When the UNC men’s basketball team took the court minutes before tip-off against Miami on Monday, they had more than a dozen special guests with them.

The Tar Heels partnered with the Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill to have several children in its youth programs join the team for its game as part of Black History Month. The kids got to spend time with the Carolina players in the tunnel, dancing with them on their way to the Roy Williams Court and then standing with the team during the national anthem. The children also received special team shirts with the Tar Heel players on the front, and got to sit behind the scorer’s table to watch the game.

The Hargraves Community Center is located on North Roberson Street in the heart of the Northside District, which is a historically Black community on the border of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. While the building, park and athletics facilities are primarily used for recreation these days, the center has a deep-running history of being a place for social justice, activism, and community for Chapel Hill’s Black residents. It was initially built to house the B-1 Navy Band in the early 1940s and served as the birthplace of the Chapel Hill NAACP chapter in 1947 — holding such importance that Hargraves was bestowed a marker for North Carolina’s Civil Rights Trail last summer.

UNC head coach Hubert Davis has long been connected to the community center, with him paying visits to the basketball courts during his playing days at Carolina. As GoHeels.com shared ahead of Monday’s game, Davis and his family have continued to stay involved by ensuring Hargraves could operate as a wi-fi site for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting tutoring programs for the kids, and participating in food drives.

Here are photos of the visit, as shared by UNC men’s basketball and taken by the Chapelboro news team:

Children with the Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill walk out of the UNC men’s basketball tunnel for pre-game festivities between UNC vs. Miami.

Children with the Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill stand with the UNC men’s basketball team ahead of the national anthem on February, 26, 2024.

UNC went on to win Monday’s game 75-71 against Miami, in which senior R.J. Davis scored 42 points and set a new scoring record for the Dean E. Smith Center. More photos from the game can be seen here.

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