Tar Heels have also made a mark on pop culture. Andy Griffith[248] and John Forsythe[249] became successful actors. Stuart Scott,[250] Woody Durham,[251] and Mick Mixon[252] have become sportscasters. Civil War historian and writer Shelby Foote,[253] sportswriter Peter Gammons,[254] Pulitzer Prize winner Lenoir Chambers[255] and comedian Lewis Black all graduated from North Carolina. Other notable writers who have attended UNC-Chapel Hill include Thomas Wolfe, who has a memorial on campus; National Book Award winners Walker Percy, Hayden Carruth, and Charles Frazier; Dos Passos Prize winner Russell Banks; National Book Critics Circle Award winner Ben Fountain; Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet; New Yorker columnist Joseph Mitchell; National Geographic writer John Patric; Armistead Maupin; and the notable poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Bollingen Prize winner Edgar Bowers.Television journalist Charles Kuralt, honored with three Peabody Awards, is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, political cartoonist Jeff MacNelly graduated from Carolina. Caleb Bradham,[256] the inventor of the popular soft drink Pepsi-Cola, was a member of the Philanthropic Society and the class of 1890. Actor Ken Jeong attended UNC's School of Medicine, joining the small group of performers and personalities who also possess doctorates. Brooke Baldwin anchors CNN's Newsroom and graduated from UNC in 2001.[257] Pamela Brown serves as CNN's Senior White House Correspondent.[258] Pulitzer Prize winner and creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones achieved her master's degree from UNC in 2003.[259]
While students previously held "Beat Duke" parades on Franklin Street before sporting events,[185] today students and sports fans have been known to spill out of bars and residence halls upon the victory of one of Carolina's sports teams.[186] In most cases, a Franklin Street "bonfire" celebration is due to a victory by the men's basketball team,[187][188] although other Franklin Street celebrations have stemmed from wins by the women's basketball team and women's soccer team. The first known student celebration on Franklin Street came after the 1957 men's basketball team capped their perfect season with a national championship victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.[189] From then on, students have flooded the street after important victories.[189] After a Final Four victory in 1981 and the men's basketball team won the 1982 NCAA Championship, Franklin Street was painted blue by the fans who had rushed the street.[189] This event has led local vendors to stop selling Carolina blue paint as the Tar Heels near the national championship.
Following a down year for Mike Krzyzewski and his Blue Devils, there was a significant amount of offseason roster movement. Leading scorer and All-ACC forward Matthew Hurt was joined by guard D.J. Steward and forward Jalen Johnson in turning pro after the season, while guard Jordan Goldwire and forwards Henry Coleman and Jaemyn Brakefield transferred out. There are quality pieces that remain. Point guard Jeremy Roach and center Mark Williams showed flashes of potential last season, while forward Wendell Moore is a key veteran. The Blue Devils brought in Marquette transfer Theo John to add depth in the frontcourt, and as always, there’s an elite recruiting class headlined by No. 2 overall forward Paolo Banchero and No. 17 overall wing A.J. Griffin.
The Hurricanes return a solid frontcourt combo in All-ACC guard Isaiah Wong and the oft-injured Kameron McGusty. While Chris Lykes and Earl Timberlake are no longer in Coral Gables, Jim Larranaga does have some talented options in Harland Beverly, Anthony Walker and Sam Waardenburg, who missed all of the last season due to injury. DePaul transfer Charlie Moore will help at point guard, while George Mason transfer Jordan Miller will provide an undersized body at in the post, but the Hurricanes will be thin once again in the frontcourt.
Lenoir Dining Hall was completed in 1939 using funds from the New Deal Public Works Administration, and opened for service to students when they returned from Christmas holidays in January 1940. The building was named for General William Lenoir, the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University in 1790. Since its inception, Lenoir Dining Hall has remained the flagship of Carolina Dining Services and the center of dining on campus. It has been renovated twice, in 1984 and 2011, to improve seating and ease mealtime rushes.[224]
Wednesday wasn't officially Tyler Nickel Day at East Rockingham High School. But it sure felt like it. Classes were adjourned 30 minutes early so the other 749 or so students could attend Nickel's announcement. As he put on a UNC hat, Nickel represented more than the first student-athlete in East Rockingham history to commit to a Division 1 school. (Inside Carolina)
The updated 247Sports rankings for the 2022 basketball recruiting class were released Wednesday. All of UNC's commitments made a significant shift. Point guard commit Seth Trimble jumped from 41 to 28 in the rankings. Center Jalen Washington fell from 22 to 49. Center Will Shaver fell from 103 to 141. And forward Tyler Nickel moved from No. 75 to No. 79. (Inside Carolina)
UNC will face off against Walters State and national runner-up Vanderbilt this fall in preparation for the 2022 college baseball season. The Tar Heels host Walters State on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium before hosting Vanderbilt on Friday, Oct. 15 at 3:30 p.m. The Tar Heels also will begin its Fall World Series on Friday, Oct. 8. (GoHeels.com)
The university was named a Public Ivy by Richard Moll in his 1985 book The Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, and in later guides by Howard and Matthew Greene.[134][135] Many of UNC-Chapel Hill's professional schools have achieved high rankings in publications such as Forbes magazine, as well as annual U.S. News & World Report surveys.[136][137] In 2020, US News & World Report ranked the School of Medicine #1 in primary care and #23 in research.[138] In 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC-Chapel Hill business school's MBA program as the 16th best in the nation. In the 2019 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health as the second best school of public health in the United States (behind Johns Hopkins and tied with Harvard).[139] The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy was ranked #1 among pharmacy schools in the United States in 2020 by U.S. News & World Report.[140] In 2005, Business Week ranked UNC-Chapel Hill business school's Executive MBA program as the 5th best in the United States.[141] UNC also offers an online MBA program, MBA@UNC,[142] that is ranked #1 in the country in 2019 for Best Online MBA Programs (tied with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University).[143] Other highly ranked schools include journalism and mass communication, law, library and information science, medicine, dentistry, and city and regional planning.[144][145][146][147][148] Nationally, UNC-Chapel Hill is in the top ten public universities for research.[149] Internationally, the 2016 QS World University Rankings ranked North Carolina 78th in the world (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings).[150]
Basketball coach Dean Smith was widely known for his idea of "The Carolina Way", in which he challenged his players to, "Play hard, play smart, play together."[172] "The Carolina Way" was an idea of excellence in the classroom, as well as on the court. In Coach Smith's book, The Carolina Way, former player Scott Williams said, regarding Dean Smith, "Winning was very important at Carolina, and there was much pressure to win, but Coach cared more about our getting a sound education and turning into good citizens than he did about winning."[173]
The North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team, commonly referred to as Carolina, represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in NCAA Division I college baseball. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels play their home games on campus at Boshamer Stadium, and are currently coached by Scott Forbes.
Why North Carolina? Tyler Nickel: "It was the best for me -- me and my future. I feel like I can go in there and contribute right away. And be able to be me -- play like Tyler Nickel. When I get there, be able to contribute to a great team and win a national championship in the process of me and my development, and everyone else that's there." (Inside Carolina)
