Updates from Chapel Hill, NC: UNC fans pack Franklin Street; Tar Heels fall to Kansas
UNC fans descended upon Chapel Hill Monday night for the Tar Heels’ second big game in three days: the NCAA men’s basketball national championship.
UNC defeated Duke in the Final Four Saturday night, sending the Tar Heels to the title game and at least 35,000 fans swarming out of bars and restaurants and onto Franklin Street to revel.
Monday, fans were ready to do it all over again. They lined up hours before the 9:20 p.m. tip-off between UNC and Kansas to secure a spot along Franklin Street.
The News & Observer has journalists in Chapel Hill on Franklin Street and the Dean Smith Center and will be updating this story with scenes before, during and after the game.
A longtime fan applauds Hubert Davis
Larry Davis is from Richmond, Virginia, but he’s loved UNC since he visited the Dean Dome in the mid-1990s.
Hubert Davis, then playing in the NBA, was practicing with UNC star Shammond Williams during the offseason.
”I was a 14-year-old, you know?” Larry Davis said. “These guys were my idols and there they were in the flesh.”
Almost 30 years later, he still admires Hubert Davis, no relation, and applauds the first-year Tar Heels’ head coach, despite UNC’s stunning loss to Kansas in the NCAA championship game.
”The wagon started shaking and the wheels were rattling and it fell apart,” Larry Davis said. “It’s a lot of pressure on these guys and it takes a mental fortitude to overcome the setbacks. It wasn’t there tonight.”
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Silence, tears and pride: ‘Great job, Heels!’
It’s as quiet as it’s been in the Dean Dome all night. UNC fan David Conner shuffled past his aisle mates and headed up the stairs.
”I ain’t staying to see this,” he said. “I can’t take it.”
Then there’s absolute silence in the Dean Dome as the clock winds down and Kansas wins 72-69.
“Hark the Sound” blared across the Smith Center’s sound system in the moments after UNC’s heartbreaking loss. On this night, the mighty march sounded like a dirge. Tar Heel voices rang out, but they were neither clear nor true. The stilted chorus was often interrupted by muffled sobs.
Five friends comforted Sarah McIlroy, who couldn’t contain her cries. The UNC freshman expected a win after the Tar Heels mustered a commanding 15-point lead in the first half.
”I got so excited,” McIlroy said. “I can’t believe this happened.”
But she’s confident coach Hubert Davis can rally his team for a vengeance tour.
”We’ll be back,” she said. “I’ve got another three years. It’ll happen.”
At Might As Well, tears began flowing as the game clock ran out shortly before midnight.
“At least we beat Duke,” junior Andrew Harris said. “Go Heels. I’m proud of everybody.”
Outside the restaurants and bars, the roads are open and the fans are walking the wrong way on Franklin Street, steaming away from the intersection they hoped to rush Monday night.
With four seconds left, Tar Heel fans at Top of the Hill took to their seats. Some screamed expletives. Some put their heads in their hands. Some decided to leave, unable to bear the game’s final moments.
As it ended, fans stayed seated in stunned silence. But it only lasted a few seconds.
They began to clap. Slowly, solemnly, but then with force.
“Let’s go Heels! Great job, Heels!” the crowd roared. After a few seconds of joy, the crowd got their bags, polished off their drinks and left with little more to say.
Down to the wire
11:31 p.m. Everyone at the Dean Dome is on their feet as the game passes its two-minute mark and the Kansas and UNC alternate leads.
Kansas takes the lead, Tar Heel fans go silent
11:08 p.m. It’s quiet in the Dean Dome when the Jayhawks score. The crowd seems resigned to Kansas’ shifting prospects. But viewers erupt with renewed vigor each time the Heels win a possession.
In a brief moment of silence, a timorous voice came from the crowd: “Jesus, it’s somber in here now.”
A slow-motion replay of Hubert Davis shows the first-year head coach exploding with emotion after his Heels tie the game at 57 points. The Smith Center crowd matches his jubilant energy.
After a jubilant halftime dance break at Might as Well, the crowd is despondent as Kansas takes the lead. It’s been virtually silent for a few minutes here. A Puff Johnson 3-pointer brought the UNC crowd clustered around dozens of TV screens back into it, prompting the first TAR HEELS chant since the second half began.
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The tension is visible
11:06 p.m. A few minutes into the second half, Top of the Hill is noisy with frequent cheering — even during commercial breaks. Call and response chants (“Tar!” “HEELS!”) ring through the dining area, bar, outdoor patio and rooftop.
Fans’ noise level is steadily progressing back to its apex right before halftime. As the score tightens, the tension is visible. Fans grip their chairs, hopping out of their seats every few seconds. Every Carolina basket gets more and more fans up on their feet.
‘Remember tonight for the rest of their lives’
9:28 p.m. Bret Olivero, who owns Sup Dogs, said the Tar Heels getting this far in the tournament has been huge for the Franklin Street economy. The restaurant posted record sales on Saturday and yesterday was the highest-grossing Sunday of all time.
The restaurant is charging $40 for entry and is requiring every person to spend $40 and tip at least 20%.
“Honestly I could’ve charged five times that,” Oliverio said. “People are here. We’re packed and they’re ready to spend money.”
Oliverio said he feels like a Heels win over Kansas is meant to be.
“What I tell our staff all the time is they’ll remember tonight for the rest of their lives. We’re lucky to be part of that,” he said.
Outside, Franklin Street is bustling with crowds of people making their way to TVs or trying to sneak into bars that are closely monitoring capacity. Fire marshals have been making the rounds all evening.
The energy is contagious, with drummers playing and spontaneous TARRR HEEEELLL chants breaking out every few minutes.
Dean Dome next best thing to Superdome
9:14 p.m. David Conner went to North Carolina A&T, but the Raleigh native is a lifelong Tar Heel fan and watching the game from the Dean Dome.
“Sucks I can’t see them in person tonight,” he said, “but this is the next best thing.”
Conner is sure his taunts might have thrown Kansas off its game if he’d attended the championship game in New Orleans.
”Tomato, tomato, verbal tomato,” he shouted as the monitors broadcast Kansas coach Bill Self. “We need to get louder people. Let’s get going.”
Bringing UNC energy at Top of the Hill
8:42 p.m. This group of seniors is hoping for one last Franklin Street rush. They spent Saturday’s Duke-UNC game at Top of the Hill and joined the flood of people in the street the moment the buzzer buzzed. They all hope to get one more rush in before their undergraduate experience comes to an end.
On Monday night, they sat at the same table where they watched Saturday’s game, decked out in Carolina blue and hoping for the best. They were about 10 feet from the screen and were ready to bring the energy.
“A lot of our professors are letting us skip class and canceling homework assignments if we win tonight,” Willie Yang, a business major, said.
“Well, some of my professors canceled class, regardless,” Sumani Nunna, an economics and statistics student, said. “I know I’m going to cry at the end of this game, no matter what happens. Oh man, I’m already tearing up!”
An hour before tip-off, the group sat directly across from the large projector and leisurely munched on their dinner. This wasn’t the scene Saturday when the Tar Heels faced their rival Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.
“The last game felt way more intense,” Nina Dakoriya, a business and political science major, said. “But we loved the experience last time so much that we all got out our laptops as soon as reservations opened, and thankfully we got the same table.”
They think they’ll see the same intensity they saw Saturday night once the game starts, they said.
“Last game, I kept standing on my chair, and someone would come down and make me get off. But I’d get right back on it again,” Athena Kuang, a business major, said. “Everyone was yelling, jumping. I needed a good view. And I needed to yell and jump too.”
‘Underestimated’ at Might As Well
8:32 p.m. Might As Well, a huge bar on West Franklin Street, sold tickets for $30 each. Their capacity is 350 people.
“It’s great seeing people out and excited about something,” owner Liam Jones said.
UNC student Vayun Agarwal said he flew home from his study abroad in Italy on Friday so he wouldn’t miss the moment.
“After Saturday night, it was worth it flying home, but I definitely hope we win tonight,” he said from inside the bar.
“It honestly felt like a championship game,” his friend Chase Osorio said. “Rushing Franklin was crazy.”
They’re both North Carolina natives in their junior year. Osorio said he predicted a Caleb Love-fest.
“He’s been really hot lately,” Osorio said of the UNC sophomore guard.
“What about Armando?” Agarwal chimed in, talking about Armando Bacot, the UNC junior forward/center.
Osorio said he was hoping for a competitive game.
“UNC all the way,” he said grinning, drink in hand. “We’ve been underestimated the whole way. We’re the underdogs again.”
Students pack Dean Dome
8:15 p.m. The brouhaha has already begun an hour before tip-off.
From opposite sides of the Smith Center, Tar Heel diehards exchanged chants of “Tar!” and “Heel!” before erupting into applause.
Sawyer Robinson, 13, wearing a UNC-blue Michael Jordan jersey, was aglow with hometown pride at his first watch party in the Dean Dome.
”I didn’t think they’d get this far,” he said.
Sawyer’s father, Kevin Robinson, is a UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus. It’s his son’s dream to attend in a few years.
”There are three things he’s not allowed to say in the house,” Kevin Robinson said of his son. “The word ‘hate,’ ‘Boston’ – because I’m a huge Yankees fan – and ‘Duke.’ We don’t speak those words.”
If UNC wins the championship game Monday night, the Robinsons will be storming the court at the Smith Center “for sure,” Sawyer Robinson said. ”That would be huge.”
But a loss wouldn’t devastate him. The more important win was Saturday against Duke in the semifinals.
”It was a bigger deal on Saturday,” Sawyer said, “but this would be amazing.”
Chapel Hill prepares for crowds
7:45 p.m. The town of Chapel Hill plans to be ready Monday night if the UNC men’s basketball team wins its seventh national championship.
Town officials estimate 35,000 to 40,000 people took to the streets Saturday. Fireworks shot out, and some people climbed light poles and trees to get above the frenzy.
On Monday, workers were seen spraying cooking oil on the utility poles to prevent people from climbing them.
Saturday, 10 people were treated for injuries, and four were taken to the hospital.
The town prohibits bonfires and illegal fireworks.
The town said those attending celebrations should not bring any of the following into a crowd: weapons of any kind, fireworks and explosives, flammable substances, furniture, alcoholic beverages, glass bottles, coolers, paint or animals.
Fire department staff will be checking downtown businesses to enforce capacity limits and police will be vigilant of alcohol violations, the town said.
A great ‘gift’ at He’s Not Here
7:30 p.m. He’s Not Here set up a projector for the game and sold 500 tickets for $25 each, selling out online in a few short minutes.
“I can’t believe that we’re here right now,” senior Jada Raphael said, sitting at a table inside the Franklin Street institution a couple of hours ahead of tip-off.
“It’s very rewarding. The last three years have not been that great. It’s a great graduation gift to be able to actually be in a bar and rush Franklin,” added senior Jabria Ingram, Raphael’s friend.
“Just to have that feeling back,” Raphael said.
The students said that whatever the outcome of the game, they’re overjoyed at the season. With first-year coach Hubert Davis, the season got off to a rocky start. And for many fans, beating Duke not once, but twice, this season — with the Final Four victory the icing on the cake — was more than enough for them.
“With the new coach and the way the season started…,” Ingram said
“We beat Duke on Saturday!” Raphael said. “That’s what matters.”
It was a feeling shared by Sara Walker, who was seated outside with a group of fellow Carolina alumni from Raleigh.
“It’s all gravy at this point,” she said. “They weren’t supposed to be here. This team has accomplished so much.”
She attracted a few skeptical stares from the group.
“I do hope we win, to be clear,” Walker said.
They watched the UNC-Duke game together in Raleigh on Saturday night and found tickets for Monday’s game in the Superdome but couldn’t find a flight for less than $2,500. So they got a hotel within walking distance of Franklin Street instead.
“We wanted to come back to Chapel Hill to celebrate because if we win, we wanted to rush Franklin Street,” Taylor Rankin said.
“There’s no bad place to watch on Franklin,” Katherine Rankin said. “And it’s a unique experience every time you rush Franklin. Uniquely terrifying.”
The quartet sipped beer from the trademark He’s Not Here blue cups as the place filled with a couple hundred Carolina blue-clad fans.
“I just want to get one more thing on the record,” Taylor Rankin said. “What an accomplishment for Hubert Davis.”
Aaron Sánchez-Guerra contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Updates from Chapel Hill, NC: UNC fans pack Franklin Street; Tar Heels fall to Kansas."
