team demolished NC State in Raleigh, and Roy Williams isn’t happy. The Tar Heels whipped the Wolfpack, 97-74. But now Williams is in the lounge in the Carolina basketball office, where he has convened the regular postgame film session with his staff. This meeting is a staple after every single game. Depending on the game time, sometimes it takes place immediately after the game; often, after a late game, it happens the next day. The film session begins at 10:30 a.m. Eric Hoots sets up a laptop with the complete basketball office copy of the game—instead of using the television copy, the coaches prefer to watch the office’s own film work, which is shot from midcourt and requires frequent panning to the center-hung scoreboard to provide time and score information. Williams holds the clicker in his left hand and props his right foot on the Tar Heel-shaped wooden table. Every play, no matter how innocuous, is repeatedly rewound, with Williams calling out notes on every trip down the floor. “Good play Theo.” “No box out Kennedy.” “No sprint back Justin.” As is his usual custom, C.B. McGrath holds a clipboard with the overall grade sheet, which lists five different categories of defensive plays and six different categories of offensive plays. Brad Frederick keeps the sheet headlined Bad Defense Sheet, which breaks down
individual bad defensive plays into 37 different categories. Hubert NC State scores an easy hoop, Williams shakes his head. “Good Davis, who has scouting responsibilities on Louisville—less than a gracious alive,” he says, rewinding the play to focus on the defenders week away—divides his attention between the television and his who allowed the basket. laptop, which is constantly running footage of the Cardinals. Twenty minutes into the film study, the coaches have watched Sean May keeps a running chart of notes Williams wants to review just three minutes and 59 seconds of last night’s game. On the with the team as a group when they watch film later in the day. screen, Carolina has a 12-7 lead and is well on the way to another “Sean, write this down,” the head coach will begin, and another point Atlantic Coast Conference win. In the lounge, however, Williams is is about to be recorded for team study. already worried about the next opponent. Part of the exercise is to Two minutes into the game, Williams already pick out the clips he wants to show to his team wants to meet with one veteran to show him at that afternoon’s practice. Some of them will poor execution on a couple of relatively simple be positive, and some—based on the first few plays. “I don’t even think he realizes he’s doing minutes, most of them—will be instructional, “As a player, you don’t really this,” the head coach says. “We need to show and occasionally he’ll drop in a funny one. him.” “Stop it right here,” Williams says to Hoots. appreciate how detail-oriented This is a procedure with which May is very “Let’s show them this and then stop. If we Coach Williams can be. I know I execute like this against Virginia, we won’t familiar. In Williams’ very early years back in Chapel Hill, he told his teams, “The eye in didn’t. But as part of the staff, you score. We cannot execute like this.” the sky doesn’t lie.” May, who often took the It takes approximately an hour to grade the see it every day, and it’s a huge game tape home after he played a game for first half, which is fairly extensive considering part of how successful he is.” the Tar Heels, was one of the biggest believers there are no commercials and Williams fast -SEAN MAY in that philosophy. There’s often a difference forwards through all free throws. The staff between what players believe they’re doing on breaks for 90 minutes, then reconvenes in the court—the effort they’re putting into getting back on defense, or the afternoon for the second half. Midway through the second half, the firmness of a screen—and the realities that show up on the tape. Kenny Williams walks into the lounge, still using the crutches he “As a player, you don’t really appreciate how detail-oriented Coach debuted the previous night when it was announced he will miss the Williams can be,” May says. “I know I didn’t. But as part of the staff, rest of the season with a knee injury. you see it every day, and it’s a huge part of how successful he is.” “Sit down if you want to, big fella,” the head coach tells him. The On the tape, the Tar Heels score a couple quick early baskets, sophomore takes a seat on the couch next to Roy Williams and but Williams isn’t impressed. “These are sorry screens,” he says, watches the rest of the tape. At one point, Theo Pinson makes a highlighting a couple of lackluster efforts away from the ball. When questionable defensive choice.
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DONORS UPGRADE LOCKER ROOM When the players watched the film clips compiled by the coaching staff, they did so in a new state-of-the-art 20-seat theater that is part of a dramatically upgraded Smith Center locker room complex. The renovations, completed at the cost of approximately $4 million during the summer of 2016, also include a much-needed team dining area, an NBA-caliber locker room and players’ lounge, and the feature that has received the most buzz—a wall containing all 31 versions of Air Jordans, each rendered in Carolina blue. Private donations through The Rams Club provided the full cost of the renovation. ramsclub.com 11
THE BLUEPRINT
STUDY NEVER STOPS: On this season’s trip to Maui, Tar Heel coaches had to do the film grading session in the airport. Photo by J.D. Lyon, Jr.
“That’s a bad path by Theo, wouldn’t you agree, Kenny?” Roy Williams asks. “Yes, sir,” comes the reply. This is extremely unusual. By virtue of a combination of timing and class schedules, players aren’t usually around the office when the coaches are grading the film. But Kenny Williams stays for the rest of the session, watching and listening while getting a sneak peek at the footage that will be showed to the rest of the team this afternoon. Late in the game, Seventh Woods unleashes a whirling spin move that leaves a State defender grasping at air. The camera catches just enough of the Tar Heel sideline to spot Pinson dancing down the sideline in celebration…and then there’s Kenny Williams, who pogoes off the bench and pumps his arms. Roy Williams rewinds. “What are you doing there, Kenny?” he asks as the room dissolves in laughter. “I’m on my good leg,” the player responds. A couple more rewinds are required for everyone to get the full experience. The film session concludes, but not until the head coach decides he needs to make an adjustment in the footage he planned to show to the team this afternoon. He clicks rewind one more time and watches Pinson gyrate down the sideline and Williams bounce out of his seat. “Add this to the first five minutes of the game,” Roy Williams says. “We’ll watch that, and then we’ll finish with this.”
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THE GRADING SYSTEM 6
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Grading like the Carolina coaches requires an entirely different set of vocabulary. Some terms to know:
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HALF SCREEN: Players get credited for half a screen when they set a screen required by the normal progression of the play. In the NC State game, it’s a half screen that gives Justin Jackson the edge to win the individual screener award over Luke Maye.
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FULL SCREEN: Players get credited for a full screen when they set a screen on their own initiative.
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GOOD PLAY: A play that helps the team that is most likely not rewarded otherwise on the stat sheet.
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BAD PLAY: This could be as simple as standing in one spot for too long on offense or taking a bad shot (“We’re getting layups every time, so why would we want to shoot a dadgum three?” Williams asks at one point). Like good plays, these are open to the discretion of the coaches.
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LOSS OF BALL: Not just a turnover. This is putting the possession in peril through carelessness, a bad pass, or a combination of both. Throwing a pass that is deflected by a defender but ultimately retained can be a half loss of ball. And sometimes Williams adjusts on the fly, as when Carolina commits a midcourt turnover. “These should be worth more since they turn into a basket,” he says. “Give him loss of ball and a half.”
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ASSISTS AND COACHES ASSISTS: These are “assists the way we keep them,” as Dean Smith used to refer to them. A good feeding pass into the post, even if it doesn’t result in a hoop, is a coaches assist. So is a pass back to the perimeter that sets up a guard from a post player. The box score says Joel Berry had six assists, but coaches credit him with nine.
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THE CHALKBOARD:
TA R H EE L CO A CH E S D I A G R A M D E F I N I N G M OMENTS
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
JENNY LEVY
2 0 1 6 N AT I O N A L CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
ZONE BUSTER T H E SE T U P : In late March 2016, Carolina lost two key players as Olivia Ferrucci and Sydney Holman both suffered season-ending injuries in an overtime win at Northwestern. Moving forward, the Tar Heels would have to figure out how to integrate new players in larger roles in the offense. They did that by adding a three low zone offense, starting the attack behind the net. With Ela Hazar behind the goalie at the ‘x’ position and Molly Hendrick and Aly Messinger flanking her to either side, the Tar Heels had attacking midfielders in Carly Reed, Marie McCool, Kelly Devlin and Sammy Jo Tracy up top. The Tar Heels attacked the zone by reading the defense’s slides, finding passing and shooting lanes. Carolina began to click in this offense against Virginia Tech, when they scored 10 of the game’s first 11 goals. Even though Maryland didn’t play zone in the NCAA title game, the Tar Heels were able to read their slides, and essentially rotated their offense to Messinger. She had two goals and four assists as the program captured its second national title.
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“What happened in the national championship game is, because we were learning how to read slides all season, we had Aly (Messinger) work the whole right side, which allowed us to ping-pong, and that’s how she got four assists and two goals.”
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LEV Y SA Y S: “Zones create offense for you, and sliding defenses create offense for you. As the ball rotates behind, now the defense has to split between high and low, and it’s much more difficult to find the ball. If you have good cutters and good feeders, you can expose teams that way. Basically, we create a man up (advantage) from down low. “This whole set enabled us to feed on Maryland, because what it taught our kids was how to read slides, and not only the kid on the ball, but the kid off the ball was sliding. We learned how to read slides and time cutting. “[The national championship game] was 6-1, and they got it within 7-6, and we thought, ‘OK, we’ve got to respond here,’ and we did. We knew they’d go on a run. Their offense stayed high and played right into our hands defensively.”
BY TURNER WALSTON
CAROLINA VS. MARYLAND
2016 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH MAY 30, 2016 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
MEN’S LACROSSE
JOE BRESCHI
THE SE T UP : Carolina was a man down in overtime. Give up a score, and the national championship is lost. Maryland’s Connor Kelly unleashed a shot, his view obstructed by an airborne Zach Powers (77). Goalie Brian Balkam (30) made the save, and then the race was on to clear the ball, get a timeout and win a national title. Balkam gets the ball to defenseman Austin Pifani (17), who rolls away from pressure behind the net and passes to Jake Matthai (6). He rolls and hits Tate Jozokos (28). Meanwhile, Powers is getting up and off the field so that an attackman can come on. Jozokos carries the ball into the box so that the team can call timeout. One minute and 27 seconds of game time later, the Tar Heels would be national champions.
B R E SC H I SA Y S: “This is first day of practice. Man down clear. Day one, and that sets up the national championship goal. It is history. Every one of the guys executed the most fundamental of plays. What you stress, day one, is doing the basic things, not doing too much. And it’s something they learn day one when they play lacrosse. We just talk to the guys about having your stick to the outside, protecting the ball, rolling away from pressure. Just like in any sport, you want to have your body between the ball and the defender. But in the heat of the moment, you have to revert back to what you were taught on day one. That’s the beauty of it. We did it, because you don’t have time to think; you just have to react. “This is exactly why you start day one. This is how you do it. This is how you play the scheme, and give yourself a chance to win a championship.”
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“I can’t sit here and say it was this play or that play. A lot of those plays quite frankly were just guys making plays. That’s what great players do. They make plays within the scheme of the offense, so there wasn’t a set play that created it.”
THE CHALKBOARD: TAR HEEL COACHES DIAGRAM DEFINING MOMENTS
MAN DOWN CLEAR
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
THE CHALKBOARD: TAR HEEL COACHES DIAGRAM DEFINING MOMENTS
SYLVIA HATCHELL
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CAROLINA VS. LOUISIANA TECH 1994 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME APRIL 3, 1994 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
30 SERIES T H E SE T U P : Down two points with seven-tenths of a second remaining, Carolina and Sylvia Hatchell set up an in-bound play from beneath their own basket. Charlotte Smith screened for Tonya Sampson, with Sylvia Crawley screening for Smith. Whereas Smith would usually curl down toward the basket, she stepped out beyond the three-point line. Stephanie Lawrence found Smith with the in-bound pass. Smith caught the ball in stride and swished the three-point basket for the win.
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“They were used to Charlotte curling to the basket, and Sampson was an All-American. But instead of curling around, Charlotte went out, and her man switched on Sampson. When they switched, Sampson’s man stayed in the paint, so Charlotte was open.”
BORN & BRED
April 2017
H A TC H E LL SA Y S: “You talk about a gamble? That was a gamble. This is how important fundamentals are. All year long, almost every practice when we would warm up, we would do passing drills. And I’d make them back stop the ball when they catch it. I’d make them catch the ball with their hand behind it. Now you’re ready to dribble, pass or shoot. As Charlotte was back there and the pass was coming, she stepped into it. She stepped into it so as soon as she stepped into it and the ball hit her hands, she was ready to do that. She came up and just stepped into it but she was ready and her hands were right. Ball hit her hand, and up. It’s simple. At camp every year, the thing we do with the kids, I say, ‘What do you put on your french fries? Ketchup!’ This right here. Catch, up. Catch, and up. And they remember that.”
C A R O L I N A V S . P E N N S TAT E 2012 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DECEMBER 2, 2012 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
WOMEN’S SOCCER
ANSON DORRANCE
THE SE T UP : To find shooting lanes from corner kick serves, the Tar Heels kept a thin box, pulling defenders away. Twice in the 2012 national championship game against Penn State, they scored as a direct result of framing the goal from corner kicks. Hanna Gardner found the back of the net early in the second half to untie a 1-1 game, and Satara Murray later scored off of a rebound to put the Tar Heels up a pair in a game they would eventually win by a 4-1 score.
DO R R A NC E SA Y S: “You don’t want a lot of people in the box. We sucked a player out with two in the corner. That’s a part of the plan. Then we’ve got someone framing the back post (Kelly McFarlane), and someone making a primary run (Gardner), and then we’ve got a near post runner (Alyssa Rich), and Satara here. McFarlane ends up in front of the goalkeeper. When she sees the ball go over her head, she adjusts to stay between the ball and the goalkeeper. When the ball is hit over [Alyssa’s] head, she turns to frame the back post, basically making the goal a bit wider. And then her job is to do exactly what she did, flick it across for a finish. The goal line defender blocked it, but then Satara finished. We call it framing the goal. This is just our corner kick set piece.”
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“This also won us the national championship in 1991. I took Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly to the Women’s World Cup, so they were without our two best players. We played the ball into Tisha Venturini’s head. We organized the box in this fashion and scored goal after goal after goal all season.”
THE CHALKBOARD: TAR HEEL COACHES DIAGRAM DEFINING MOMENTS
FRAMING THE GOAL
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MEN’S SOCCER
THE CHALKBOARD: TAR HEEL COACHES DIAGRAM DEFINING MOMENTS
CARLOS SOMOANO
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CAROLINA VS. CHARLOTTE 2011 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DECEMBER 13, 2011 HOOVER, ALABAMA
CORNER DEFENSE T H E SE T U P : Carolina led Charlotte by a goal with fewer than six minutes to play in the national championship game. Charlotte’s Tyler Gibson served in a corner that found the head of the 49ers’ Thomas Allen. The ball went to the right of Tar Heel goalkeeper Scott Goodwin, but Carolina’s Jordan Gafa headed it off the line and out of danger. The Tar Heels withstood a furious Charlotte rally attempt to preserve the 1-0 victory and the program’s second national championship.
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“It’s easier said than done because it’s dropping through traffic. He’s where he’s supposed to be. He knows exactly what he’s supposed to do, but it’s also not an easy play to execute, because it’s hard to see what’s going on there.”
BORN & BRED
April 2017
SO MO A NO SA Y S: “Charlotte was just throwing everything and the kitchen sink. You’re prepared for those moments. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do. “We have two zones, near zone and far zone, and they had six guys in, so that means we have six guys marked up. We had to match up, because that’s a lot of numbers to bring in. Typically we have a near post zone, but if we start losing numbers, we start pulling from the near post. If it’s served near post, the back zone is supposed to fall back on the goal line. If it’s served back post, the near post guy is supposed to fall back on the goal line. So as it’s going over his head, Jordan Gafa near zone is just dropping off by nature. He’s dropped back on the goal line, exactly what he’s supposed to do. I hate to say it’s a routine play, but it’s routine.”
CAROLINA VS. MARYLAND
FIELD HOCKEY
KAREN SHELTON
2009 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NOVEMBER 22, 2009 WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
THE SE T UP : Trailing by a goal late in the national championship game, the Tar Heels flashed back to the ACC Tournament semifinal against Virginia. Then, they’d lost by a 1-0 score when they had failed to execute a goal down. Sixteen days later against undefeated Maryland in the NCAA championship game, they tried a new strategy, essentially moving the diamond formation that had formed their back line to the front, pulled goalie Jackie Kintzer and set about the business of attacking with urgency. With fewer than five minutes to play in regulation, Illse Davids netted the tying goal. Danielle Forword converted a penalty corner for the game-winning goal with 11 seconds left.
BEFO R E :
SH E LTO N SA Y S: “We took Jackie out, and we put J. Rad (Jackie Gaudioso-Radvany) up. Her job was not to leave the circle, just stay in there to pull their defense, which she did. Then, we threw Ilse (Davids) up, so we went to four up front. KK (Kelsey Kolojejchick) went aggressive, Falgo (Katelyn Falgowski) went aggressive. The diamond was there. Illse went up and she scored that goal to tie it. “Our feeling is, if you’re a goal down, don’t worry about defending, worry about attacking. That’s what we figured out in the ACC Tournament. We didn’t give up a goal, but we didn’t utilize the extra player. If you’re a goal down, you’ve got to take chances.”
G OA L I E R E MO V ED F OR E X TR A A TTA C KER :
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“It was the mindset. Losing that ACC Tournament match was the absolute best thing that happened to us. It actually led us to the national championship. If we hadn’t lost there, I don’t think we would have come from behind in the final.”
THE CHALKBOARD: TAR HEEL COACHES DIAGRAM DEFINING MOMENTS
GOAL DOWN ATTACK
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C A R O L I N A E V E R YWE A R Rams Club members like to wear their Carolina Blue, and they’ll wear it all over the US and the world. If you have a photo of you in your Carolina gear in front of notable landmarks in the US and abroad, send them our way to be a part of Carolina EveryWear!
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To have your photo included: • Send your photo digitally to bornandbred@ramsclub.com. • Identify everyone in your photo and the location of the photo. Here are the “Rules”: • At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member • You must be wearing Carolina gear. • You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify).
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SHOW US YOUR COLORS!
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1) April, Scott & Kenneth Gordon of Trinity, NC in Chicago, IL; 2) Scott, Mitchell & Earl Owens of Dunwoody, GA, at the Colosseum, Rome, Italy; 3) Jonathan & Chuck Trull of Charlotte, NC at Atlantis, Bahamas; 4) Johnny Moffett, Caroline Moffett Barrett & Hunter Barrett of Durham, NC, at Eagle Point, Grand Canyon; 5) John & Emily Magnus of Statesville, NC, at Grand Teton National Park; 6) Linda & Roger Thuotte of Hillsborough, NC, at Haleakala, Maui, HI; 7) Barry Williams & Wendy Clarke of Kannapolis, NC at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn, Estonia; 8) Ted & Betty Lingerfeldt of Cary, NC, at Strokkur Geyser, Iceland; 9) Sharon & Barry Burt of Brookhaven, GA at the Grand Canyon; 10) John Banks Powell, Trace Henderson & Scott Gunn of Raleigh, NC, at Vail Mountain, CO; 11) Ben Pitt (son of Courtney Harris Pitt) of Tarboro, NC, skiing at Wintergreen, VA; 12) Alex McDonald, Martha Ann McDonald & Wes McDonald of Winston-Salem, NC, at Grey Glacier, Patagonia; 13) Jason, Owen & Talon Cook of Graham, NC, at Alcatraz; 14) Steven Gallimore, Molly Gallimore, Mallory Brantley, Lindsey McPherson Suggs, Brittany McPherson Rickert, Ben Rickert & Justin Suggs (Lindsey & Brittany are members!) on the beach at Dominical, Costa Rica; 15) Bryan & Betsy Gentry of Cleveland, TN, at Atlantis, Bahamas; 16) Thomas & Tyler Averett of Newport News, VA, in Toronto, Ontario; 17) Ken & Mike Griffin of Winston-Salem, NC, in Antarctica; 18) Ryan Herron of Chapel Hill, NC, overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
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THE BLUEPRINT
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EVER READY TAR HEEL TENURE PREPARED TRUBISKY FOR NATIONAL STAGE BY LEE PACE PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
M
itch Trubisky had yet to start a single football game for the Tar Heels, had yet to carry the mantle as the Tar Heels’ No. 1 quarterback back in January of 2016 when he gathered with the team’s quarterbacks as spring semester opened in Chapel Hill. The coaching staff was on the road recruiting, so quarterback coach Keith Heckendorf put Trubisky in charge of running regular skull sessions. Trubisky took control of the video and began queuing up tape from various Carolina games the previous year and/or defenses the Tar Heels would see in spring ball. Where do your eyes go first? Which drop do you use? What clues are the linebackers giving? Watch the safety cheat down. What are your rules in one protection versus another? Go here in this coverage, go there in that coverage. “Mitch knew our offense in and out,” says one of the quarterbacks in the room, Manny Miles. “When Coach Heck asked him to take the meeting over he didn’t flinch because he knew what he was talking about. If you know all the nuances of your offense and what the defense is doing, you can play much more confidently. That definitely helped him once we got into the season.” Trubisky leaves Carolina this spring to jump into the NFL Draft after four years on the roster—one as a red-shirt, two of seeing spot back-up duty to Marquise Williams and then one as the full-time starter. But the protocols and regimens he’s been through certainly prepare him for the next level to a far greater degree than the surface facts might indicate. “After I get through with football, I want to be a coach,” Trubisky says. “Running the meetings was a good stepping stone. It’s a great test of how well you know the offense when you have to teach it to someone else. We’d go over every single detail. When you’re in this situation, what do you do? If you get this blitz, what do you do? You make sure
you know everyone else’s job as well. It was really cool to sit down with those guys and teach the offense. “ Trubisky completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and had a 28:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio last season. He showed the ability to nail the deep ball or fire the ball on a rope on a boundary route. He has a quick release and anticipates receivers making their cuts, often delivering the ball conveniently to a receiver just as he’s making his cut and looking back for the ball. And he was sharp getting the Tar Heels into the right call on the frequent run-pass option plays they run. “What Mitch has done validates what we’re doing, that you can come play here and we’ll prepare you to be not only a great college player, but also prepare your game to translate to the next level,” says Heckendorf, a graduate assistant under John Shoop and Blake Anderson from 201113 before assuming the QB coach role when Anderson left for Arkansas State in December 2013.
“EVERY HIGH SCHOOL QUARTERBACK IN THE COUNTRY IN THE 2018, ’19 AND ’20 CLASSES ALL RECOGNIZE WHAT WE’VE DONE,” ADDS HEAD COACH LARRY FEDORA. “THEY’VE SEEN HOW QUICKLY MITCH DEVELOPED, HOW HE PROJECTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. A LOT OF QUARTERBACKS ARE INTERESTED AND EXCITED TO SEE WHAT’S GOING ON HERE.” ramsclub.com 23
THE BLUEPRINT Heckendorf’s perspective combines the pro-style passing game he learned coaching under Bill Callahan at Nebraska and Shoop at Carolina, both of them from the Jon Gruden family of offensive minds. Mix that with the spread formation that Fedora and Anderson brought to Chapel Hill in 2012, and quarterbacks on the Tar Heels’ roster now have the opportunity to learn and execute the best of both worlds. “What we’ve done here is taken the approach of teaching the quarterback just like they teach in the NFL,” Heckendorf says. “It’s the same thought process on what is important— where to have your eyes and how you move your feet. I’ve worked with guys who’ve all coached in the pros, and I’ve taken that method of thinking and teaching and applied it to an offense that runs no-huddle and is spread out. It gives us the ability to utilize all the players’ skills and talents in the run and pass game. It gives us the ability to have success in college that translates to the pros. Mitch is a product of that.” The collegiate spread offense that utilizes a quarterback nearly exclusively in a shotgun formation is often roiled as not adequately preparing quarterbacks for the pros, where the default setting is quarterback under-center. Former Tar Heel QB Bryn Renner, who’s been on five NFL rosters over three years, and Heckendorf believe Trubisky’s eventual performance in the majors will refute that. “Look at the Patriots—they’re in the gun the entire time they want to throw the ball, they’re under center when they want to run it,” says Renner, now on Butch Davis’s staff at Florida International. “You have to do both. The Packers are rarely under center nowadays. [Former Oregon QB] Marcus Mariota was never under center. Jameis Winston wasn’t under center much at FSU. The game is evolving. Mitch won’t have an issue.”
“A SUCCESSFUL QUARTERBACK UNDERCENTER IN THE PROS AND A SUCCESSFUL SPREAD SYSTEM AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL IS RELATIVELY THE SAME THING,” HECKENDORF SAYS. “IT’S NOT A SECRET FORMULA WHAT A GUY NEEDS TO DO ON THE FIELD. YOU TURN ON NFL GAMES AND THOSE QUARTERBACKS ARE IN THE SHOTGUN QUITE A BIT. IT’S WHAT GUYS ARE BEING TAUGHT AND HOW HE’S BEING TAUGHT.” 24
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Renner hosted Trubisky on his official recruiting visit in 2012 and was the starting quarterback in 2013 when Trubisky was redshirting. They formed a close bond, and Trubisky sought Renner’s counsel when weighing the pros and cons of leaving for the NFL. Renner suggested to Trubisky that his relative lack of starting time shouldn’t be a problem. “How many reps did you get in practice over four years?” Renner asked. “You got every single second-team rep for two years before you started. You played against the No. 1 defense all spring and fall camp. You prepared like a starter for three seasons.” Heckendorf remembers Trubisky being the first one in the quarterbacks’ meeting room during his early enrollee semester in the spring of 2013 and that his “big picture” view of his career helped accelerate his development—albeit behind the scenes at times. That motivation helped during the two years he was backing up Williams, as it’s Heckendorf’s protocol that the No. 2 quarterback during practice take “mental reps” on every snap by standing behind the play and mimicking the footwork and downfield reads on each first-team snap. “Mitch had a vision of where he wanted to go with his career,” Heckendorf says. “We coached him in that manner to prepare him not only to have success in college, but also so his game would translate to the next level.” The exposure and notoriety Trubisky has gotten will certainly pay dividends for the Tar Heel staff in signing future quarterbacks. Long a school known for producing tailbacks, defensive linemen and linebackers, the Tar Heels over the last decade have seen T.J. Yates, Renner, Marquise Williams and now Trubisky at least get to training
camp, if not beyond, on NFL teams. A run like that has never happened before. “The bar’s been set pretty high now,” says Yates, who started for the Houston Texans and led them to a win over Cincinnati in 2012. “All four of us have gotten a good grounding in high-level quarterback play— whether it’s drop-back, the spread, vertical, underneath. We’ve learned it all and played it all at Carolina. It’s nice to see some tradition getting started at Carolina.” The Tar Heels didn’t sign a high school quarterback with the 2017 class because they signed two a year ago and didn’t anticipate Trubisky leaving early. Trubisky’s name, image and accomplishments are providing an arsenal of sales mojo as Heckendorf now casts the Carolina line into the recruiting pool. “Everyone knows who Mitch is right now,” Heckendorf says. “People see the North Carolina name and associate it with Mitch. It changes your profile: ‘Hey, this is a place you can come to, and one, get a great education, and two, you’ll be prepared to play on Sunday.’” The Tar Heel staff was selling that concept a year ago. Now they have proof. “What is awesome is that a lot of quarterbacks in the 2018 class, we started the process last year,” Heckendorf says. “What’s fun for me is I told everyone last spring and summer that by the end of ’17, everyone in the country would know who Mitch Trubisky is. At the time, no one knew who he was. For us to say that to coaches and prospects across the country and then watch it unfold was a lot of fun. Now everyone looks at us and says, ‘Okay, they know what they’re talking about.’”
TRYING SOMETHING NEW WITH SEATS AT KENAN Seat comfort is one element of the Kenan Stadium experience that is a hot spot in surveys the athletic department has conducted regularly the last two years. One, it’s an important issue. And two, the Kenan seating experience isn’t always a good one. “It’s not just us, but aging stadiums around the country are dealing with the same problem,” says Rick Steinbacher, Carolina’s senior associate athletic director. “We’re making a sizeable first step this year in addressing that problem.” Two sections are being re-seated for the 2017 season, those in Sections 110-111 in the northwest corner of the stadium (visitors’ side nearest Kenan Football Center). The metal seats and backrests are coming out, and nearly 1,600 individual seats with back- and armrests are going in. “Next year is a re-seating year,” Steinbacher says of The Rams Club’s periodic practice of reallocating seats based on points, longevity and other factors. “We can judge how well this works in 2017 and take it into consideration in making plans for 2018.” “You’ll be able to step back six or seven inches,” says Mike Bunting, associate athletic director/facility planning & management. “Before, there was nowhere to go with a fixed bench. It will definitely be more comfortable.” Season tickets in these two chair-back sections are available through the UNC Ticket Office. “This is a major step forward,” says Tom Mann, a 1973 Carolina graduate and long-time Rams Club member. “We’ve got to make it easier for fans to come to Kenan Stadium, we’ve got to make it more accessible for the average person. This is a great test. We’ve had people buying five tickets for four people for years because of the comfort element.”
Four elements of the new seats are important and should help significantly in the comfort element:
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The Carolina-blue colored seats will be 22 inches wide (versus the 19-inch seats used in the recent configuration of Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium).
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The seat-backs will be high enough to provide support for the fan sitting in that seat, but not so high as to hit the knees of the person in the next row.
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The seat-backs are curved and will allow extra knee room for the person in the next row.
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The seat-bottoms will automatically pop up, allowing an individual to step back and give room for fans to pass.
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THE BLUEPRINT
Making Strides
RJ Alowonle prepares for life, on and off the track BY TURNER WALSTON PHOTOS BY CHERYL TREWORGY
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For RJ Alowonle, preparation is everything. The two-time All-America and five time AllACC sprinter and hurdler spends countless hours preparing for every single second in which he competes. Twice, Alowonle has been the ACC champion in the 400-meter hurdles. Three times he has won a conference title in the 4x400 relay. Those titles come not just in the 47 or 50 seconds it takes to run 400 meters, but in the preparation leading up to those starts. “It’s a controlled sprint,” he said of his running approach. “In the first 40 meters, you’re going pretty hard, because you’re using a different energy source, so if you start slow or fast, you’ll be just as tired at the end. I try to carry that momentum for a while, and then at 200, I start making a move. With 150, 125 meters to go, I’ll make another move.” When he was a soccer player, Alowonle understood that a poor start wouldn’t necessarily be reflected in a 90-minute match. Not so in track, when every second, every step is crucial. “I’m not one to leave anything to chance,” he said. “I’m focusing on every detail that I can, and I take every workout very seriously.” It’s not just workouts, though. It’s making sure he’s eating and sleeping right, ensuring that he is at peak performance when it comes time to compete. “I don’t think you can execute at the level you want to consistently unless you prepare diligently each and every day,” he said. And just as Alowonle is preparing to be at his best on the track, he is preparing for life after college athletics, employing that same
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discipline in the classroom. Through the Student Teams Achieving Results (STAR) program at UNC Kenan-Flagler, Alowonle began doing real-world consulting with a client. “I really enjoyed consulting, and I had a very good feeling that that was something that I wanted to do,” he said. He worked with Dr. Paul Friga, an associate professor of strategy and entreprenuership, who then drafted him to work on the strategic plan for The Rams Club. “He has a consistent, high-quality work ethic and output,” Friga said. “He gets the job done, reliably. He takes initiative in both thoughts and in actions.” Alowonle’s work gave him a new perspective on Carolina Athletics. “I got to see a lot of The Rams Club, and a lot of the great things that they do for student-athletes that a lot of us don’t necessarily know. I’m passionate about the work because it’s something that’s touched me so much,” he said. “It’s awesome that I was able to give back in such a way.” Alowonle was also asked to consult on the
Carolina Athletics strategic plan. He isn’t just a Kenan-Flagler student consulting on a project, he is a student-athlete directly affected by the decisions being made. Further, he can ask his fellow student-athletes for their advice and feedback to help shape the strategic plan. “As a student-athlete, we present ideas and really try to shape what The Rams Club and Carolina Athletics are going to do in the next three to six years,” he said. “It’s really cool to know that they are listening, because ultimately a lot of what they’re doing is to serve the studentathletes and to make sure they have the best experience that they can.” “RJ will not be shy about sharing his insights in a room full of significantly senior executives and professors,” Friga said. “He is a constant reminder of the impact of our decisions on student-athletes.” It was the combination of outstanding academics and stellar athletics, the opportunity to do the engaging work that he’s doing, that drew Alowonle to Carolina from
RIGHT ON TRACK: ALL-ACC Alowonle (center) was part of an All-ACC 4 x 400 relay team during the indoor season. Photo by Cheryl Treworgy
his native Minnesota. “There’s not necessarily money in track, but I’m super passionate about it and I don’t want to give it up,” he said. “I wanted to go into business, and I wanted to go to a school that would allow me to pursue both of those dreams. I didn’t think I’d find a better business school than Kenan-Flagler, and I didn’t think I’d find a better complement with athletics than at Carolina.” Alowonle has a consulting job lined up after graduation, but he plans to continue to train on the track while he’s able. Ultimately, he would like to use sport to teach values to children that they can then apply to the classroom and their lives beyond the field of play. “A lot of times in sports, you can see the results a little bit quicker,” he said. “If you’re in the weight room and you’re working hard on the bench press for a couple of months and you do a test, you can see the work so quickly. Some students aren’t as passionate in the classroom because they can’t see the benefits right away. I think you can teach so many values to young kids that are going to help them in life in a sports setting. Yes, you want to make them the best athlete that
they can be, but ultimately, most of them will not go pro in athletics. I think it’s a waste if you don’t try to set the future generations ahead as best we can in whatever they’re going to do. That’s why I want to work with younger kids.” Long after his track career is done, Alowonle will continue to represent Carolina Athletics and the people who gave him the opportunity to come to Chapel Hill. “RJ is a reminder of how important Rams Club members’ support for student athletes is in transforming and positively enhancing lives and creating future impact-makers for society,” Friga said. “Their contributions as so much more than giving to a program. Rams Club members have to view their contributions as changing lives and improving society.” RJ Alowonle understands that he has been blessed with athletic gifts that, combined with his hard work and preparation, have enable him to reach new heights. Carolina and UNC Kenan-Flagler have given him a platform to take those gifts –and the same work ethic that makes him successful on the track– into the classroom and beyond.
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AS TIMELESS AS THE GAME THAT
INSPIRED IT. Beneath the longleaf pines in the heart of North Carolina is a place where golf is more than a game, it’s a way of life. A place with more courses than days of the week. And more championships than anywhere in America. The place is Pinehurst. And it’s waiting for you.
SUMMER TEE PACKAGE $1,704*
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© 2017 Pinehurst, LLC
3 Nights accommodations at The Carolina Hotel 4 Rounds of golf Breakfast and dinner daily
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THE BLUEPRINT
TEAM P L A Y E R
H A Y L E Y C A R T E R W I L L L E A V E C A R O L I N A A S T H E S C H O O L’ S MOST DECORATED WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER
BY TURNER WALSTON
PHOTOS BY ANDY MEAD & JEFFREY CAMARATI
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THE BLUEPRINT
It’s
not easy to take a good action photograph of Hayley Carter on the tennis court. She has a short, compact forehand swing. She grimaces and stretches the fingers of her left hand. She almost looks uncomfortable. But what you notice is that she does whatever it takes to return a ball with power, and in fact it’s her opponents who are uncomfortable.
“I’m not the prettiest hitting tennis player,” Carter admits. “I don’t necessarily play ‘textbook tennis.’ I’m kind of all over the place. But I think maybe what separates me is the heart I show every single point, and how much effort I give and how much preparation I put into going into the match and being ready for my opponent, being ready for the stage.” That preparation shows up on court, where early in the season she was the fifth-ranked singles player in the nation and part of the second-ranked doubles team. Carter came to Carolina in the fall of 2013 as part of an outstanding two-woman recruiting class with Jamie Loeb. Loeb played at number one throughout her career at Carolina, and after she won the NCAA singles championship in 2015, she turned pro. That positioned Carter as Carolina’s top singles player, and she became a de facto leader as a junior the following season. Despite the loss of the nation’s best singles player and a key captain in Caroline Price, the Tar Heels turned in a stellar 2016 campaign, going undefeated in conference play and capturing the school’s seventh ACC Tournament title. Carter teamed with Whitney Kay to reach the national semifinals in doubles and was the national runner-up in singles a year after Loeb’s victory. “I thought it was coming after her freshman year,” Carter says of Loeb’s going professional. “Going into my junior year, I think nobody expected us to do as well as we did, and that’s probably the most rewarding year of all for me, personally.” Carter too could have gone pro after her junior season, but she put off that lucrative opportunity to come back to Chapel Hill for one more
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season. “I was one year from graduating,” she says, “and I knew senior year is a special year, and we have a special team. And my coach is one of the best people in my life. I could not imagine not going all four years with him as my coach. And I just love this place. I’ve always wanted to go all four years. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.” On October 7, Carter became Carolina’s all-time wins leader when she won her 132nd singles match at the Rivieria/ITA All-American championships. By the time her career is done, Carter will be the most decorated player in Tar Heel women’s tennis history. It’s kind of a funny thing: an elite athlete gets to the point where they’re not thinking, but reacting and playing on instinct. But to get to that point, there are hours and hours of preparation, rote repetition of skills and time spent in the film room, dissecting their play and that of their opponents. “I think when you’re playing your best, you don’t have to think about it at all, it just kind of comes naturally to you,” Carter says. “But I think in practice definitely leading up to it, you think about it all the time. If I’m not playing that well, I’ll start out just making balls and slowly build up until I’m playing Francesca Di Lorenzo, and now I’m working on exactly what she doesn’t like to do, the day before I play her.” Carter faced Ohio State’s Di Lorenzo in November at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. She fell in two sets, 6-1, 6-1. But last month at ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Carter got the best of Di Lorenzo, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. “When she’s playing for her team, she’ll run through a wall for her teammates and her university. It’s really special to see that kind of
passion,” Tar Heel head coach Brian Kalbas says of Carter. “That’s why were the best in the country. What she’s improved on is her ability to be she beat Di Lorenzo in a dual match when she’d never beaten her in a more offensive and more aggressive, and playing more forward.” singles tournament. It just means more. Even though it’s a bad matchup But it’s not only the Tar Heel coaching staff from whom Carter has for her, it doesn’t matter when it comes down to the passion of playing learned. Playing alongside Loeb taught her how to incorporate different for your team.” styles in her game. Sophomore Jessie Aney, a standout prep hockey At 5’10, Carter has learned to use her height to her advantage. She player, attacks the net. Freshman Sara Daavettila hits the ball as hard can surprise opponents with a quickness that may belie her size, using as anyone Carter has seen. “I take bits and pieces from everybody,” both speed and length to get to balls that otherwise might get by her. she says. “I would say I’m a super nerdy student of the game. I watch And through her time at Carolina, she has shortened her swing to put YouTube videos, I watch videos of myself, I watch videos of everyone on more power behind the ball. “I’m trying to be a little more aggressive, the team. I’m one of those people, and it definitely plays a role.” trying to stay close to the baseline and attacking Also playing a role in Carter’s success are when I get the chance,” she says. “My match The Rams Club donors and fans watching from point against Ohio State, I came in and hit an the stands. Carter is not so serious that she overhead. That never would have happened can’t acknowledge the fans on the concourse “It’s a special thing that you’re kind between points. And she knows that their three or four years ago. I maybe walk a little of in this together and you’re all dedication is what has her on the court and in a bit higher nowadays. I have more confidence and I think that is an underrated aspect of Carolina uniform. “Tom Chewning I know is a big trying to bring banners back to success within athletics. Brian’s instilled a lot of time Rams Club supporter, and he’s such a great Chapel Hill. You’re all having the person for our program and for me in my life,” she confidence in me and that’s helped me so much time of your lives, but you’re being says. “I’ve been very lucky, with a lot of amazing on the court.” Under Kalbas’ tutelage, Carter has learned student-athletes here, and there’s people. They tell you, but I would have never had to channel her aggression, that her talent and any idea how special the Carolina family really nothing like being a size alone won’t win her high-profile matches is. It’s something that’s for life, and I know 25 UNC student-athlete.” in college and beyond. “I’m not going to win years from now, I’m going to be hopefully a Tom matches at the next level if I can’t come in and Chewning. I’m going to come back here and be put the balls away,” she says. “To be the top in college tennis and to one of those fans. I’m going to be cheering for all these girls out here be hopefully the top in professional tennis, I’ve got to come in and put still, and it’s going to be something very special.” it away. We’ve worked every single day on that since I came in as a Playing her college tennis at Carolina has allowed Hayley Carter to be freshman. I’m still a work in progress. I’m naturally a very defensive a part of that Carolina family. Her roommates are volleyball players, and person. I grew up that way. I think tennis is fun that way, running balls athletes from programs such as field hockey are some of the biggest down and making your opponent work. I’ve definitely improved, and it’s supporters of Carolina tennis. “It’s a special thing that you’re kind of exciting to see how far I’ve come in that regard.” in this together and you’re all trying to bring banners back to Chapel “When she first came to college, she was a defensive player,” Kalbas Hill,” she says. “You’re all having the time of your lives, but you’re being says. “She relied on her length and her defensive skills, and people could student-athletes here, and there’s nothing like being a UNC studentnot hit winners on her. Her instinct, her anticipation and court coverage athlete.”
“
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FAMILY,
PHILANTHROPY AND FOOTBALL AFTER A STANDOUT FOOTBALL CAREER, WILLIAM FULLER GIVES BACK
W
BY SPEED HALLMAN
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WILLIAM FULLER & UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
When William Fuller gives back to UNC he gives to family. To faculty and coaches who guided him, to the staff who served as foster parents while he starred as a defensive tackle and earned his degree, and to today’s studentathletes who follow in his footsteps. The recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee endowed the William H. Fuller Sr. Scholarship to honor his father and lend a hand to young men who, like himself, could not attend college without the financial assist. “It felt natural,” he said. “My experience at Carolina was incredible and now I had a chance to help a future UNC athlete realize his dream.” A Chesapeake, Va. native, Fuller’s roots stretch deep into North Carolina. His mother was a Tarboro native, and summertime visits with her family introduced him to a youngster 18 months his senior, Kelvin Bryant, who became a close friend. When Fuller made his campus recruiting visit Bryant was his host and tour guide. Throughout his standout college career—he’s one of only six Tar Heels to twice earn first-team All-America honors—and into his pro years, Fuller knew he had the backing of two families: his mother and father, and his UNC family. In the early ‘80s football players were paired with local families who invited them to dinner and hosted them on weekends. He was paired with the family of Educational Foundation President Moyer Smith.
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THE BLUEPRINT MAKING AN
IMPACT
WRECKING CREW
“Moyer was working at the Educational William Fuller Sr. struggled with diabetes in his Foundation and we got to be close,” he said. “I also later years, losing a leg and his sight to the disease, met Ernie Williamson, and got a first-hand look and William Jr. observed how his Chapel Hill family at how the Foundation works. I got a grasp of the melded with his biological family. “He was a football economics, and learned that scholarships are not fan – there was no bigger Carolina fan – but he had paid from ticket sales and TV money, but they come health issues. He was in a wheelchair,” Fuller said. from private donors.” “He came to games and they did everything they Fuller left UNC in 1984 without his degree to take could to make sure he was comfortable. It was great a first-round draft guaranteed contract with the to see him smile and laugh despite his ailments and USFL’s Philadelphia Stars. He bought his parents nothing made him happier than to be in Chapel their first home, and he made Hill. That heavily influenced a promise. “I promised my my decision to endow a dad and mother I’d go back, scholarship. Honestly, I finish my degree, and I also didn’t know at the time how “Your dollars make a difference. They promised myself,” he said. positively life changing it was In 1984 Fuller bought a made an extraordinary difference in for me.” condo in Chapel Hill and took my life. And it’s critically important to Fuller said athletic classes in the off-season. scholarships change invest in young people, to invest in He earned his degree in lives by opening higher the future.” psychology in 1986. He education and personal and also worked part-time for professional development the Educational Foundation. “That was my first job to more young people and their families. “I was outside of football, assistant field secretary for the able to go to college, and I graduated,” he said. “The Foundation,” he said. “I went around the state, talked ongoing power of that is that I was able to send my to donors about my experiences at UNC and thanked four daughters to college. Now an expectation of them for their support. It was part fundraising, part achievement and tradition lives on.” marketing and I really enjoyed doing it.” He said Carolina broadened his world view, His work inspired him to create the scholarship – through classwork and interactions with professors the first endowed by a football alumnus. and students, and by exposing him to teammates “If you’re going around asking people to give, and classmates with diverse socio-economic you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is,” backgrounds. he said. “They were doing exciting things around “Besides the formal class work, the other part of campus. They built the Dean Dome, the athletic a college education is social and psychological in program was doing extremely well, and you saw nature. Understanding who we are, who we can where the money was being spent. What keeps be and what we can achieve in relation to others. this working is being able to raise money.” Gaining a broader understanding of race relations,
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Fuller owns the UNC career record with 57 tackles for loss.
HOF IN KENAN
Hall of Famers Don McCauley, William Fuller and Dre Bly were all on hand this fall to recognize Fuller at a Carolina football game.
GIVING BACK
William Fuller and Dre’ Bly have both endowed scholarships at UNC, and Don McCauley continues to work tirelessly for studentathletes through The Rams Club.
different cultures, and life perspectives. So many kids today can’t see the big picture. They have not traveled more than 50 to 100 miles from where they grew up and their social circles are quite limited,” he said. “To sit in a diverse classroom that’s multicultural teaches you to be an independent thinker, to think on a deeper level and truly appreciate your similarities as well as differences. “A lot of people are stunted socially and emotionally because they have not had that exposure to people who are totally opposite of them. Making sense of life, of politics, without those experiences is almost impossible.” Top-tier athletic competition at UNC prepared him for two seasons in the USFL and 13 in the NFL with the Oilers, Eagles and Chargers. “The athletic program taught me to be a fighter,” he said. “I was always the guy, if you told me I couldn’t do something, I’d work that much harder. If you say I’m too small to play defensive tackle I’ll prove you wrong. If you challenge me I’m going to rise to the challenge.” And he says he is blessed. “I played four years in college and 15 years in pro football and I never broke a bone in my body, I never had any surgeries.” What would he say to someone who is considering endowing a scholarship? “Your dollars make a difference,” he said. “They made an extraordinary difference in my life. And it’s critically important to invest in young people, to invest in the future. How are they going to gain wisdom? How will they travel this winding road called life if older folks
don’t help them? “As you get older you also get wiser, you realize you stood on the shoulders of so many generous people, life’s teammates and also those who came before you. In today’s fast-paced world you can forget the difference a simple encouraging word makes in a young person’s life.” Semi-retired after a career in real estate development, he helps train middle- and high-school students through Football University and consults with a scholarship program in Georgia. Fuller and his wife, Precilla, a tax and accounting professional, have four daughters: Karen, an attorney; Krystal, a community college administrator and nursing student; Kimberly, who majored in drama and works with a theater company; and Kalisa, a college sophomore. They also have a two-year-old grandson and three-month-old granddaughter. “We’re big on education and it was expected our kids would go to college and graduate,” he said. “My mother was a housekeeper and my father a truck driver. She had a tenth grade education and my father had an eighth grade education. As youth they had to work to help support their families in cotton and tobacco fields. “My success pertains a lot to football but the biggest and most lasting impact of my football experience is the educational aspect,” he said. “What a huge opportunity it is for these kids if they understand and grasp it. As I get older I am more and more thankful for it.”
CALL TO THE HALL
William Fuller’s 2016 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame makes him just the fifth Tar Heel to play exclusively at UNC and receive the coveted honor. Coaches Carl Snavely and Jim Tatum are also in the Hall. The other four players include: DRE’ BLY (inducted 2014): The only player in ACC history to earn first-team All-America honors in his first three seasons, Bly was the first two-time consensus All-America in Carolina history. Bly lives in Charlotte, where he works with youth athletics, and can frequently be spotted on the sideline at Tar Heel football games. DON MCCAULEY (inducted 2001): A consensus All-America and two-time ACC Player of the Year, McCauley remains fifth all-time in rushing at Carolina with 3,172 career yards. His 1,720 yards during the 1970 campaign remains the single-season school record, and his 19 rushing touchdowns during that same season is also still atop the single-season school record books. McCauley works with The Rams Club. CHARLIE JUSTICE (inducted 1961): The Asheville native, better known as Choo Choo, was the namesake of an entire era of Carolina football. He was a two-time All-America selection and twice finished second in Heisman Trophy voting. Justice passed away in 2003. ART WEINER (inducted 1992): A two-time All-America pick, Weiner led the nation in receiving in 1949. Almost 70 years later, his 106 career catches still ranks him among the top ten all-time at Carolina, and his 18 career touchdown receptions puts him in the top five in that category. Weiner lived most of his post-football life in Greensboro and died in 2013.
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FIRST PERSON
“Preparing to succeed”
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It always amazes me that some people actually believe that and rarely called fouls. Those practice moments translated to that success happens overnight. While some success stories may game, because there were moments when we just had to let our seem that they just happened all of sudden or that they were a raw talent and instinct take over. On this particular night, our talent given, there are usually hours of blood, sweat, and tears that went and instinct helped us to prevail. into the successes that we get to witness. Preparing to win not only pertains to basketball, but to life. As While at UNC, before every practice there was a thought of the long as you are always prepared, nothing will ever be a surprise to day that each player had to remember and you because you will be ready for whatever be able to recite word for word in front of life may throw at you. That panic button that the team. The thought of the day that best many people press won’t exist to you. exemplified us as a team during my final Since my days at Carolina, I have always season at UNC, 2005, was defined in one of “Preparing to win not only pertains prided myself on being prepared for our quotes. That quote read, “Everyone has whatever may come my way and knowing to basketball, but to life. As long the will to win, but champions have the will that I could handle it. Twelve years removed as you are always prepared, to prepare to win.” from UNC, I still take major pride in my nothing will ever be a surprise That quote meant so much to us, because preparation. I am currently in my twelfth it reminded us that every day there were to you because you will be ready season as a professional basketball player. other collegiate athletes chasing the same Other than God, I credit the hard work that for whatever life may throw at dream of winning a national title, just like I dedicate to my craft that keeps me going. you. That panic button that many When some said I would burn myself out, we were. Knowing that it wasn’t going to easy and no one was going to hand us people press won’t exist to you.” I continued to work, because I knew if I anything, forced us to put in overtime to wanted to play the game that I love so achieve our goals. I can vividly remember walking into the Smith much for a long time I had to put in the work and I will continue to Center at late hours to get extra shots up and work out and actually do so. I also took my lessons from basketball and applied them to running into my teammates. We wanted to win just like everyone the business world. I have made it my mission to prepare the future else, but the way we prepared to win is what ultimately set us apart leaders of our world through my non-profit organization, Strive To from everyone else. Excel. One thing that I loved about practice at UNC under Coach Regardless of the situation, we should all be prepared for the ups Williams is that during practice we would often practice specific and downs we may face in life. Don’t let your lack of preparation situations. Those situations varied based on scenarios Coach be what holds you back from your dreams. If you want to be Williams thought we might face. For example, we would scrimmage a millionaire, prepare a game plan on how you will achieve that where one team would start up or down eight points, or work on goal. If you want to be the top student in your class or best at your plays that had to be made in case we were losing or winning in the profession, start now by taking those necessary steps final seconds of a game. that will ultimately separate you from the rest. While sometimes the situational part of practice may have Till next time…Go Heels! seemed far-fetched, believe it or not, we found ourselves in those exact situations. Flashback to March 5, 2005, when we were playing sixth-ranked Duke. We were down nine points with 2:45 to go in the game, and we’d seen this situation before in practice. We knew not to panic. We ended up pulling off one of the most epic comebacks in UNC history. That win clinched the ACC title and also ensured that my JAWAD WILLIAMS fellow seniors plus the four players who left school early won their Men’s Basketball, 2001-05 last game on the Smith Center floor. Remember in the 2005 national title game when Illinois seemed like they couldn’t miss in the second half? We were well prepared to weather that storm as well. Our team was full of talent from top to bottom, so Coach Williams would split the teams up equally and just let us go at each other in practice. He wouldn’t call plays
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BORN & BRED
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April 2017
CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS
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BORN & BRED
April 2017