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Mark Maye says it’s not all his fault.
The father of Drake Maye and his three older brothers, all former college jocks, says they are not the best athletes in the family. They all know that their wife and mother, Aimee, gives them the right stuff.
The former Aimee Sockwell was a high school basketball star before going to UNC, where she dated the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback on Dick Crum’s last teams of the late 1980s. Mark Maye was the North Carolina high school Player of The Year at Charlotte Independence in 1982 and missed the entire 1985 season with major shoulder surgery.
After recovering, Maye led the ACC in pass efficiency and was the 12th best passer in college football in 1986, when Carolina went 7-4-1 and lost to Arizona in the Aloha Bowl. He later served as a graduate assistant during Mack Brown’s early seasons at UNC.
Mark and Aimee married after graduation and gave birth to four boys, Drake the baby brother who his dad says developed a quick wit to take what Luke, Cole and Beau dished out. Luke hit one of the biggest shots in Tar Heel basketball history to beat Kentucky in 2017, sending Roy Williams to his ninth Final Four and onto his third national championship. Cole pitched for Florida’s NCAA baseball champs and Beau was on Hubert Davis’ 2023 Tar Heels.
“Those are Sockwell genes, not Maye genes,” Mark said before Saturday night’s football game against Virginia.
Maye arrived early enough to watch the entire warm-up, sitting in an aisle chair at midfield and trading thumbs-up with Drake when he first came out of the locker room and looked up into the stands. Mark was the greeter in chief with so many people stopping by to say hello and good luck in the game. He says he is blessed to have two sons who have played for Hall of Fame coaches, Williams and Brown. “Both are not only great coaches but also great people,” Mark says. “They care so much about their players.”
Luke went to Carolina as a walk-on in 2015 when Williams did not have a scholarship for him, that coming his sophomore season. “Coach Williams was so patient and his staff so helpful in developing Luke as a (All-ACC) player,” Maye said of the Naismith and College hall of famer.
Drake was a four-star prospect at Charlotte Myers Park and the No. 3 high school player in North Carolina. He originally committed to Alabama. Out of coaching, Brown called or texted him to stay in touch. When Brown, a college football HOFer, took his old job, Maye said it was an easy choice for Drake.
“Coach Brown and Sally treat their players as family,” he said. “We are so lucky.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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