GoHeels Exclusive: Maye Continues Hot Start In Homecoming Win

by Pat James, GoHeels.com

CHARLOTTE – There comes a time, whether it's during games or practices, when Kenny Williams can sense it coming.

It begins when Luke Maye makes his first shot. His confidence subsequently grows. And as Maye starts talking, either to himself or other players around him, Williams anticipates what typically happens next.

"That's when you know, 'Oh, yeah, he's feeling it. He's about to go off,'" Williams said. "We've seen it for years … We knew it was only a matter of time before it started happening in games."

So far this season, it's seemingly becoming the norm.

Maye continued his torrid start in North Carolina's 85-75 win over Davidson on Friday at the Spectrum Center, where he registered 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. The double-double marked his fourth of the season and second secured before halftime.

It was also Maye's sixth game with at least 20 points. And his 165 total points are the most by a Tar Heel through eight games since Tyler Hansbrough opened the 2007-08 campaign with 171.

Few fans might have expected such a breakout. But Davidson coach Bob McKillop always did, adding to the magnitude of Maye's performance on Friday.

"No one recruited him as much as I did," McKillop said. "I spent more time recruiting that young man than I did a lot of players. I thought he could have been a star for us. And he's clearly a star for North Carolina. He's sensational, and I'm very happy for him."

Maye grew up in Huntersville, N.C., about a 10-minute drive from Davidson's campus. He regularly attended basketball camps and games. He even went to a few practices.

"It was like my second home for a long time," Maye said.

But McKillop wasn't the only coach who realized Maye's potential. Roy Williams did, too. And at summer basketball camps in Chapel Hill, he occasionally spoke with Maye's father Mark, a former UNC quarterback, about the possibility of Maye also playing for the Tar Heels.

Even then, Roy Williams couldn't foresee the leap that Maye has made this season.

"The biggest thing is I loved him as a person, as a kid," Roy Williams said. "But he did have some ability to shoot, he had great hands, he had instincts to play the game and then the rest of it is sweat. And that's what Luke has put in.

"He's been one of the best workers I've ever coached and more efficient than 90 percent of the really good workers I've had."

It didn't take long for Kenny Williams to realize Maye's work ethic. As freshmen two years ago, he said Maye asked if he'd like to join him for a workout at the Smith Center during their first day on UNC's campus.

"It's been the same way ever since," Kenny Williams said. "Luke lives in the gym. So all of what he's doing is no surprise at all."

Still, Maye isn't satisfied. Speaking with reporters on Friday, moments removed from tallying a career-high 17 rebounds, he lingered on the two he failed to haul in because he didn't box out.

"(It was) a mental lapse," he said. And he promised it wouldn't happen again.

That, however, didn't matter to the numerous friends and former coaches who contacted Maye about getting tickets to Friday's game. Not all them could attend; Maye only received six tickets. But all of them were likely watching as Maye once again showed why he should be considered one of the ACC's top players.

"I'm very thankful for all of the supporters who have been with me since Day 1 and really believed in me," he said. "Throughout high school and middle school, they've known who I am and what I represent."

And for Maye, nothing else could matter more.

Players Mentioned

Luke Maye

Kenny Williams

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