One of the greatest honors a UNC Basketball player can receive is to have their jersey enshrined in the rafters. Luke Maye does not meet any of the existing criteria to have his jersey so honored. But he won the Senior Class Award this year, which goes to the senior player in each sport nationally who best exhibits the combined attributes of community, classroom, character, and competition. We are asking that winning the Senior Class Award be added as one of the qualifiers for a UNC Basketball player to have their jersey enshrined in the rafters.

The Senior Class Award is an honor that represents the Carolina Way that Coach Smith created and Coach Williams has continued so well in our program. Any four year UNC Basketball player who won this national honor based on both their on court performance and their off court academic performance and service would be worthy of having their jersey in the rafters with other Carolina greats, even if they didn't meet any of the other existing criteria.

Luke Maye particularly exemplifies how a winner of this award deserves to be in the rafters:

-On the court he was a two time All-ACC player, including one first team appearance, as well as a third team All-American. He averaged a double double his senior year. And of course he was responsible for one of the biggest shots in Carolina history, beating Kentucky to advance to the 2017 Final Four and an eventual national championship.

-In the classroom he was a two time Academic All-American, nationally, and also a two time winner of the Skip Prosser Award, given to the ACC's top scholar athlete.

-In the community, he has been an active volunteer at UNC Children's Hospital, giving freely of his time to bring joy to sick children, sometimes even on game days! He's also been an active participant in the program's team wide service activities.

It's hard to imagine that any Tar Heel would ever win the Senior Class Award that wasn't worthy of having their jersey in the rafters if they hadn't otherwise qualified. And the fact that Luke Maye is the first UNC basketball player in this situation is all the more confirmation that this would be a worthy thing to add to the list of qualifiers for being in the rafters. 

We strongly encourage the UNC Athletic Department and Basketball program to make this addition, to honor Luke and the future Lukes we know will pass through our wonderful program.