Lucas: Special Delivery

By Adam Lucas

Carolina basketball travel is a highly refined science.

Schedules are closely followed. A 2 p.m. departure means you're late if you arrive after 1:45. Every leg of every trip is designed to move as efficiently as possible, and the head coach is not a fan of needless waiting.

So it was unusual on Sunday when the Tar Heel travel party sat on the tarmac for a half-hour waiting for the charter flight to be loaded with bags. The players entertained themselves by teasing Christian Keeling about his relatively inexperienced flying history. Several players were able to visit the cockpit. Eventually, some in the group became restless and inquired about the delay.

The culprit?

Carolina's luggage for the trip included 1,267 pounds of supplies as part of Brandon Robinson's effort for a class project to supply hurricane relief in the Bahamas. The Tar Heel senior, a communications major with a minor in social and economic justice, put out the call for fans to donate at the Carolina-Elon game last week. The response was overwhelming, and every single donation was packed and loaded for the two-hour flight to Nassau on Sunday. It's a tribute to the power of social media anc commitment of the fan base that it took barely ten days from the creation of the idea to the delivery of the supplies.

As soon as the Tar Heels landed early Sunday evening, Robinson headed straight for the Bahamas Children's Emergency Hostel, where he was accompanied by assistant coach Hubert Davis, director of player development Eric Hoots, and academic advisor Jenn Townsend. The group was greeted enthusiastically and immediately began handing out Carolina basketballs and shirts while the relief supplies were unloaded.

The emergency hostel currently houses 51 children between the ages of newborn and 11 years old, all of whom were placed there by social services for a variety of reasons. A large percentage previously lived at a nursery on Grand Bahama Island that was decimated by Hurricane Dorian. All of them—children and adult employees alike—were thrilled that Robinson visited.

It took barely minutes before Robinson and several children were outside on the dirt court shooting baskets in the dark with their brand new Carolina blue basketballs. They described the rules of the game to Robinson as follows: "If you miss, we slap you in the back of the head."

Robinson, predictably, suggested another arrangement: a miss meant ten push-ups. He was eventually challenged to a game of one-on-one by the self-described "best seventh grade basketball player in the Bahamas." He first wanted to play for very high stakes—the Jordan brand floppy hats the players were given for the Bahamas trip. Robinson wasn't willing to chance his hat (even Davis had already been lamenting the fact that coaches didn't receive the hats), but did prevail, 5-4, in the one-on-one battle.

"It felt amazing to see how excited the kids were," Robinson said. "They were so happy we were here. It was a great experience to be part of this."

And while Robinson initiated the idea for the project, it couldn't have been achieved without the generosity of Tar Heel fans back in Chapel Hill, 750 miles away from Nassau. Very few, if any, of those fans will ever get a first-hand look at what their donations meant to the tiny hostel. Even most of the Carolina traveling party will spend most of their time this week surrounded by the glitz and waterpark carnival-type atmosphere of the Atlantis resort. Robinson's stop on the way to the team's accommodations for the week gave him a unique window into real life on the island.

"I really wish all those Carolina fans who donated could have come with me tonight," he said as he watched one of the children spin a basketball on his index finger. "If they could've seen all these smiles on the faces of the kids, that would have been a great way to thank them for helping me make these kids' day."

Players Mentioned

Christian Keeling

Brandon Robinson

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