UNC athletes celebrate at second annual Rammy Awards

For four weeks, Jackson Simmons had been preparing for this moment. The whole night had built up to it so far, and as Simmons stepped out into the spotlight, he was ready. All he had to do was put his hands up and walk.

WHUAHH. And there it was, in it’s purest form. Jackson Simmons did “The Nae Nae.”

This is what the Rammys is all about. The second annual North Carolina athletics awards ceremony highlights the best and brightest among UNC’s 26 Division I teams. UNC’s athletes gathered under one roof, from sophomore point guard Marcus Paige to freshman tennis phenom Jamie Loeb, to recognize each other’s achievements and talents on and off the court.

The ceremony, which was held in Memorial Hall Monday night, was a chance to make fun of themselves. Redshirt freshman Matt Williams from the wrestling team, momentarily dwarfed beside 6-foot-2 rower Lucie Kloak as the two presented an award, had a stepladder brought out to close the gap.

In the second annual Minute to Win it competition, where teams submitted a 60 second clip to be judged by their peers, the gymnastics team vaulted past its competition, winning with a compilation of falls and flops from the season.

The night also featured a clogging performance from women’s basketball redshirt freshman Hillary Fuller, a ‘90s mashup from a group of athletes known as the “Carolina Throwbacks,” and a “Frozen” rendition of “Let it Go” by Rosie Wood. Roy Williams was even spotted swing dancing with Paige, who cameoed as Pharrell in a lip-syncing of “Happy.”

Paige also graced the stage multiple times to accept awards for himself and on behalf of his team, appreciating the chance to trade in his Tar Heel blues for a suit and tie.

“It’s a great time too, we get to dress up and look cool,” he said. “I’m just glad to represent my team. A couple of those awards are a tribute to as much work as I’ve put in — just anything I can do to represent the team well.”

Junior pitcher Benton Moss looked at the night as a welcome relief from a student-athlete’s rigorous schedule.

“I mean it’s just an exciting night when we get to take a step back from the daily grind of what it means to be an athlete,” Moss said. “Most of us, it’s the equivalent of working a full-time job — it might sound conceited to say that coming from a student-athlete, but I really do mean it. We all work so hard to perfect our crafts. Just to take a night off where we just come and celebrate hard work and just be goofy but also dress up together — you can’t put words to that.”

But Moss tried, as the final featured entertainer of the night, he serenaded the crowd and impressed women’s lacrosse coach Jenny Levy with an acoustic version of “Carolina in My Mind.”

“You know they’re just really talented kids, I wish I could sing and play the guitar like that, I would give up all my athleticism to do that,” Levy said. “Oh my gosh that’s just so impressive, but it doesn’t surprise me that we have that caliber of student-athlete here at Carolina.”

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