Students are making their travel plans to Phoenix for the Final Four game

The UNC men's basketball team has made it to the Final Four. Now students are taking on the task of making it to Phoenix to cheer on the team. 

Meghan Kelly, a first-year biology major, said she and her friends decided to make the trip after the UNC-Kentucky game Sunday. 

“Last night when the email came out with info about tickets, I was talking with my friends and we were all joking that we should go,” she said. “It was basically just pure adrenaline from the game.”

Kelly and her friends called their parents, never expecting them to say yes. Kelly’s parents did. 

“I haven’t told my professors that I’m going yet,” Kelly said. “Most of my classes are online submissions and I’m going to do my work on the plane. I’ve been a huge UNC basketball fan for all of my life, and I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.” 

Olivia Begos, a first-year vocal performance major, also found herself buying a ticket to the Final Four soon after UNC’s Elite Eight win. 

“I decided to go to the Final Four when I got the email this morning that I could buy my ticket on the NCAA website. I immediately bought them,” Begos said.

Hart Evans, a junior environmental studies and political science major, and roommate Ryan Willadsen, a junior economics and mathematical decision science major, wanted to go to the Final Four in 2016 but didn’t get the chance. 

After watching Sunday's game together, they thought about taking the trip to Phoenix. 

“We decided to go to the Final Four last night as soon as we won,” Willadsen said. “The big deciding factor is how we are going to get there.”

Evans and Willadsen looked into buying plane tickets and driving to Phoenix, but realized neither option is ideal.

“I’ve heard people also talking about a charter bus and I think it costs around $300 per person,” Evans said. “They said they need around 50 people. It’d be awesome cause we wouldn’t have to drive at all.”

Willadsen said if he goes, he’s not too worried about keeping up with his schoolwork.

“If I go I’m definitely telling my professors that I’ll be missing class for the basketball game,” Willadsen said. “I think they’ll understand.”

Evans said going to Phoenix would top the charts as his best college experience. It would be something he remembers forever.

“I have savings for stuff like this,” Evans said. “There’s no guarantee this is going to happen again in my career as a student here, so the way I look at it, why not go."

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