CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — It was a sight to see at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s campus Saturday.
A line, stretching around the Dean Smith Center, began very early in the morning. The line of Tar Heel fans stretched down the street.
“There were like 100-some people here at 3 a.m.,” Sophomore Garrett Morris said.
Thousands of people stood patiently in the dark, waiting for their chance to score some serious Tar Heel merchandise.
“We have over 20,000 items in here,” Senior Associate Athletic Director Clint Gwaltney said. “We probably have over 700 pairs of Jordans.”
The Athletics Department last hosted its “yard sale” seven years ago.
Now, Gwaltney told CBS 17, it needed to clear out its inventory once again, in order to make room for new gear.
“What’s the old saying? One man’s junk is another man’s treasure?” he said.
It’s a treasure many felt was worth waiting a long, long time for.
“I got here at 11:30 last night after the baseball game,” student Hunter Oakley said.
He stands by the motto, “The early bird gets the worm.”
Oakley camped outside Dean Dome overnight, just to secure the No. 1 spot in line.
“I tried to sleep but it was not really comfortable,” he said. “My time was worth it.”
Oakley brought along some close friends and family, including 7-year-old Brayden Curry from Rock Hill, South Carolina.
“I love my Tar Heels,” he said with a smile.
Curry met up with his group around 5:30 a.m. with the one goal in mind.
“Some Jordans,” he said. “I’ll grow into them.”
CBS 17 crews went hundreds and hundreds of people behind Oakley and found equally dedicated Tar Heel fans. Many of them got to campus before sunrise.
“I thought there might be a lot of people, but even this is way more than you could expect. Way more,” Reginald Moses said, who got in line at 5:45 a.m.
Bill Haddaway made the drive with his daughter from Baltimore, Maryland.
“Five and a half hours,” he said with a smile. “It’s a trip well worth it.”
UNC officials were only letting 50 people inside of the Dean Smith Center at a time. The rest followed on a one-in and one-out basis.
Many people in the middle and the back of the line knew they might not exactly be successful.
“We’ll see about the Jordans,” laughed John Primus, who came with his son Liam, and some family friends.
They got in line a little after 6 a.m., and hundreds of people were in front of them already.
But even the possibility of an unsuccessful shopping trip couldn’t squash anyone’s school spirit.
“Even if I don’t get anything today, I got this experience for the rest of my life,” Moses said.
People who were in line at 6:03 a.m. told CBS 17 they didn’t get inside the building until after 10:15 a.m.
They were told nearly 1,000 people had already done their shopping by that time.
