With UNC facing off against Duke tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the who’s who of celebrities are expected to be in attendance for the best rivalry in college basketball. This includes former president Barack Obama, a longtime supporter of the Tar Heels.
A rumor quickly spread on social media on Wednesday afternoon that Obama was on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, causing students to go into a frenzy as they quickly searched for him.
When @UNC students hear that @BarackObama is on campus pic.twitter.com/vmK2OQk6N8
— Luke Buxton (@LukeBuxton_) February 20, 2019
People RUNNING trying to find Obama at UNC rn pic.twitter.com/V3TpKRNzSg
— Arabella Saunders (@arabellasau) February 20, 2019
However, those rumors were confirmed to be fabricated. Brad Ives, UNC’s Chief Sustainability Officer, tweeted out that he had confirmed with the head of campus security that Obama was not on campus.
Contrary to rumor, @BarackObama is not on @UNC’s campus nor is he in Chapel Hill. He’s not even in the state of NC right now. I have confirmed this with the head of campus security. #UNC
— Brad Ives (@ABIves) February 20, 2019
Obama visited UNC’s campus in 2008 (where those famous pictures of him playing basketball with UNC emerged from) and in 2016 when he spoke during Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
UNC and Duke are set to tip-off tonight at 9:00 p.m. Tune in to pre-game coverage on 97.9 FM/1360 AM starting at 7:30 p.m.
Obama was here in 2012 too. Gave a speech in Carmichael and they filmed Fallon.