University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Josh Reavis
Lucas: The Price Is Right
December 18, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
The Tar Heels had their annual holiday shopping experience this week.
By Adam Lucas
You can try to post up Walker Miller. You can attempt to block his shot. You can try to take a charge on him.
But don't you ever—EVER—consider trying to steal his Doc McStuffins.
That was the lesson from Sunday's annual Tar Heel basketball Christmas shopping expedition. The trip has become a holiday ritual for the program since Roy Williams' first holiday season back in Chapel Hill. Every year, the players scatter through a local store with a wish list from a needy area family and a predetermined spending limit (veterans tend to take the "limit" as more of a "suggestion," as when assistant coach Brad Frederick announced the $150-per-recipient limit this year and Kenny Williams immediately gave him the side-eye and said, "Come on, Coach Fred."
But each year also has its own unique characteristics. While funding always comes from the sale of team-autographed basketballs, the source for the families being shopped for tends to change from year to year. Last year, the Tar Heels shopped for the Me Fine Foundation. This year, Eric Hoots found a program called Onslow County Christmas Cheer, an organization that has been around since the early 1970s but took on special significance in 2018 because of the devastating effects of Hurricane Florence in Jacksonville and other nearby areas.
Sometimes, the Tar Heels know little more about the families they're shopping for than the information that is provided to them on a sheet of paper with names, ages, and wish lists. But this year, Hoots had personal contact with the five families who were part of the program.
As the team gathered on Sunday afternoon in a meeting room at a Triangle-area Target (yes, Target has meeting rooms), Hoots told them about those conversations. "This is their Christmas," he explained to their players. The items they would be the highlight of someone's morning on Dec. 25. What might seem small to them was huge to someone else.
Hoots jotted down the items on the wish lists of the children, and then asked one mother, "What can we get you for Christmas?" He was greeted with a 30-second pause.
"No one has ever asked me that before," came the reply.
Duly inspired, it was easy for the Tar Heels to put some thought into their selections. Players were instructed to look for the toys on the lists of the children, but also to try and pick out at least one outfit (sizes were provided). But clothes aren't much fun, so most players quickly beelined for the toy aisle.
That's where Doc McStuffins was a very popular item. Luckily, Sean May has three daughters, so he was a bountiful source of information about what makes McStuffins—a girl who cares for stuffed animals and toys in her clinic—so popular. But while May was explaining, Miller was swooping in and virtually cleaning out the McStuffins items. Shea Rush, Andrew Platek and Luke Maye all had the good doctor on their lists. Rush and Platek each snagged an item, but it looked like Maye was going to be shut out—until he uncovered the very last Doc McStuffins toy on the back of a bottom shelf. "Got one!" he announced.
Some players had to make difficult financial decisions. A bike was on the list for both Cameron Johnson and Leaky Black, but after some price checks, they quickly realized that was going to take a substantial bite out of their $150 budget. Undeterred, they found a couple of bikes on sale for $80, then celebrated their good fortune by adding—safety first—a helmet to go with each bike.
The final tally was added in Lane 1, where players learned how close they'd come to hitting the spending goal. Manager Kiersten Steinbacher checked in at an impressive $152.51, while K.J. Smith, Sterling Manley and Luke Maye all hit $153.
Not near the top of the final leaderboard was Miller, presumably because of the rising cost of his McStuffins haul. As he reviewed his cart, with some slight jealousy from his teammates, the Tar Heel sophomore grinned.
"What can I say?" he asked. "I'm a scavenger."
You can try to post up Walker Miller. You can attempt to block his shot. You can try to take a charge on him.
But don't you ever—EVER—consider trying to steal his Doc McStuffins.
That was the lesson from Sunday's annual Tar Heel basketball Christmas shopping expedition. The trip has become a holiday ritual for the program since Roy Williams' first holiday season back in Chapel Hill. Every year, the players scatter through a local store with a wish list from a needy area family and a predetermined spending limit (veterans tend to take the "limit" as more of a "suggestion," as when assistant coach Brad Frederick announced the $150-per-recipient limit this year and Kenny Williams immediately gave him the side-eye and said, "Come on, Coach Fred."
But each year also has its own unique characteristics. While funding always comes from the sale of team-autographed basketballs, the source for the families being shopped for tends to change from year to year. Last year, the Tar Heels shopped for the Me Fine Foundation. This year, Eric Hoots found a program called Onslow County Christmas Cheer, an organization that has been around since the early 1970s but took on special significance in 2018 because of the devastating effects of Hurricane Florence in Jacksonville and other nearby areas.
Sometimes, the Tar Heels know little more about the families they're shopping for than the information that is provided to them on a sheet of paper with names, ages, and wish lists. But this year, Hoots had personal contact with the five families who were part of the program.
As the team gathered on Sunday afternoon in a meeting room at a Triangle-area Target (yes, Target has meeting rooms), Hoots told them about those conversations. "This is their Christmas," he explained to their players. The items they would be the highlight of someone's morning on Dec. 25. What might seem small to them was huge to someone else.
Hoots jotted down the items on the wish lists of the children, and then asked one mother, "What can we get you for Christmas?" He was greeted with a 30-second pause.
"No one has ever asked me that before," came the reply.
Duly inspired, it was easy for the Tar Heels to put some thought into their selections. Players were instructed to look for the toys on the lists of the children, but also to try and pick out at least one outfit (sizes were provided). But clothes aren't much fun, so most players quickly beelined for the toy aisle.
That's where Doc McStuffins was a very popular item. Luckily, Sean May has three daughters, so he was a bountiful source of information about what makes McStuffins—a girl who cares for stuffed animals and toys in her clinic—so popular. But while May was explaining, Miller was swooping in and virtually cleaning out the McStuffins items. Shea Rush, Andrew Platek and Luke Maye all had the good doctor on their lists. Rush and Platek each snagged an item, but it looked like Maye was going to be shut out—until he uncovered the very last Doc McStuffins toy on the back of a bottom shelf. "Got one!" he announced.
Some players had to make difficult financial decisions. A bike was on the list for both Cameron Johnson and Leaky Black, but after some price checks, they quickly realized that was going to take a substantial bite out of their $150 budget. Undeterred, they found a couple of bikes on sale for $80, then celebrated their good fortune by adding—safety first—a helmet to go with each bike.
The final tally was added in Lane 1, where players learned how close they'd come to hitting the spending goal. Manager Kiersten Steinbacher checked in at an impressive $152.51, while K.J. Smith, Sterling Manley and Luke Maye all hit $153.
Not near the top of the final leaderboard was Miller, presumably because of the rising cost of his McStuffins haul. As he reviewed his cart, with some slight jealousy from his teammates, the Tar Heel sophomore grinned.
"What can I say?" he asked. "I'm a scavenger."
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