UNC's Paxson Wojcik reflects on Skims campaign, shares future modeling endeavors with Seth Trimble

CHARLOTTE — If you were scrolling through Instagram on Monday morning, you may have noticed a rather unusual post from UNC's Paxson Wojcik.

Instead of the graduate guard's typical basketball-related content, he was meticulously posed in front of a clean, white wall, sporting a matching black sweatsuit. Scroll down a little bit, and you discover the post is actually a Skims sponsorship — as evidenced by Wojcik's caption: "@kimkardashian (red heart emoji)"

Dig a little deeper, like any good investigator would, and you end up on the Skims Instagram page, or maybe even that of Kim Kardashian herself. Once there, the plot thickens. Wojcik is pictured on the cover of SLAM Magazine (in his Skims gear, of course) alongside several basketball standouts: Duke's Jared McCain, Arizona's Caleb Love, Kansas' Hunter Dickinson, Kentucky's Rob Dillingham and Connecticut's Donovan Clingan.

So how did Wojcik, who averages just over eight minutes per game, end up in such an all-star lineup? Well, apparently they just liked his look.

It all started when TJ Beisner, the NIL lead at UNC, approached Wojcik with the Skims pitch. Wojcik said he was aware of the brand, but had no idea that it made men's clothes, so he was confused at first. But after learning more about the NIL deal, he was all-in. 

“[It was] definitely an opportunity that I was excited about once it was presented, and I’m not going to turn it down, but it was the first time I had done any sort of fashion industry photoshoot," he said.

The same cannot be said for every member on the team. Seth Trimble was a fairly prolific child model, starring in campaigns for Nike, Foot Locker, Kohl's and John Cena's merchandise line, among others. 

Wojcik joked when he was selected over Trimble, despite his breadth of experience, the sophomore guard was a little jealous. Eventually, Trimble overcame his disappointment and gave Wojcik some tips for how to ace the shoot, which he said came in handy. 

"When he first told us [about the cover], we were all very surprised, it was a huge laugh," Trimble said. "We were happy for him, but we were shocked."

Nevertheless, Wojcik was determined to follow through on the deal. So about three months ago, he boarded a plane to New York City. The shoot lasted around four hours (something Trimble claims is quite standard), and then the deal was done. 

Even with Trimble's expert advice, it was a totally new experience for Wojcik. 

“Basketball has been my thing my whole life, but to see other people working in different lighting and poses and angles and stuff, it was pretty cool," Wojcik said.

And when the photos finally came out, Trimble and the rest of Wojcik's teammates changed their minds about the whole thing. It went from laughable to cool. 

"He was very handsome in those pictures, so I’m glad," Trimble said.  "I’m happy for him."

The sentiment was echoed in the comment section of Wojcik's Instagram.

"This is now a national holiday," wrote graduate guard Cormac Ryan.

"Ok wit the smolder (fire emoji)," added sophomore forward Jalen Washington.

Now that Wojcik's modeling chops were — at least in the eyes of his teammates — proven, there was only one question that really remained. Who is the better model: Wojcik or Trimble?

“I think it’s equally balanced between the both," senior guard RJ Davis said. "They both have great potential, I know Seth has some experience, so I think both.”

Thankfully, Wojcik said the two decided to join forces and are going to be collaborating on their next modeling endeavor, which will hit Instagram soon.

"We can't speak on it too much," Trimble said, "but we got something in the works."

@peacegwen 

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com