A long standing tradition of the North Carolina men’s basketball program was to fire up Chapel Hill well before opening night tip-off, which was done in a handful of ways throughout previous years. News broke Friday afternoon that the Blue-White preseason scrimmage will be reintroduced, essentially replacing Coach Hubert Davis’s ‘Live Action,’ taking place in Cherokee, NC.
The festivities have been tinkered with year in and year out, as the Davis tenure produced a rebrand from the previous ‘Late Night with Roy.’ We have also seen new styled player introductions, dancing, skits, challenges, and much more that have highlighted a lively launch of Tar Heel hoops. Those evenings were typically concluded with an unofficial Blue-White intra-squad, where fans got their first look at North Carolina’s incoming squad.
Plans have changed for 2024-25, as the Blue-White scrimmage will now be an individual event, taking place on Oct. 13 at Harrah’s Cherokee Resort Event Center. Official details are yet to be announced, but the festivities seem to be largely focused on the game and players, and less on fan-centered acts.
According to Inside Carolina, this event maximizes Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities for the Tar Heels, and refreshes the page on what seemed to be a dwindling event taking place in Chapel Hill.
After debuting in Cherokee, North Carolina will travel to Memphis to take on the Tigers in another preseason clash, held at FedEx Forum on Oct. 15. The Tar Heels will come back to Chapel Hill to close their preseason slate, hosting Johnson C. Smith (DII) on Oct. 27.
