The 2023-24 UNC sports season has officially come to an end. In a little more than a month’s time, the next season will already be underway with the first official practices for the football program. But before then, let’s look back and reflect on the season that was, and its best and worst moments.
Erin Matson Leads UNC Field Hockey to 11th National Title
Image via UNC Field Hockey on Twitter
The UNC field hockey program captured the 11th national title in program history – and fifth in six years – in November with a thrilling shootout victory against Northwestern, but this championship looked a bit different from the others. For one, Karen Shelton wasn’t patrolling the sidelines anymore, as the legendary head coach whose name adorns UNC’s stadium had retired after the previous season. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Shelton’s successor turned out to be one of her former star players: Erin Matson, who’d just graduated from UNC in December of 2022.
Clearly not overwhelmed by her new position, Matson led Carolina to another outstanding season. The Tar Heels won the ACC regular-season crown and then captured their seventh consecutive ACC Tournament title before embarking on another national championship run. Making the title win even sweeter was the fact that it came on the Karen Shelton Stadium turf. Matson is now the only person ever to win a national championship at UNC as both a player and a head coach.
Women’s Soccer Endures More Postseason Heartbreak
Image via UNC Women’s Soccer on Twitter
Following Carolina’s gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to UCLA in the 2022 national title game – in which UNC led 2-1 in the 90th minute – the team adopted a new motto: “23 in ’23,” aiming for the program’s 23rd national championship in 2023. Though the regular season and early postseason was a bumpy ride (UNC lost in the first round of the ACC Tournament at home), the Tar Heels had appeared to find their footing in the NCAA Tournament. Carolina defeated Towson at home, Alabama at a neutral site and then won at Texas Tech to reach the national quarterfinals for the second straight season. UNC would travel to No. 1 seed BYU and snowy Provo, UT for a spot in the College Cup.
The Tar Heels opened on the front foot and then some, storming out to a 3-0 lead over the Cougars inside 20 minutes. That lead held up until well into the second half, until a BYU goal in the 61st minute cut the deficit to 3-1. Even still, Carolina maintained the two-goal advantage until a disastrous final 10 minutes. The Cougars found the back of the net in the 81st, 82nd and 89th minutes, leaving the Tar Heels shell-shocked and sending the hosts through to the College Cup.
Football’s Late-Season Meltdown Has Fans Seeing Double
Image via Eli Melet
In 2022, the UNC football team started 9-1 before losing its final four games. All offseason, players and coaches emphasized that such a fall from grace wouldn’t happen again. The first half of the 2023 season appeared to prove them right, as Carolina opened the year 6-0 and even broke into the top 10 of the AP Poll. Led by stars Drake Maye, Tez Walker and Cedric Gray, the Tar Heels looked ready to compete for an ACC Championship and – if things broke their way – a national championship as well.
Those dreams went up in smoke on a Saturday night in Chapel Hill, as 1-5 Virginia – whose only win of the season came against FCS opponent William & Mary – came into Kenan Stadium and stunned the Tar Heels 31-27, sealing the upset with a late interception of Maye at midfield. That loss kickstarted another cascade of defeats for Carolina, which would drop five of its final seven contests.
Rock bottom came in Carter-Finley Stadium against rival NC State. Winners of two straight games against Carolina – each of which came down to the final seconds – the Wolfpack left nothing to chance in the regular-season finale, leading 33-7 early in the third quarter and eventually winning 39-20.
R.J. Davis Cements His Spot in UNC Men’s Basketball Lore
Image via Dakota Moyer
R.J. Davis put together one of the best individual seasons in the storied history of the UNC men’s basketball program in 2023-24. The senior guard from New York set career highs in points per game (21.2), made three-pointers per game (3.1) and three-point percentage (39.8) and set a UNC single-season record with 113 made threes, all while leading a Carolina offense which lost guard Caleb Love to the transfer portal following the end of the previous season. Davis scored 784 total points on the season, the most by a Tar Heel since Tyler Hansbrough in 2007-08.
Like Hansbrough, Davis racked up awards and honors for his performance. He was named a first team All-ACC, a consensus first team All-American and the winner of the Jerry West Award, honoring the nation’s top shooting guard. Davis also secured his place in the Dean Smith Center rafters by winning ACC Player of the Year, becoming the first Tar Heel to take home the award since Justin Jackson in 2016-17 and 15th overall.
After the season ended, Davis announced he would return to Carolina for a fifth and final season of college basketball. He is within striking distance of Hansbrough’s all-time UNC scoring record, needing 784 more points to tie that mark.
The Women’s Basketball Season Ends With a Thud
Image via South Carolina WBB on Twitter
The UNC women’s basketball season was a difficult one for a multitude of reasons, many of which had to do with players who couldn’t step onto the court. Head coach Courtney Banghart’s team lost two presumed contributors early, as freshmen Ciera Toomey and Laila Hull both had to take medical redshirts due to injuries. Redshirt sophomore Teonni Key missed the beginning of the year due to a lower-body injury, and guard Kayla McPherson wouldn’t play again after December due to an injury. Freshman guard Reniya Kelly, who took most of the minutes once given to McPherson, played well in her stead until a late-season injury forced her to miss Carolina’s final nine games.
Thanks to outstanding play from Alyssa Ustby (who recorded the first triple-double in program history in January), the Tar Heels still willed themselves to an NCAA Tournament berth and won their first-round game, but the end of the season came hard and fast. No. 1 overall seed and future champions South Carolina demolished UNC in the second round in Columbia, leading 56-19 at halftime and eventually winning 88-41.
Aranza Vazquez Montaño and Parker Wolfe Win National Titles
Image via UNC Swimming and Diving on Twitter
Diver Aranza Vazquez Montaño and runner Parker Wolfe both put together outstanding individual seasons for Carolina. Vazquez Montaño, already a two-time national champion, successfully defended her titles in the one-meter and three-meter competitions at the NCAA Championships. Her four titles are the first four in the history of the UNC diving program. Vazquez Montaño will look to win more hardware when she represents her native Mexico in the Olympic Games in Paris later this summer. She also competed in the Tokyo 2021 Games.
Wolfe won championships in seemingly every competition he touched as a junior, leading Carolina to a men’s cross country ACC team title, a men’s indoor track and field ACC team title and winning a national title in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Championships. All in all, Wolfe won five ACC championships, upped his career All-America total to eight, set four UNC records and was named ACC Men’s Runner of the Year and Men’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year. Wolfe will attempt to qualify for the Paris Olympics when he competes in the Olympic trials later this week.
The Diamond Heels Blaze a Dramatic Trail to Omaha
Image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
Head coach Scott Forbes’ mantra for the UNC baseball program is a simple one: “27 Outs,” meaning his team will fight tooth and nail until it can’t fight anymore. No season – or, more specifically, postseason – has proved Forbes’ words true than 2024. Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 overall seed, its highest placement ever under Forbes. But its postseason journey appeared to have hit a major snag on the very first night, as UNC blew a late lead in the opening game of the NCAA Regionals against Long Island and entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 8-5.
Though some Diamond Heels fans had headed for the Boshamer Stadium exits, Forbes’ team continued to fight. Carolina loaded the bases, then scored a pair of runs on a walk and an infield single. That set the stage for freshman Gavin Gallaher, who crushed a walk-off grand slam deep into the Chapel Hill night to secure a thrilling 11-8 victory.
The drama didn’t end there. Carolina needed every last ounce of effort to advance out of the regionals, facing defending national champion LSU in a winner-take-all regional final just three days after Gallaher’s heroics. Trailing 3-2 in the ninth, UNC rallied to tie the game and then take the lead in the 10th, ousting the Tigers 4-3. More fireworks followed in the Super Regionals against West Virginia, as Carolina once again trailed in the ninth in Game 1 but somehow prevailed thanks to a game-tying home run from Luke Stevenson and a walk-off blast from Vance Honeycutt. Game 2 also came down to the final out, as UNC escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to win 2-1 and punch its ticket to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2018.
But wait, there’s more! In Carolina’s opening game in Omaha, Honeycutt again came through in the clutch, hitting a walk-off single to give UNC a 3-2 win against Virginia. The Diamond Heels had eked out walk-off wins in the opening games of its NCAA Regional, Super Regional and the Men’s College World Series. Unfortunately, the “Bosh Magic” ended there, as UNC would lose to Tennessee and Florida State to end its season — and the UNC Athletics season as a whole.
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