‘I wanted to be here to wish them luck’
Thousands of Carolina fans gathered outside the Dean E. Smith Center on March 30 to wish the men’s basketball team good luck on their way to the Final Four.
More than 2,000 Carolina fans gathered outside the Dean Smith Center on March 30 to wish the men’s basketball team good luck as the Tar Heels headed to New Orleans for the Final Four and a historic matchup against Duke.
“This is the first year I’ve been fully in-person and able to see the games on campus, so it’s been an amazing experience to watch the team grow throughout the season,” said Carolina junior Eirene Hynes. “It feels like we’re making history with this game, so I wanted to be here to wish them luck.”
Fans crowded the pathway outside of the Dean E. Smith Center to greet the men’s basketball team as they departed for New Orleans. (Photo by Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Fans of all ages lined up hours before the team left, including one alumna who reminisced on how her first Carolina send-off made her a lifelong fan.
“My parents brought my brother and me to the send-off in 1993, and ever since then, I’ve been a fan,” said Julie Moore ’02. “He and I both eventually graduated from Carolina, and I’m here today with my mother again and my two children so they can say they got to see the 2022 team.”
The sea of fans decked out in Carolina blue cheered and chanted “Beat Duke” and “Go Heels” as the players and coaches walked from the Dean Smith Center to the team bus, where they were escorted by a Chapel Hill Fire Department Carolina Blue fire truck to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
“I’m a big fan, so it’s great that we get the honor of escorting them,” said Chapel Hill Fire Department Capt. Ricky Cherry. “The city and the University have always worked together, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
The Tar Heels are heading to the program’s 21st Final Four — an NCAA record. (Photo by Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)
The No. 8 seeded Tar Heels will face the No. 2 seeded Duke Blue Devils on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. This will be the first time the teams will meet in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m a born and bred Tar Heel, so it was important to me to get to see the team off to the championship,” said sophomore Shamarion Blake. “This is a chance to experience that Carolina-Duke true rivalry again this season too.”
The April 2 game will also mark Carolina’s 21st Final Four, more than any other school in NCAA history.
Fans can watch the game together at the Smith Center on Saturday. Both the Villanova-Kansas game at 6:09 p.m., and the Carolina-Duke game at 8:49 p.m. will be shown on a large projection screen and arena video boards. The Smith Center will open for students, faculty and staff with a UNC One Card at 5:30 p.m., and the general public can enter beginning at 5:45 p.m.
