UNC Kicks Off Basketball Season at Late Night With Roy

Keeping with tradition, UNC celebrated the beginning of basketball season with its annual “Late Night with Roy” event–featuring the Tar Heels as both athletes and dancers.

Hosted by former UNC and Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Jesse Holley, the night also featured a unique twist with the addition of various skills competitions.

At the end of it all, though, the team scrimmage–the famous Blue vs. White game–decided the night’s winner.

Justin Jackson’s three-pointer in a one-minute overtime period helped lift the White squad to a 40-37 victory that featured a great deal of up-tempo action.

While almost the entire roster was able to get some time in the spotlight during the scrimmage, Jackson led his team with 13 points on the way to a victory in both the game and the overall competition.

Other members of the White team included Kennedy Meeks, Theo Pinson, Nate Britt, Luke Maye, Stilman White, Kanler Coker and Aaron Rohlman.

Britt added nine points to the cause, while Meeks and Pinson each tallied six apiece.

Joel Berry was the Blue team’s top contributor all night long at Late Night with Roy. (Photo via Smith Cameron) Photography

The Blue team consisted of Joel Berry, Isaiah Hicks, Tony Bradley, Brandon Robinson, Seventh Woods, Kenny Williams and Shea Rush.

Hicks led the blue squad in the scrimmage with 13 points, while Berry chipped in nine.

Earlier in the night, Berry teamed up with Bradley to give the Blue side a 2-0 lead by winning both the shooting stars competition and the skills contest.

The first event consisted of two teams attempting to be the first to make shots from various locations on the floor, while the second included an obstacle course that tested players’ dribbling, passing and shooting.

Bradley, a 6-foot-10 freshman, flashed a nice outside shot during those events–even though that may not mean much when it comes to in-game action.

During the next three competitions–a relay race, the dance-off and the three-point shootout–the White team recovered to take the lead heading into the main event.

The relay race was a confusing jumble that forced players into twerking and wearing football helmets at different times, but it provided a good laugh when Pinson took over on the microphone and did his best Larry Fedora impersonation.

Pinson also got the crowd going with his dance moves–giving his team a point after defeating Berry in a one-on-one showdown that broke a tie following the team routines.

Britt then went out and took home the three-point competition with a win over Jackson in the semifinals and Robinson–a lanky, 6-foot-6 freshman–in the finals.

The UNC women’s basketball team started the night off with a dance routine and a scrimmage of its own, after head coach Sylvia Hatchell was given a standing ovation upon her introduction.

It was a night of fun and basketball that gave fans a an early preview of Chapel Hill’s favorite season.

UNC will play its first exhibition game Friday Nov. 4 at home against UNC-Pembroke.