It was fitting that a day devoted to commemorating the spirit of one of Carolina’s best seemed to bring out the best in everyone involved with Carolina athletics.

The Rams Club began the Montross Day of Service in 2024 as a way to honor the love of community service exhibited by Eric Montross, who died after a battle with cancer in December 2023. It’s held every year on his birthday, Sept. 23, and has steadily grown each year.

In 2026, with the eager participation of numerous head coaches and a push from athletic director Steve Newmark, the event boomed. The number of Tar Heel teams involved tripled from 2025.

On a rainy day in Chapel Hill, the football program opened the Kenan Football Center to everyone as the hub for an event that sprawled across the athletic department and touched all corners of Chapel Hill.

The women’s basketball team organized a Make-A-Wish celebration for a young patient named Nora, who will soon head to Disneyland with a custom pair of Tar Heel Mickey Mouse ears. Student-athletes and coaches worked with local schools. The entire softball team volunteered at a local rec practice. The Mental Health and Performance Psychology staff, a favorite of Eric’s, worked in the rain to clear trails for the Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary. Men’s tennis coach Sam Paul rearranged his team’s schedule to make sure they could assist with food deliveries for TABLE. Men’s golf coach Andrew DiBitetto worked around the iffy weather to make sure his players could participate.

“Being part of the community is the definition of what a Tar Heel is,” said volleyball head coach Mike Schall, whose team visited the Children’s Hospital and also had several players stop by the Kenan Football Center. “It’s thinking about things that are bigger than ourselves. It’s about people. Eric had such compassion for people and helping others that he truly helped define what a Tar Heel is.”

The baseball and men’s basketball teams also made a Children’s Hospital visit a priority.

Terrence Brown introduced himself to everyone in every room. Evan Smith wore his Montross Day of Service shirt with a big double-zero on the back. Jarin Stevenson was a popular patient target because he could easily lift them up to touch the ceiling.

Julius, 6, who is battling B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, quickly became a team favorite. “You’re making me happy because you’re so happy,” Brown told him.

As the Tar Heels went from patient to patient, Dr. John Hipps smiled from across the room. “I can still picture Eric ducking under all those low doorways,” he said. “He would always have that big smile on his face.”

Almost three years after his death, his impact remains clear across the athletic department and the larger community. It’s a legacy bigger than the jersey that hangs in the Smith Center rafters.

“When you think about being a Tar Heel, it’s well beyond going to athletic events or going to class,” Newmark said. “It’s a way of life, and it’s how you operate and live your life. Eric was an unbelievable example that part of our mission is to serve others and to make sure that we not only improve ourselves but make our community better.”

Every group, every coach, every volunteer seemed to have a story about how Eric had influenced them in some way. It was Eric Montross Day of Service for all the rest of us. But for Eric Montross, Sept. 23 would have been just another day of living the only way he knew how.

Because he was the best.

Read more about the Montross Day of Service.