Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson, and Joel James all spoke about their time in Chapel Hill.
Paige’s speech was particularly emotional. He began the speech by thanking his parents. He told the crowd, “First and foremost, I’ve got to thank my parents. Mom, you were crying before the game and almost had me in tears, already. I love you.” Marcus Paige also thanked his grandfather and other family and friends in attendance.
Then, he thanked his girlfriend Taylor, a member of the UNC Dance Team.
Roy Williams reacts to Marcus Paige’s senior night speech. (Photo by Todd Melet)
Paige followed that by talking about the coaches. He began with the assistants and finished with Roy Williams.
On Roy Williams:
“When I first got here, I thought I was going to play behind Kendall Marshall, five or six minutes a game – spot minutes – and kind of develop, become a better player over four years. But he left, and you kind of handed me the keys to the program, and to the team. And you probably had more confidence in me than I did at that time. And a lot of people were doubting me as a freshman, but one thing is you always believed in me. You always told me: ‘I believe you in son. You’re going to make shots, you’re going to do fine. You’re going to be a great player.’ You just believed in me, and I can’t thank you enough for that, because that allowed me to be a confident person in my and help me grow as a person. And I know the most important thing, I know my mom’s going to appreciate this, is I’ve started taking note of the thought of the day every day in practice. Because it’s a lot of words of wisdom. And I know one day (I’m not going) to walk through this tunnel and meet with you at the beginning of practice every day. And I’ve tried to be every bit the player you wanted me to be, but you’ve made me a better man. And that’s the most important thing. I’m 10 times a better man than when I got here. Thank you.”
Marcus Paige then directly his attention to his teammates, both former and current. He called Brice Johnson, “the brother I never had.”
He ended the speech by saying, “We’re not done. We have something left to do.”
The full speech is about 8 minutes. You can see it below. The News & Observer’s Andrew Carter transcribed the entire speech if you want to read it.
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