UNC freshmen make fashion statement in tutus
Most college basketball teams have some form of a “Midnight Madness” event to kick off the season. At UNC, that tradition is called “Late Night with Roy Williams”, and Friday night was the 2012-2013 team’s debut. Fans expected a show. Did they expect to see their freshmen players in tutus? Probably not.
According to ESPN, Joel Smith, Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson, and J.P Tokoto all donned tutus for the night, but the fun didn’t stop there. Appropriately, the freshmen also performed a dance number.
“My freshman year, I would have been, ‘Naaaah, I can’t do the tutu,’” redshirt junior Leslie McDonald said, laughing after his “blue” team won the event-ending intrasquad scrimmage 37-27. “… But Joel’s a big dude, and to see him in a tutu, that’s funny.”
Because of team rules, freshmen players were not allowed to talk to media about the night and their dance costumes. They’ll be available to media after they play in their first regular-season game.
However, Twitter offered a glimpse into the players’ attitudes about the performance and tutus. ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep tweeted “@marcuspaige15 you have some explaining to do with the tutu at UNC’s Midnight Madness.” Marcus Paige tweeted back saying, “I’d rather not talk about it…lol”.
The team will take off their tutus in favor of jerseys and sneakers Saturday as they start practice Saturday.
