UNC Basketball Program Leads Nation in Home Attendance
![UNC basketball mascot Rameses UNC basketball mascot Rameses](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3936,h_2214,x_0,y_245/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/all_tar_heels/01j3qv7r0g2hk8ggqnba.jpg)
Across 15 home games last season, the average attendance that the UNC basketball team drew to the Dean E. Smith Center was 20,593. That's just over 1,000 shy of the Smith Center's listed capacity of 21,750.
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And it was just enough to finish No. 1 in the country in average attendance, roughly 200 more per game than No. 2 on the list in fellow ACC program Syracuse (20,288).
UNC and Syracuse are the only two over the 20,000 mark.
SEC schools round out the top five: Kentucky (19,928), Tennessee (19,664), and Arkansas (19,106).
Carolina led the nation in home attendance in 2023-24.#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/UoHaihvPNh
— Carolina Basketball Stats & Info (@UNCMBBStats) July 26, 2024
The 2024-25 UNC basketball roster includes reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis, his backcourt co-star in Elliot Cadeau, a pair of five-star freshmen in Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, and a deep supporting cast of returning players and inbound transfers. So, the Tar Heels figure to sit among the top 10 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
With that in mind, one would think the program has a chance to attract over 20,000 fans per game to the Dean E. Smith Center once again.
UNC begin its campaign, the fourth of the Hubert Davis era, at home against Elon on Nov. 4.