The Jarin Stevenson Game, Drake Maye and Chazz Surratt to the Super Bowl
Plus: Maximo Adams shines in Springfield, Women's Basketball's 2-0 week, Smith Center poll, Baseball spring scrimmages, Kate Harpring scores 3,000
Jarin Stevenson had himself a game in UNC’s upset of Virginia, Drake Maye and Chazz Surratt are heading to the Super Bowl, Tar Heel basketball commits Maximo Adams and Kate Harpring are doing big things, Women’s hoops went 2-0 this week, and the Diamond Heels have a week of spring scrimmages in the books. On to the updates…
🏀 Basketball
North Carolina got back on track after losing three of its previous four games by handling Notre Dame, 91-69, on Wednesday (Box Score).
Freshman point guard Derek Dixon got his second straight start and looked sharp, scoring 11 points and going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar did most of the heavy lifting, though, scoring 22 and 15 points, respectively. Defensively, the Tar Heels were much improved, holding Notre Dame to just 36% shooting.
Leading up to the game, former UNC point guard and 2017 national champion Joel Berry weighed in on the defensive issues plaguing the Tar Heels:
On Saturday at Virginia, it looked like the “bad Tar Heels” had shown up again after falling behind by as many as 16 points in the first half. But Jarin Stevenson came off the bench to score 17 second-half points and lead a massive turnaround that led to an 85-80 upset of the No. 14 Cavaliers (Box Score) and the biggest comeback by a Virginia opponent in the history of John Paul Jones Arena.
Freshman point guard Derek Dixon continued to shine in his starting role, scoring 11 points and finishing the game at +22(!).
UNC is now 3-1 vs. ranked opponents this season:
No. 19 Kansas - W 87-74
No. 11 Michigan State - L 74-58
No. 18 Kentucky - W 67-64
No. 14 Virginia - W 85-80
Off the court, the debate over the future of the Smith Center continues to intensify, with Roy Williams weighing in with his vote to renovate the historic arena rather than build a new off-campus facility:
“I was Coach Smith’s assistant for ten years. We had many discussions about basketball, about life, about the golf course, everything. But I do know, during the conversation about what to get out of this building…that Coach Smith wanted this place on campus. That was his wish. There was no question.”
🏀 Poll
🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal
Football season may be over, but the transfer portal apparently never ends. UNC added former West Virginia offensive lineman Brandon Homady this past week. Homady played mostly on special teams his freshman season in Morgantown and has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
And the biggest news of the weekend…former UNC quarterback Drake Maye is heading to the Super Bowl after leading the New England Patriots to a 10-7 victory over the Broncos during a second-half blizzard at Mile High Stadium on Sunday.
Maye becomes the second youngest QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl, behind Dan Marino in 1985. Maye also was named Pro Football Writers of America Most Improved Player of the Year last week, to no one’s surprise.
Former UNC quarterback-turned-linebacker Chazz Surratt is also heading to the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Surratt missed the NFC Championship win against the Rams with an injury but should be ready to play in the Super Bowl.
🏀 Basketball Recruiting
Class of 2026 North Carolina Basketball 5-star small forward commit Maxi Adams boosted his chances of making the McDonald’s All-American team this past week at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.:
“The North Carolina commit was stellar in Sierra Canyon’s dominant 75-58 win over Columbus with 24 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. He was 9 of 14 from the field including four 3-pointers. He also added two assists and two steals.“
🏀 Women’s Basketball
UNC Women’s Basketball got a much-needed ACC road win at Georgia Tech on Thursday, beating the Yellow Jackets, 54-46, behind 11 points apiece from Reniya Kelly and Lanie Grant. The Tar Heels only shot 29%(!) but dominated the glass with 55 rebounds. Ciera Toomey had 15 of those boards to go with nine points.
Nyla Harris only scored six points in the win over GT, but they were six very important points that pushed her over the 1,000 career points mark. Congrats!
On Sunday against Syracuse at Carmichael Arena, UNC committed 5 turnovers and gave up an 8-0 run over the last 3:30 of regulation to send the game to overtime. But from there is was all Tar Heels, as Carolina held on to win 77-71.
Nyla Harris continued her big week, leading UNC with 21 points and 11 rebounds. And Lanie Grant got hot from deep, scoring 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Next up is a huge game in Raleigh on Monday, Feb. 2 against NC State (14-6, 7-2 ACC)
🏀 Women’s Basketball Recruiting
On the recruiting trail, Class of 2026 5-star UNC Women’s Basketball commit Kate Harpring has been named to USA Basketball’s 12-player 2026 Nike Hoop Summit Roster. The star guard will compete against the World team on April 11 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Harpring, the daughter of former Georgia Tech and longtime NBA forward Matt Harpring, also was named to the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School Player Of The Year Midseason Team and crossed the 3,000 career point mark for her high school. That’s a lot of buckets…30 points per game for 100 games.
⚾ Baseball
UNC Baseball wrapped up its first week of Spring Practice on Friday with a scrimmage at Boshamer Stadium. Three Tar Heels received preseason All-American honors from D1Baseball last week: Pitchers Jason DeCaro and Walker McDuffie took spots on the second time while Gavin Gallaher was honored on the third team.
Another pitcher to keep an eye on entering the season is Ryan Lynch. Grace Nugent at Inside Carolina wrote a fantastic longform piece on the right-handed sophomore who once had dreams of playing in the NBA.
“Ryan Lynch is the Joe Burrow of the UNC clubhouse. He’s meticulous and detail oriented. He’ll wind down from an outing by watching an OG Pixar movie such as Toy Story 2 or Cars, listening to rock music, booting up Photoshop, or maybe even tending to a woodworking project.”
🏅 Olympic Sports
🏑 Congratulations to UNC Field Hockey coach Erin Matson for receiving the NFHCA Under 30 Award, which “honors field hockey coaches under the age of 30 who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and progress within their club, high school, or collegiate programs.”
🥍 Six Tar Heels have been named to the U.S. Women’s World Lacrosse Championship roster. U.S. veterans Ally Mastroianni, Marie McCool and Caylee Waters will join current Tar Heels Sam Forrest, Chloe Humphrey, and Eliza Osburn this summer.
🥍 And eight UNC Women’s Lacrosse players have been named preseason All-America by USA Lacrosse, including Chloe Humphrey who was named preseason player of the year.
🥍 UNC’s Owen Duffy and Brady Wambach were selected to the USA Lacrosse Preseason All-America men’s team.
🎾 No. 3 UNC Women’s Tennis had no problem dispatching No. 14 Virginia, 6-1, and followed up that effort with a 4-0 win over Charlotte that qualifies the Tar Heels for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Feb. 6-9.
🎾 Men’s Tennis opened its season with a comfortable 7-0 win over Queens but fell in a tight match to Vanderbilt, 4-3, on Friday.
🎾 Finally, congratulations to Oby Kajuru for being named ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. The senior transfer from Oklahoma State downed No. 5 Savannah Dada-Mascoll in straight sets in the Tar Heels’ win over Appalachian State.
⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History
January 27, 1993: Florida State led by 17 at halftime and 73-54 with less than nine minutes to play. Carolina reeled off 15 straight points and took the lead for good on a George Lynch steal and dunk with just under two minutes to play. UNC outscored the Seminoles, 28-4, over the last nine minutes.
🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays
Happy birthday shouts out to…
William Blumberg, NCAA’s first 10x Tennis All-American (5 singles, 5 doubles): Jan. 26 (28)
Vince Carter, 8x NBA All-Star, No. 15 UNC Honored Jersey: Jan. 26 (49)
Caitlin Van Sickle, 3x UNC Field Hockey All-American, NCAA Champion, 2016 Olympian: Jan. 26 (36)
Wes Miller, 2005 UNC Basketball National Champion, College Basketball Coach: Jan. 28 (43)
Lori Chalupny, Women’s Soccer 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion: Jan. 29 (42)
Mark Maye, UNC Quarterback, Football Team Captain: Jan. 30 (61)
Quincy Monk, 3-Year NFL Linebacker: Jan. 30 (1979-2015)
Kealia Ohai, U.S. Women’s National Team, 8-Year NWSL Veteran: Jan. 31 (34)
🏁 Final Thoughts
Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.
Go Heels!
James
Don't forget about Mack Hollins joining his teammate, Drake Maye, in the Super Bowl! Congrats to Chazz, also.
Mack Hollins delivered exactly what New England needed from a complementary receiver in a low‑scoring, high‑leverage AFC Championship win: efficient, high‑impact plays without wasted chances. Targeted only twice, he caught both passes for 51 yards, including a 31‑yard strike that stood out as one of the few explosive offensive moments in a game dominated by defense and the Patriots’ run‑heavy approach. With Drake Maye finishing with just 86 passing yards, Hollins accounted for well over half of the team’s aerial production, meaning his routes and timing helped stretch the Broncos’ coverage just enough to create breathing room for the ground game and field‑position battle.