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University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Dunn Building On Summer Experience
October 22, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Tar Heel freshman made a big impression this summer.
By Adam Lucas
D'Marco Dunn chooses his words very precisely.
He is answering a question about a play that happened this summer during pickup games, and he wants to make it clear that he's not boasting. Players understand that during the course of a summer, pretty much everyone is on both the giving and receiving end of big moments. Everyone has been dunked on. Everyone has been crossed over. Everyone makes a game-winner.
So he wants you to understand that context. "I don't want to gas him," he says, and the "him" in question is Tyler Hansbrough, Carolina's all-time leading scorer.
Hansbrough was a regular at the Tar Heel summer pickup sessions, providing a tremendous opportunity for the current team to learn about not just the talent required to reach his level, but the professionalism and intensity needed to compete at the highest level.
On one particular day, the game had gotten intense as Hansbrough and a current Tar Heel (not Dunn) had argued about the validity of certain foul calls. It's not an unusual disagreement to have in a pickup game, but because it was Hansbrough involved, it carried some extra weight. It's not entirely ordinary for a current player to disagree with someone whose jersey hangs in the front row of the Smith Center rafters.
Dunn was playing on the opposite team from Hansbrough. And on the next possession, with emotions high, well, let him tell it:
"My man was overplaying and I backdoored him," he says. "I tried to go up strong. I had tried to dunk on him earlier in the summer but I missed it. But I was like, 'I can finish pretty well, so I took it at him and took it at his chest.'"
Hansbrough contested the drive at the rim, there was a foul that no one disputed, and Dunn finished the play through the contact. In addition to being a circle of life moment (during his college career, Hansbrough legendarily took the ball directly at similarly intense Jerry Stackhouse in a pickup game) it was also an eye-opening moment.
The notable part of the play wasn't necessarily that Dunn made the basket. It was that he was willing to try. At a moment when the atmosphere was charged, when one of the most intense competitors in the history of the program was growling, the rookie headed directly into the fray. It in no way guarantees that Dunn's career will even approach Hansbrough's incredible achievements, which aren't up for dispute in a summer pickup game. Before the play, Hansbrough had 2,872 more career points and one more NCAA title at Carolina than Dunn. And after the play, Hansbrough had 2,872 more career points and one more NCAA title than Dunn. But it does show that the freshman is willing to compete.
"I never felt like it had to be a bigger deal than it was," Dunn says. "I know my abilities and what I can do. I'm pretty athletic and I thought that was the right thing to do. I know I can go up and finish above a 6-10 athletic guy…I just thought it was the right thing to do. That's how I try to play the game—what is the right thing to do in the moment?"
Dunn comes from a military family that made multiple moves before settling in Tucson for most of his childhood. The family moved to Fayetteville before his junior year, when his recruitment exploded. He had begun his athletic career as a football player, and he played on the eighth-grade team as a fifth-grader. But after that season, his mother, Veronica Johnson, steered him to basketball.
The switch paid dividends. Dunn received his first college scholarship offer as a high school sophomore, and began receiving calls from Carolina as a junior. This presented a problem: in the middle of the pandemic, the typical recruiting process was paused.
"I did a lot of research," Dunn says. "I made a lot of phone calls, I asked a lot of questions. I watched a lot of game film."
That film led him to the conclusion that Carolina was a perfect fit. His summer experience has confirmed his decision that Chapel Hill is the right place for him.
The pickup games are good for the on-court experience, of course. And the stories, as Dunn well knows, both good and bad. "Marcus Paige lit us up," he says with a grin. But also for the advice and the bonding.
"Even the guys who aren't playing, when they came to practice, the advice they give us is great," Dunn says. "I was like, 'Dang, I never thought about that.' I like to think that I think deep about the game. But when you hear those guys talk, it's like, 'Wow, these guys are really smart.' It's the routines they're doing and the little things."
The military kid feels he has a new home.
"The Carolina Family is everything," he says. "These guys will support you through thick and thin. They'll give you constructive criticism. They'll pat you on the back and say, 'Let's get out there next time and do it.' They might push you and might push your buttons and get competitive. It's all for a bigger purpose. This family is always here for you."
D'Marco Dunn chooses his words very precisely.
He is answering a question about a play that happened this summer during pickup games, and he wants to make it clear that he's not boasting. Players understand that during the course of a summer, pretty much everyone is on both the giving and receiving end of big moments. Everyone has been dunked on. Everyone has been crossed over. Everyone makes a game-winner.
So he wants you to understand that context. "I don't want to gas him," he says, and the "him" in question is Tyler Hansbrough, Carolina's all-time leading scorer.
Hansbrough was a regular at the Tar Heel summer pickup sessions, providing a tremendous opportunity for the current team to learn about not just the talent required to reach his level, but the professionalism and intensity needed to compete at the highest level.
On one particular day, the game had gotten intense as Hansbrough and a current Tar Heel (not Dunn) had argued about the validity of certain foul calls. It's not an unusual disagreement to have in a pickup game, but because it was Hansbrough involved, it carried some extra weight. It's not entirely ordinary for a current player to disagree with someone whose jersey hangs in the front row of the Smith Center rafters.
Dunn was playing on the opposite team from Hansbrough. And on the next possession, with emotions high, well, let him tell it:
"My man was overplaying and I backdoored him," he says. "I tried to go up strong. I had tried to dunk on him earlier in the summer but I missed it. But I was like, 'I can finish pretty well, so I took it at him and took it at his chest.'"
Hansbrough contested the drive at the rim, there was a foul that no one disputed, and Dunn finished the play through the contact. In addition to being a circle of life moment (during his college career, Hansbrough legendarily took the ball directly at similarly intense Jerry Stackhouse in a pickup game) it was also an eye-opening moment.
The notable part of the play wasn't necessarily that Dunn made the basket. It was that he was willing to try. At a moment when the atmosphere was charged, when one of the most intense competitors in the history of the program was growling, the rookie headed directly into the fray. It in no way guarantees that Dunn's career will even approach Hansbrough's incredible achievements, which aren't up for dispute in a summer pickup game. Before the play, Hansbrough had 2,872 more career points and one more NCAA title at Carolina than Dunn. And after the play, Hansbrough had 2,872 more career points and one more NCAA title than Dunn. But it does show that the freshman is willing to compete.
"I never felt like it had to be a bigger deal than it was," Dunn says. "I know my abilities and what I can do. I'm pretty athletic and I thought that was the right thing to do. I know I can go up and finish above a 6-10 athletic guy…I just thought it was the right thing to do. That's how I try to play the game—what is the right thing to do in the moment?"
Dunn comes from a military family that made multiple moves before settling in Tucson for most of his childhood. The family moved to Fayetteville before his junior year, when his recruitment exploded. He had begun his athletic career as a football player, and he played on the eighth-grade team as a fifth-grader. But after that season, his mother, Veronica Johnson, steered him to basketball.
The switch paid dividends. Dunn received his first college scholarship offer as a high school sophomore, and began receiving calls from Carolina as a junior. This presented a problem: in the middle of the pandemic, the typical recruiting process was paused.
"I did a lot of research," Dunn says. "I made a lot of phone calls, I asked a lot of questions. I watched a lot of game film."
That film led him to the conclusion that Carolina was a perfect fit. His summer experience has confirmed his decision that Chapel Hill is the right place for him.
The pickup games are good for the on-court experience, of course. And the stories, as Dunn well knows, both good and bad. "Marcus Paige lit us up," he says with a grin. But also for the advice and the bonding.
"Even the guys who aren't playing, when they came to practice, the advice they give us is great," Dunn says. "I was like, 'Dang, I never thought about that.' I like to think that I think deep about the game. But when you hear those guys talk, it's like, 'Wow, these guys are really smart.' It's the routines they're doing and the little things."
The military kid feels he has a new home.
"The Carolina Family is everything," he says. "These guys will support you through thick and thin. They'll give you constructive criticism. They'll pat you on the back and say, 'Let's get out there next time and do it.' They might push you and might push your buttons and get competitive. It's all for a bigger purpose. This family is always here for you."
Players Mentioned
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