Luke Maye, UNC’s breakout star, dominated Davidson ... the school he almost attended

Let Luke Maye’s breakout season for North Carolina continue.

At least on the surface, that’s what UNC’s 85-75 win over Davidson on Friday looked like. And that’s fair, because Maye was outstanding. The numbers back that up – 24 points and 17 rebounds, a career high – but so too did the actual gameplay, the fact that he was consistently the first Tar Heel sprinting ahead of the pack in transition at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, or the fact that at times he was the Tar Heels’ only offense.

But there was more to Friday’s victory than just another impressive stat line.

It was the ultimate ‘What if’ for Maye, UNC coach Roy Williams, and especially Davidson coach Bob McKillop... all because Maye almost committed to the Wildcats.

“Nobody recruited him as much as I did,” McKillop said. “I spent more time recruiting that young man than I did a lot of players. I thought he could’ve been a star for us, and he’s clearly a star for North Carolina. He’s sensational.”

Maye, a native of nearby Huntersville, grew up going to Davidson’s campus. He went to their youth camps, their games. Heck, he even went to their practices.

“It was like my second home for a long time,” Maye said. “Davidson was definitely up there.”

Only while he was doing all that, he was doing the same at North Carolina. Williams and Maye’s father Mark, a former UNC quarterback, would talk during Maye’s childhood, and later during his recruitment, about whether the eventual 6-foot-8 forward would follow his father’s footsteps to Chapel Hill.

“I know how badly they wanted Luke, and I really wanted Luke badly,” Williams said. “I kept telling Mark, his dad, ‘Don’t settle.’ I think he’s going be good enough at the end, just don’t be in a hurry.

“Needless to say, I’m very fortunate he said yes to us.”

On Friday, that couldn’t have been more true. Maye was a force, especially early in the game when UNC’s litany of guards were struggling with their shooting. He was a dependable option, scoring North Carolina’s first five points and racking up a double-double by halftime.

In the second half, UNC’s guards – especially Joel Berry II and Kenny Williams, who finished with 27 and 12 respectively – alleviated some of Maye’s scoring burden. His presence on the court opened driving lines for the backcourt.

Even when Maye wasn’t getting the ball, he was moving without it and showing the hustle that Williams so consistently praises. Williams said the junior is “one of the best workers I’ve ever coached,” and that was evident Friday.

One example: Midway through the second half, with the ball careening out of bounds, Maye leapt to save it. Realizing he had no options to pass to once he was airborne, he instead... pegged it off the knee of a Davidson defender and earned UNC the ball back.

The cheers then, the bellowing ‘Luuuuke’, were impressive. So were they for Davidson, whose fans filled the majority of the Spectrum Center.

Imagine if they were one and the same.

“It was a school that I really considered,” Maye said of Davidson. “It was right near my house, be able to see my brothers a lot, and family’s really important to me.”

Ultimately, though, Maye followed his family legacy to North Carolina – although as he’s done all season, and again on Friday, he’s quickly crafting a legacy of his own.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 11:53 PM with the headline "Luke Maye, UNC’s breakout star, dominated Davidson ... the school he almost attended."