University of North Carolina Athletics
Maye Family Continues the Carolina Connection
April 17, 2017 | General
Like many other youngsters growing up in the state of North Carolina, Luke Maye pretended to be a great Tar Heel quarterback when he threw the football around the yard in his Charlotte area home.
Unlike virtually every other youngster, that Carolina quarterback Maye was emulating was his father, Mark.
"I idolized my father,” Luke says. “I wanted to throw the football like he threw it and I wanted to shoot the basketball like he shot it.”
Very few players could throw it like Mark threw it. The elder Maye was all-state in three sports in North Carolina in the early 1980s, but was a national standout in football for Charlotte's Independence High. In a game some Queen City natives still talk about, he passed for 481 yards against West Mecklenburg, a record that stood for 20 years.
Mark Maye was a Parade All-American and a prized recruit for Dick Crum's Tar Heel football program. A shoulder injury during his freshman season would be troublesome for the rest of his football career, but he still earned a spot in the Carolina record books. Despite playing in a very different era offensively, Mark Maye is one of only two quarterbacks who played before the 1990s to rank in the top 11 all-time in UNC passing (Matt Kupec is the other), and his 406 yards through the air against Georgia Tech in 1987 remains one of the top 10 Carolina single game passing performances ever. Maye's 56.2% career completion rate is one of the ten best marks ever by a UNC quarterback.
"My granddad tells me a little bit about it,” Luke says. “And I've seen him a couple of times on ESPN Classic.”
It's natural to assume Luke would eventually arrive at Carolina on a football scholarship. But Mark married a former West Charlotte basketball standout and UNC graduate named Aimee Sockwell, and Luke always seemed to prefer the hardwood.
In fact, Luke had an easier time choosing a sport than choosing a school. He stopped playing football in eighth grade, and then became a sought-after basketball prospect at Hough High in Huntersville. Schools such as Davidson and Notre Dame offered scholarships, picturing the versatile Maye as a perfect fit in their offenses.
But Maye had been picturing something different ever since he was little. Like many two-Tar Heel families, Maye family trips often revolved around Carolina athletics. The family went to Detroit in 2009 to watch Roy Williams win his second national title, and made multiple journeys to Kenan Stadium every fall to watch the gridiron Tar Heels.
Luke Maye knew he might have a tougher time earning playing time in Chapel Hill, and his parents largely tried to stay silent during his decision process, wanting him to make his own decision rather than simply trying to please his parents.
"In that last little bit when Luke was trying to make his final decision, it was hard,” Mark says. “We wanted him to make his own decision, but we also both thought Carolina was the best place for him.”
Eventually, Luke agreed, committing to play for Williams. That meant the Maye family has once again been Tar Heel fixtures, this time on the basketball side, where it's a very rare Carolina game that doesn't feature at least Mark and Aimee in the stands, and often some combination of Luke's younger brothers, Cole, Beau and Drake.
After growing up dreaming of being a Tar Heel, Luke still remembers the first time he saw a Carolina jersey with his name stitched on the back.
"I grew up in this state and I grew up around Carolina,” he says. “The history here is unbelievable. The fact that I get to wear the Carolina jersey every night gives me chills.”
His parents are equally pleased. And although his son is playing a different sport, Mark has observed that Luke's Carolina experience has had some significant similarities to his own.
"First and foremost, the people have been great,” Mark says. “Whenever someone asks me about my experience at Carolina, the first thing I say is how many good people I was fortunate enough to be around. That's the neat thing about Chapel Hill, and that's something I think Luke has also found to be true.”
While Mark arrived on campus with national credentials, Luke has worked his way through a star-studded basketball roster to earn playing time. He saw just spot duty as a freshman, but has already contributed key minutes as a sophomore, including a career-high 11 points against Kentucky in December.
He's a versatile scorer who has worked to develop his post moves to complement an already accurate three-point stroke, and he's the post player teammates least enjoy competing against in pickup games because of his knack for rebounding.
"Ever since I was younger, my dad has told me I've always had a knack for rebounding,” Luke says. “It's something I worked on a lot with him throughout my high school career. I know I'm not the most athletic or the tallest guy, but I know I can outwork other players. I was taught many years ago to read how a player releases the ball when he shoots it. That's what I try to do every time the ball is shot.”
That's the type of savvy you'd expect from the son of a pair of sports standouts. And although they matriculated nearly 30 years apart, Mark has found that Luke's experience mirrors his own. When he was a football player at Carolina, Mark knew a young assistant basketball coach named Roy Williams. He was surprised to find out the head coach version of Williams is essentially unchanged from the hustling assistant.
"This is the honest truth: each day that goes by that Luke is involved and we are around Coach (Roy) Williams and the way he runs his program, we get more impressed every time,” Mark says. “It's a very, very special program. We're so happy with the way Luke has been treated at Carolina and the experiences he has as a Tar Heel.”
This story appeared in the February 2017 issue of Born & Bred magazine.
