I'm A Tar Heel: Mark Derrick

Dear Fellow Tar Heels,

I am not a conventional Tar Heel. I was born in Albany, New York. I was “bred” in Naperville, Illinois. My parents are both Great Danes (Albany State) and my brother is some sort of tree (Stanford). The first time I rooted for a North Carolina team was the first basketball game of the 2012 season after I had committed. And to the chagrin of my current and former teammates and pretty much anyone who has ever rooted for North Carolina, J.J. Reddick was one of my favorite basketball players growing up (I sincerely apologize). Essentially of all the things I identified myself as, a Tar Heel was not one of them.

Regardless of my upbringing or however heinous my basketball…