Chapel Hill Review

By Adam Lucas

It's a busy weekend for Carolina Basketball.

The calendar might suggest that this is ostensibly the "offseason." It doesn't feel like it.

The Tar Heels had preseason workouts on Friday and Saturday. The 2005 team is in town for their 20th anniversary. There are significant recruiting responsibilities.

Even with all of those obligations, the entire team still made its way to Carmichael Arena on Sunday morning for the third annual Dribble for Victory Over Cancer. The event has become one of the highlights of the fall Carolina athletics calendar, both in terms of participation—co-sponsored by the men's and women's basketball teams, it was also attended by multiple Tar Heel teams from other sports, plus athletic director Bubba Cunningham—and financially.

Carolina's goal for the 2024 event was to raise $75,000. They surpassed that total, and by Sunday afternoon had raised over $100,000 for cancer research. The entire men's and women's teams were on hand and readily accessible throughout the morning, mingling with kids on the Carmichael floor and dribbling through campus with them on a perfect fall day.

It makes sense that the event would connect with the Chapel Hill community. It's impossible to find a family that hasn't been impacted by cancer in some way, and the Carolina basketball family is no different. For the first time this year, the program presented the Eric Montross Courage Award, as assistant coach Pat Sullivan was joined by Laura and Sarah Montross in an emotional ceremony to bestow the first honor on Angelo Marrone of Italian Pizzeria III on Franklin Street. Marrone—and his family's restaurant—are fixtures on the Chapel Hill scene and consistently part of any athletic department community efforts.

One of the honorary captains for the event was James Rolf Blizzard, a men's basketball manager who received a stunning cancer diagnosis this February while training for the Boston Marathon. Improbably, he not only ran the Marathon but also raised over $10,000 for cancer research in the process.

Blizzard is again part of this year's team, which had a special guest this weekend—15-year-old Jayden Bailey visited Chapel Hill for the entire weekend. Bailey, who came with his mother from his home in Lebanon, Tenn., became a Tar Heel fan in third grade. Like so many other Tar Heel fans, he was attracted by that gorgeous Carolina blue and stories about Michael Jordan.

And even when he was faced with a very difficult cancer diagnosis at age 13, he continued cheering for the Heels. When word reached the program via former basketball office staffer Jennifer Holbrook, Jayden was invited by Hubert Davis to be part of the entire weekend—from attending workouts and football tailgate with players to being an honorary captain for Sunday's event.

Holbrook was an ideal chaperone for Bailey's family because she is well acquainted with childhood cancer battles. Saturday marked 20 years since Jenn and Chad's son Reece was diagnosed; Reece spent that anniversary being honored at a football game alongside his Carolina baseball teammates for their College World Series appearance this summer.

So yes: cancer eventually affects everyone. Attendee and fundraiser Rusty Cotterman dribbled a 1993 Final Four basketball over a mile course in honor of Eric Montross; Rusty himself has also faced a cancer fight. Throughout Sunday's crowd were families honoring their own loved ones' battles—and those of their favorite Tar Heels.

Which makes it easy to gather support for those researching, battling, and fundraising against disease. "Our sport is one in which we play offense and defense at the same time," women's basketball coach Courtney Banghart told attendees. "And that's what all of us are doing today."