Lucas: Everywhere

By Adam Lucas

Eric Montross loved his camp.

That was what made it a unique Carolina experience for 29 years. Eric and his family devoted a significant portion of their lives to ensuring their campers had an unforgettable two days in Chapel Hill.

Some "celebrity" camps just have the host's name on them. Eric didn't know how to do anything that way. If his name was on it, he was going to be involved. He was going to approve the t shirt design. He was going to help stuff the bags of gear for campers. You can be absolutely sure he was going to make certain his counselors were completely focused on providing a great experience (if Eric had any Tar Heel favorites on the radio, his affection was likely originally established at camp watching them work with kids).

The personal touch is what makes camp so great. It's why the waiting list is years long. It's why camp has been able to fund meaningful improvements for the UNC Children's Hospital.

It was also why I dreaded it a little bit this year. It was great to see the people. The Thompson family, who have been volunteering almost since before there was a camp. Bert Hensley and his binder of scheduling details. Laura, Sarah, Andrew and Megan, of course.

But no Eric.

How do you have a camp that was founded on Eric's passion for helping people without him? How do you play games on the Smith Center court without the sheer joy of Eric lifting up the smallest kid to make the winning basket, that kid marveling at the view from being eye level with the rim and all the campers cheering? Can it really be the Eric Montross Father's Day Basketball Camp, as it has been for 29 years, without Eric?

He is missed. It was jarring to walk through dinner at the Smith Center and not hear his big laugh echoing down the concourse. Seth Trimble and Alyssa Ustby would have earned an imperceptible nod of appreciation and a fist bump for the way they engaged the campers. Like in hundreds of other ways these last six months, it's impossible not to notice the absence of Eric's enormous presence in so many different ways.

But it was also impossible not to notice all the ways he was here, too. In the same way that the presence of Jason Clark--a teenage cancer patient Eric befriended during his playing career at Carolina--has sparked the camp since year one, Eric was here. Danny Green made a special trip to Chapel Hill and addressed the dads during a Friday Q and A. "I really wanted to be here for Eric's camp," he said simply. People want to be part of this, whether they're a three-time NBA champion or a volunteer who travels from Atlanta.

And why not? For two days in June, you get to hang out with your dad and shoot baskets at the Smith Center. It doesn't get much better than that, and the entire Montross family—in addition to Laura and the kids, Eric's parents came from Indianapolis to be there this weekend, and Laura's mother, Kaye, was also on hand—has always understood that the simplicity is what makes it work.

From the very first camp, the conclusion of each event has been marked by the release of a red balloon, a throwback to a red balloon that Jason took to and from the hospital on each of his treatment visits. His plan had been to release the balloon when he had finally beaten cancer. Instead, hours before Jason died in 1994, Eric and Laura walked outside the hospital and released the balloon to the heavens.

Thirty years later, the conclusion of the 2024 camp was also marked by a red balloon. This time it was Laura, Andrew and Sarah releasing it in honor of both Jason and Eric, in front of a crowd of volunteers who have become almost like family. That is when it felt the worst. The rest of the camp was fun; we knew we were doing the right thing because Eric had showed us how to do the right thing. On the court, the memories brought a smile. Former Tar Heel teammates, spearheaded by close friend Travis Stephenson, came back to Chapel Hill to spend time with each other and to volunteer as coaches. Randy Wiel and Dave Hanners, members of the 1993 national championship coaching staff, worked with dads and their children. That part made sense. He didn't have to be on the court because he was so often buzzing around the building helping with dozens of other details.

But Eric should have been there for the balloon, getting it a little closer to the sky than any of the rest of us could. In that circle of volunteers and family and friends, the memories brought tears. It felt painfully real. He wasn't just getting a scoop of ice cream at the food truck or showing off the new socks—Eric really, really valued a good pair of socks, and these are perhaps the best of all time, in both quality and design (everyone needs socks with an argyle pattern and 00 sewn into them). He really wasn't here.

Which means that now it's up to us. Eric worked tirelessly for three decades to make sure Jason's memory was never forgotten and would have an impact on thousands of children who are treated at UNC Children's Hospital.

Now it's Eric's memory, too. There are campers today who may have only a vague notion of Jason Clark. And it's possible that 30 years from now, we'll have to explain Eric Montross to a young camper. Saturday, though, marked another step in ensuring he's going to continue to have an impact on those he wanted to help most.

Even when Eric was battling cancer in 2023, he had made the Be Loud! Sophie endowment a personal project. When he died, the mission became clear: fulfill that $2.5 million endowment, getting it to the goal he constantly talked about reaching.

On Saturday afternoon, his family and the UNC Health Foundation announced the endowment has been met. It doesn't mean the quest is over—"We're going to keep going," Laura told the campers, making it clear that the endowment can still grow—but it is undoubtedly a goal achieved. Friends and family and those who were enthralled by watching him play and those who never met him made it happen, and now teenagers battling cancer will benefit every day.

Eric would love that. Eric would have loved this weekend. Stephen Thompson started as a camper and now travels from San Diego just to volunteer alongside his family. One family of campers came from Oklahoma. Improbably, this little camp has become more than just our small corner of Chapel Hill.

And as the campers filed out of the Smith Center, kids exhausted from staying up too late in Granville Towers and dads exhausted from, well, being dads, the seven-footer who started the whole thing was missed. But thinking back on the weekend, it also felt very much like Eric had been exactly where he always was during camp weekend:

Everywhere.

To consider being part of the Be Loud! Sophie endowment, please click here and ensure your gift is earmarked for fund 376753.

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