Name a More Iconic Duo

This weekend UNC basketball played against UVA in a huge game. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 and it was ESPN’s College Game Day. I was lucky enough to get tickets phase 1 with all my all three of my roommates, so we were able to go sit in the lower bowl of the game. It was so much fun. For anyone who knows me, or even knows he general student base at UNC, you know how much we love Carolina basketball. For my house, it was especially fun, because one of my roommates has committed to go to UVA next year for a business masters’ program, so this would be the last time that she would be cheering against UVA.

So before the game started, we saw two of last year’s stars Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson enter the Dean Dome. It was so exciting to see them again, as they were two of the key players that led us to the National Championship last year. I thought they were just visiting and going to be watching the game. But at halftime, they said they had something special to announce. They brought out Marcus and Brice to the middle of the court and Roy got on the microphone and said that tonight he is lucky enough to be able to honor these two gentlemen as we put their jerseys up in the rafters of the Dean Dome forever. This didn't mean that they would be retiring their numbers, but it did mean that they would be immortalized in the stadium through their jerseys.

The basketball season last year was such an emotional roller coaster for all of us, and I was so devastated when we lost to Villanova that horrible March night. But to see Marcus and Brice, best friends and Tar Heels, be honored like this was so heartwarming for me to witness in first person. They talked about the two’s accomplishments and how much they contributed to the team over the years. I thought I was going to be able to hold it together, but then I saw Brice blinking back tears on the camera, and I just lost it. I was overwhelmed with emotion and love for my school and for the sport of basketball that I've come to love so much as a student at Carolina. To make things worse (better?), they played the song, “Coming Home” over a video that showed all of their accomplishments and that was it. I was a mess. These two people have been such an influential part of my amazing experience at Carolina, and I couldn't thank them enough for all they've done to make my time at Carolina the best four years of my entire life.

I never really watched basketball before I came to college, but coming to Carolina it was really a no-brainer. We are a basketball school and I jumped right on board with that. Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson have been some of my favorite people to watch over the years, as they came in about the same time as us, and we watched them grow from the start. I was so grateful to be able to watch them stand that court with their families and hug Roy Williams and to thank them on the court for maybe one last time. I loving knowing their jerseys are hanging in the rafters and that one day, when I come back to this place with my children, I'll be able to point up to ceiling at number five and 11 and say, “I experienced them playing, and it was amazing.”

Photo credit: Google images

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