University of North Carolina Athletics
The Stars Come Out At Late Night
October 21, 2015 | Men's Basketball
NOTE: This article originally appeared in the October 20 issue of CAROLINA.
by Alex Zietlow
CHAPEL HILL—With the beginning of the season inching nearer, team roles are still being established on the court – some of which require skills that do not pertain to basketball.
Late Night With Roy and the Tar Heels will signal the beginning of the 2015-2016 Carolina basketball season on Friday at 7:30 PM. The night includes women and men's basketball player introductions, the men's Blue-White scrimmage, skits, dances, and other performances that feature several student-groups.
“Every year there is heavy student participation in the event and this year is no different,” said Ken Cleary, director of new media and co-coordinator of the event. “In total there are more than 200 different students involved in this production in some way, shape, or form.”
The groups performing throughout the night include the Carolina Dance Team, Harmonyx, Bhangra Elite, and CHiPS.
The MU Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will also be featured, as the University will pay special recognition to the fraternity's late brother, Stuart Scott. Scott was a longtime Late Night host as well as a trendsetting and accomplished journalist, and he will be posthumously awarded a Tar Heel Trailblazer Award. The Tar Heel Trailblazer Award recognizes pioneering individuals that paved the way for success in several aspects of the student-athlete experience.
“There's not normally a Trailblazer award at Late Night; we've never done this before,” Cleary said. “This was the most appropriate event to honor Stuart because he hosted Late Night ten times and was very close with Coach Williams and his staff.”
Spectators think Late Night With Roy is such a special event because it shows the basketball players in a new light, making them more personable to both Carolina students and fans. While Williams likes it for similar reasons, he especially enjoys the spectacle because it can venture his players a bit out of their comfort zones.
“If you're Joel Berry II or Theo Pinson, you're a really good basketball player; you're comfortable playing basketball in front of 15, 16, 18,000 people,” Cleary said. “But are you as comfortable when you're dancing? It makes them a little vulnerable, and I think Coach Williams sort of likes that.”
Kenny Smith, accomplished point guard for the Tar Heels from 1983-1987, will host the event this year. The studio analyst for TNT previously hosted Late Night in 2005, and he will continue on the tradition of putting on an entertaining performance that everyone in the Carolina basketball community appreciates.
“He's done it before; he'll do a great job,” Cleary said. “It will be a great opportunity for free for people to come and get the first look at this year's Tar Heels.”
