It’s the first home game against Duke in the new-and-improved Dean E. Smith Center, and UNC drains a buzzer-beater shot. Students scream and sprint out of the stadium in a frenzy, booking it for Franklin Street. All they have between them and celebrating the sweet rivalry win are three short, uphill miles on Raleigh Road.
Seems pretty practical — right?
The charm of a college town is defined by the proximity and interconnectedness between the school and its community. Keeping the Smith Center on campus is a vital part of preserving that. For nearly 40 years, the Smith Center has been the home of the men’s basketball team. Located on South Campus, the arena offers a convenient proximity to student housing and to Franklin Street, adding vibrancy to the Chapel Hill community during the sport’s season.
But with that history comes a need for renovation. Aiming to improve training spaces for men’s and women’s teams, widen the concourse and spruce up VIP seats, the University has set forward plans to either renovate or relocate the arena. The chancellor-commissioned Physical Master Plan Working Group’s six possible locations were made public recently. Two off-campus options jeopardize the sports culture that defines UNC student life.
Relocating the Smith Center would mark an uncharacteristic move from a school that loves tradition. UNC is all about preserving its school culture, both good and bad. Whether it's the tradition of hiring basketball staff within the Carolina family or the firm aversion to renaming buildings, people who call the shots typically like to keep things the way they are.
If the Smith Center is rebuilt off campus, students lose. The two proposed off-campus sites, the Friday Center and Carolina North, were both described to be outside of a “safe walking distance from campus” per the committee’s report. Suddenly, what was once a simple walk down the hill to a basketball game becomes a much less accessible bus ride that won’t be guaranteed for all students. First-years, who are required to live in a dorm and are not allowed to have a car on campus, are especially disadvantaged as they face far more obstacles to enjoying their first basketball.
UNC fans recorded the highest average attendance in NCAA Division I Basketball in 2023, but those numbers would surely drop for students. When the convenience is taken away from them, there’s less motivation to go to a 9 p.m. game on a Tuesday night.
Student life at UNC is heavily tied to its athletics programs due to the number of teams that have storied pasts of championships and iconic athletes. At the top is undoubtedly basketball, and losing accessibility to home games jeopardizes one of the most fundamental parts of the UNC experience. One of the school’s most anticipated traditions, rushing Franklin Street after a victory against Duke, would be soured or even ruined for students who get tickets to the big game.
The impact reaches much further than students. The community at large, especially business owners on Franklin Street, would be worse off. Basketball games bring heavy foot traffic to downtown Chapel Hill because the Smith Center is on campus, and moving further away would drive potential customers elsewhere.
