When North Carolina freshman Kennedy Meeks exited the tunnel from the bowels of the Smith Center to the bright lights of the court surrounded by thousands fans clad in Carolina blue, the Charlotte native wasn’t nervous.
He had every reason to be — debuting as a part of the No. 12 UNC basketball team in front of 15,000 fans is a lot for anybody to handle— but Meeks was brimming with excitement.
And that excitement couldn’t be contained when “Jump Around” blared over the speakers, signaling the game’s imminent tipoff.
Instead of standing with his teammates while guard Leslie McDonald assumed his normal role as pre-game dancer, Meeks jumped out, flailing his arms and dancing to the music — moves he called the “Kennedy Meeks special.”
”I was just really excited,” Meeks said. “I mean, it’s my first college game, I can’t be moping around and stuff like that.
“I had to be into it in order for me to get the jitterbugs out of me to perform good for coach.”
Whether it was the dancing or simply the adrenaline from his first college game, Meeks turned in a solid performance Friday night, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in his debut.
Meeks came off the bench and played only a minute fewer than starting center Joel James. The 6-foot-9 center only missed one field goal, and knocked down all four of his foul shots.
“I thought they gave us solid play,” coach Roy Williams said. “Fourteen points from the two of them, and Joel had eight rebounds in 14 minutes. I got some good things from everybody, really.”
Since arriving at UNC weighing nearly 300 pounds, Meeks has been on a strict diet to shed the weight and get into shape. So far, Meeks has lost nearly 40 pounds in four months, thanks in part to a big change in his diet.
“Pizza,” said Meeks, referring to the food he misses the most. “I think that was my favorite food before, but now I’m not eating bread or nothing like that. That’s the hardest part, but I’m focused and ready to go to work.”
Meeks is only a freshman, but he already said he feels more comfortable on the big stage than his fellow newcomers, including Nate Britt who scored four points and Isaiah Hicks who added two.
“I think the most important part is just listening to coach,” Meeks said. “Once you listen to him, there’s nothing to be nervous about, just go out there and do it. And if you do it to the best of your ability, then you’ll be all right, so that’s all I thought about it. They were nervous, but I can’t do anything about that. Just keep encouraging them, keep encouraging my teammates.”
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