Special: Roy Cooper Talks Tar Heel Basketball

Inside Carolina: A UNC athletics podcast

Inside Carolina

Football, Sports, Baseball, Basketball

4.8 • 778 Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ever wonder what the crossroads of fandom and public service looks like? Roy Cooper has lived it at a high level. The UNC graduate and former NC Attorney General and Governor joined Joey Powell to talk about Carolina Basketball, his lifetime fandom, the current roster, and more as he now eyes an office in the United States Senate. There's no political discussion here: just honest storytelling and appreciation for the program that binds so many North Carolinians across generations. **Call to Action:** **Subscribe:** Follow 'Inside Carolina' wherever you get your podcasts to never miss an episode! **Review:** Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help us reach more Tar Heel fans! **Visit:** Explore http://www.InsideCarolina.com for breaking news, recruiting updates, and expert commentary on all things UNC sports. This show is brought to you by Inside Carolina, the No. 1 site for UNC sports coverage and community. Visit http://www.InsideCarolina.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In North Carolina, basketball isn't just a sport.
0:05.0	It's part of the public record.
0:07.0	Our guest today knows that better than most.
0:09.0	He's a Carolina graduate, a lifelong Tar Heel fan, and, oh yeah, a former governor of the state,
0:14.0	and now he's a candidate for United States Senate.
0:16.0	But today we're not talking policy, we're talking passion.
0:19.0	This is Roy Cooper on what it's like to love Carolina basketball when the whole state is watching.
0:25.1	And why the Smith Center might be facing the biggest crossroads in its history.
0:28.4	Let's get into it.
0:29.1	Music I'm Joey Powell for Inside Carolina.
0:50.3	First off, Governor Cooper, thank you so much for doing this.
0:53.6	I want to start before you were governor, before you were attorney general, before any of that stuff, you were just a Carolina kid.
1:01.3	What's your earliest real memory before anything else of you being hooked on Carolina basketball?
1:07.8	And I need you to hold you and Phil Ford going one-on-one story.
1:11.4	Yeah, I'm not going to make you do that. I'm not going to make you do that. Give me your first
1:15.3	your first area of being, Carolina. So I think it was those Larry Miller, Dick Grubar,
1:21.1	Rusty Clark, Bill Bunning teams that would always get to the final four and meet up with UCLA
1:28.2	and just couldn't quite push it over the top.
1:31.2	But those were such fun teams to watch.
1:34.0	And when Charlie Scott joined the team
1:36.6	and broke the racial barrier,
1:38.4	that was a big deal for Carolina sports.
	...

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