° = October 27, 1989
Freshmen Griders Mature Early Despite Age
By Rita Brown and Reggie
Alston
Staff Writers
The UNC two-deep roster may
be laden with freshmen, but that
does not necesssarily mean the
Tar Heels are at a loss for matur
ity. One talk with freshmen quar
terback Chuckie Burnette and
split end Randall Felton is evi
dence of that.
Both have had some rough
times in their first collegiate ac
tion, and they know they will
have to work hard to become the
type of dominant players they
were in high school.
As a senior at Cummings High
School in Burlington, Burnette
hurled his way to a state record
3,240 yards and an equally im
pressive 24 touchdowns in lead
ing his team to the state 3-A title
with a 15-0 record. The 6-0, 190-
pound Burnette also set state
marks in pass completions, at
tempts, and cornpletion percent
age on his way to being named
the state player of the year by
Associated Press.
Someone with those creden
tials might think he can step on
a college football field and com
pete successfully in big-time
football right away — but not
Burnette.
“Fm a freshman and I have to
be patient,” he says.
Burnette has had to make some
major adjustments as well.
“The crowd is a big change
from high school,” he said.
“[There is] all the noise and
excitement.”
The 6-1, 180-pound Felton
was a standout at Jordan High in
Durham. He caught 40 passes for
Sweet Carolines Encourage Tar Heels
By Rita Brown
Staff Writer
The hard times for the UNC
football team aren’t just giving
players and coaches trouble.
“I hate that they’re losing,”
said Tracy Brown, one of the 29
Sweet Carolines whose job is to
help recruit high school seniors
for the football program, “their
misfortune makes it hard to talk
to the recruits and get them ex
cited about Carolina.”
The Sweet Carolines is a
hostess organization that not only
encourages football recruits to
attend Carolina by promoting
the athletic as well as academic
advantages here, but they also do
administrative work in Kenan
Field House.
Brown became a Sweet Caro
line in the spring of 1987. “When
I came here, I knew no one. In
high school I was very involved
with school things like cheer-
leading and student council and I
wanted to do something school
oriented here at UNC, as well as
meet people. A friend told me
about the Sweet Carolines so I
decided that’s what I wanted to
do.”
A senior economics major
from Dallas, Brown said being a
Sweet Caroline enhances her
communication skills.
“Fll just have to say that it’s a
big communication plus,” she
said. “It’s forced me to learn to
talk to a lot of people from differ
ent backgrounds. I have to be
flexible which obviously will
help me once I leave UNC.”
A member of Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, Inc., Brown said
she is not sure about her career
plans but she is positive that she
wants to go to law school, but not
necessarily to become a lawyer.
She thinks African-American
stu-dents have a very good chance
of becoming Sweet Carolines and
she encourages them to apply.
“I encourage African-Ameri-
can women here to apply be
cause it does give you a chance to
get involved with University
oriented things,” she said. “It also
broadens you as a person. And
African-Americans here should
not participate in only black ori
ented things such as the Black
Student Movement and the Black
Greek Council.”
707 yards and seven touchdowns
his senior season, and picked the
Tar Heels over in-state rivals
Duke, N.C. State, and Wake
Forest.
Like Burnette, Felton quickly
realized that the college game
has major differences than what
he was accostomed.
“The practices are more in
tense and the coaches emphasize
the importance of films, some
thing we didn’t use in high
school,” he said. Because of the
overall talent level in college,
Felton admitted that he needed to
work on his blocking techniques
and pass routes.
Head coach Mack Brown sees
Burnette and Felton as part of a
potent offense in the future.
“We feel very good about
our receivers,” Brown said.
“The biggest thing about them
is their ability to get deep. And
with Chuckie we feel like we
have someone who can get it to
them.”
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C
H 19I9UNCF00TBAUSCHEDUIE
Sept.
9
V.M.I.
HOME
Sept, 16
Kentucky
Away
Sept.
23
N.C. State
Away
Sept. 30
NAVY
HOME
Oct.
7
WAKE FOREST
HOME
Oct.
14
Virginia
Away
Oct.
21
Georgia Tech
Away
Oct.
28
Maryland
Away
Nov.
4
CLEMSON
HOME
Nov.
11
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOME
Nov.
18
DUKE
HOME
L
E