CHARLOTTE — Even before he was announced in the starting lineup on Thursday night, Luke Maye’s name was greeted by a chorus of “Luuuuke” cheers from the crowd. But this time, it was for his accomplishments away from the court.
In the minutes approaching tipoff at the Spectrum Center in the North Carolina men’s basketball team’s 83-70 win over Louisville in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Maye was awarded the 2019 Skip Prosser Award given to the top scholar athlete in the ACC, an honor that made head coach Roy Williams especially pleased.
“It means a great deal,” Williams said in his postgame press conference. “And Luke's been a great student and a great student-athlete, many, many years all the way back to his high school days as well. His parents emphasized education.”
Maye’s parents were amongst the sea of Carolina blue in Charlotte, at a venue less than 30 minutes from Maye’s hometown in Huntersville, to watch their son receive the award for the second consecutive year.
“It was great,” Maye said. “I love coming back to Charlotte. I was talking earlier, we lost last year and it was tough playing in Charlotte and losing like that. And I wanted to come out and make sure that this time it didn't go that way.”
Maye did everything in his power to carry his team to a win, making sure North Carolina did not go home earlier than planned. He put the finishing touches on a performance worthy of the cheers that predated it with 19 points, tied with Coby White for a game-high, and nine rebounds for No. 2 seed UNC (27-5, 16-2 ACC) in its win over No. 7 seed Louisville (20-13, 10-8 ACC) to secure a spot in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Maye has been doubted this season as the former walk-on has been his entire career at UNC. Picked in the preseason by the media as the 2019 ACC Player of the Year, he started off the campaign with just two 20-point outbursts in his first 14 games. Yet according to his roommate, senior guard Kenny Williams, Maye thrives when the doubters grow in numbers.
“He's had a chip on his shoulder his whole life,” Williams said. “Especially his career here. You give him an even bigger chip? Good luck. That's all I'm saying.”
As the attention shifted from Maye to other players on UNC and around the ACC, the senior forward stepped up his play accordingly. After posting just nine points in a 21-point loss to Louisville on Jan. 12, Maye delivered a game-high 20 points in a revenge win over the Cardinals on Feb. 2.
