Armando Bacot and Vance Honeycutt highlight recipients of UNC’s top athletic honor

UNC’s athletic accomplishments in the 2023-2024 sports calendar were highlighted by four of its student-athletes winning the same award.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, across all sports, enjoyed a successful 2023-2024 sports calendar.

UNC’s fencing, women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s track and field teams all won ACC championships, but the most successful program was field hockey, which won a thrilling shootout against Northwestern to capture its 11th National Championship (most all-time).

North Carolina enjoyed a much-needed bounce-back season in men’s basketball, going from missing the NCAA Tournament last year to a Sweet 16 run this year. Armando Bacot became the program’s all-time leader in rebounds and double-doubles.

Most recently, Vance Honeycutt led the Diamond Heels to their first College World Series since 2018. He hit multiple walk-offs in the NCAA Tournament, including UNC’s CWS opener against ACC rival Virginia, while winning his second-straight ACC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Fiona Crawley, who spent most of tennis season as North Carolina’s top singles player, won 14 of the 19 matches she played in. Austin Greaser will go down as one of the best golfers to come through Chapel Hill, with his 71.04 stroke average third in program history.

Due to last year’s combined success between Bacot, Honeycutt, Crawley and Greaser, each student-athlete received the Patterson Medal – UNC’s top athletic honor.

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Each of the above Tar Heels enjoyed amazing careers. Though Honeycutt is the only one who could return, his status as a projected first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft means his time in Chapel Hill is likely over.

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Fiona Crawley named 2023 ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year

North Carolina’s Fiona Crawley named 2023 ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year.

North Carolina Tar Heel [autotag]Fiona Crawley[/autotag] has been named 2023 Atlantic Coastal Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year.

The announcement came Friday morning, with the conference sending out its yearly awards, blasting the honors on social media. Crawley repped the Tar Heels on the list while NC State took the other two honors, with Diana Shnaider named freshman and Simon Earnshaw winning coach of the year.

Crawley finished the season as the No. 1 player in the nation with a 46-3 record. Earning ITA All-America honors in singles and doubles, the Junior from San Antonio, Texas, had a remarkable year, adding to her UNC legacy.

In May, UNC stayed true to its identity of being a school of national champions, with the women’s tennis program winning its first NCAA Championship.

Crawley was instrumental to the success of UNC this year and, much like other athletes at UNC, continues to carve out her Tar Heel legacy.

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