UNC Basketball: Shea Rush 2016-17 season review

Shea Rush didn’t get a lot of playing time in his freshman season at North Carolina, but his involvement on the team was noticeable

Shea Rush chose to attend the University of North Carolina as a preferred walk-on, despite being all the way from Kansas City, Missouri and having opportunities for more playing time at other schools.

It was his dream to play for North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and the Tar Heels. Playing for Roy Williams is something that Shea’s father, Jaron Rush, once had the opportunity to do before having his scholarship offer pulled and then committing to play for UCLA.

The younger Rush was asked if he wanted to play for Roy Williams because his father never got to and because he was fulfilling his dad’s dream, rather than his own.

"“That’s a great question,” Rush told the Kansas City Star in 2016. “My girlfriend asked me that question, too. Am I just going there because I have to? Because I feel, almost, that pressure? And I don’t think so. I really don’t. But it’s nice. It ties a nice bow on it. But, I don’t know. It’s tough. Maybe. Maybe that’s what it is, and I just don’t realize it.”"

Regardless, Rush is in Chapel Hill, and appears to be enjoying his time on campus.

In the picture below, the entire North Carolina basketball team is seen wearing custom-made fedoras before traveling to its NCAA Tournament first round location. The fedoras, which were individually suited to each player’s needs, were made by none other than Shea Rush.

And Rush is always one of the first players that can be seen jumping and screaming on the sidelines after a big play. He sometimes looks more like a fan than a member of the team, exhibiting a childlike exuberance that is often lost on players of a certain age.

Couple that with his energetic presence in the game when he comes in off the bench, unafraid to make plays and take shots, and you have a player with the potential for great things. Particularly under a head coach who does such a marvelous job of developing talent at the college level.

Rush has tons of room for improvement, but will get plenty of opportunities for continued growth and development.

Sure, there are a lot of talented players in front of Rush that are going to demand playing time before him, but the same could be said about Reyshawn Terry some 10 years ago. And if you’ll remember, things turned out pretty well for Terry.

Related Story: Which Tar Heels will return to Chapel Hill next season?

Nobody knows how far Rush’s star will rise, but with hard work and dedication to his craft, he could have a very bright future at North Carolina. And if he’s willing to put in the work, we could see just that over the next couple of years.