After dominating the ACC during his time playing in the Smith Center, former North Carolina basketball player Ty Lawson is back to dominate Chapel Hill — and he's talking business.
Thrill City, located at 422 W. Franklin St., announced via Twitter Monday that Lawson is now part owner of the store. To celebrate the announcement and debut his own line of apparel, Lawson held an in-store signing Tuesday.
Lawson helped lead the Tar Heels to a NCAA championship in 2009 — setting a NCAA-title record with eight steals in the championship game.
In the 2009 NBA draft, Lawson was selected with the No. 18 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but was traded to the Denver Nuggets, where he is the current point guard for the team.
For Lawson, it has been a joy being back in Chapel Hill.
“It brings back memories,” Lawson said. “I actually went to my old house I stayed in. I went to the gym and I was just touring the city and seen how everything is growing.”
Lawson said the work Thrill City has been doing since opening in 2011 attracted him to the store.
“I liked the things they were doing from the shirts,” Lawson said. “One of my friends sat with me and partnered up and so far everything’s been going the way I wanted to, so I think it was a good decision on both of our ends. It’s going to be beneficial.“
The announcement drove Joel Phillips, a Tar Heel fan from Gaffney, S.C., to make a trip to Chapel Hill with his family in his Tar Heel truck, which includes signatures from Michael Jordan, Dean Smith and several other famous Tar Heels.
The whole line outside Thrill City turned its attention to Phillips' truck while Lawson hopped in to add his signature to Phillips' collection.
“This truck is 9 years old,” Phillips said. “It was made in ‘05. And the NCAA actually is the one that put this truck together. It is numbered on my truck 001. I have certification with all of it. And so I, myself, has been the one who took the initiative to get the autographs, since I’m the one blessed to own the truck.”
Like everyone else, Phillips found out about the signing via Twitter and made the quick decision to drive to Chapel Hill Tuesday.
“My daughters, they follow these guys on Twitter and they showed me that Ty was going to be up here today," Phillips said. "We drove three and a half hours to get here.”
Carlos Tovar, the store manager of Thrill City, said former UNC basketball player Deon Thompson is a good friend of the store and talked to Lawson about doing business with Thrill City.
“They were looking for a business to invest in and to kind of make the world grow with them,” Tovar said. “Deon Thompson, former basketball player at UNC, really spoke highly of Thrill City."
Tovar said Lawson's in-store appearance served as a great way to make the announcement and attract new customers.
“We felt like this was an initiation to show that he was part owner of the store,” Tovar said.
Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.
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