CHARLOTTE – As media members filled UNC basketball’s locker room Wednesday inside Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, a group of Tar Heels were in the corner playing cards.

Sophomore guard Seth Trimble was the leader of that group, which included fellow sophomore Jalen Washington. UNC freshmen Elliot Cadeau and Zayden High later joined the game around a cooler of protein shakes, which served as the card table.

They were playing “BS” – which is centered around deception – and another game. For media purposes, Trimble said, “call it poophead.”

The objective of “poophead” is to get rid of cards by playing them to a pile. A player unable to equal or beat the previous play must pick up the pile. The last player holding cards at the end is the loser.

“I got the all-time record,” Trimble said, before pointing to Washington as the player who “loses the most.”

It’s silly and simple, but it’s one of the many examples that illustrate UNC’s connectedness this season. It’s also a way for the top-seeded Tar Heels (27-7) to unwind and stay loose ahead of the pressure-filled NCAA Tournament.

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“It just speaks to the chemistry that we have. We have a March Madness game (Thursday) and I think everybody’s just relaxing and kind of honing in,” Trimble said.

“I think it just speaks to the trust and the love that we have for each other. I think if we were a team that had no chemistry and didn’t love each other, we’d be all stressed right now in the locker room. We all trust each other, we know what we can bring, and we’re ready for it. When we prepare, we prepare. But we gotta have fun with it, too.”

Time and again, third-year head coach Hubert Davis said the Tar Heels enjoy being around each other on and off the court. Trimble traces that growth back to the Outer Banks, where in July 2023 the Tar Heels started on the path toward building that cohesion and togetherness.

“We were just away … and it allowed us to jell for the first time,” Trimble said. “It was a blessing for us."

Whether they’re playing cards or putting in work on the basketball court, it goes back to a consistent message Davis started preaching in the preseason.

“The personalities just work together,” Davis said.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How UNC basketball players are staying loose ahead of March Madness