The University of North Carolina's momentum to have a state-of-the-art, off-campus arena replace the Dean E. Smith Center and anchor a 230-acre mixed-use development called “Carolina North” has all but disappeared in the face of resistance from prominent donors and basketball alumni.
As reported by Brendan Marks of The Athletic, "debate over renovating the current site of the Dean Dome, which opened in 1986 and is named for UNC’s legendary coach, or building elsewhere, has been paused while North Carolina undergoes a coaching transition from the fired Hubert Davis to Michael Malone. But a faction of Tar Heels loyalists, including Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams, had vocally opposed moving the arena off campus to Carolina North and caused the university to rethink its efforts."
According to university documents obtained by The Athletic through an open-records request, those protests were pivotal in stopping a deal that was all but done, Marks reported.
According to emails and other documents, members of UNC’s leadership began discussing in early November how to inform key stakeholders of a move to Carolina North, which is roughly 3.5 miles from the current arena and was considered primed for increased revenue generation, according to Marks, a national college basketball writer at The Athletic.
"Decision-makers even had a tagline picked out, for use in a video that would accompany the announcement: 'From Dean to Dream,' ” Marks wrote.
October 2026 was targeted for the start of construction. According to Marks, the school had a stated objective to “minimize surprises and ensure informed support” before a public reveal — and hoped a notable list of basketball alumni would help convey that message and rally fans: Michael Jordan, Danny Green, Tyler Hansbrough and Williams.
The latter two instead produced viral videos against moving the arena off-campus.
According to Marks, a related summary “for a mid-December 2025 announcement of the Carolina North development and new home of Carolina Basketball” emphasized all the key elements of a potential announcement, from how it would be structured — a press release, a news conference, etc. — to other details. "One bullet point focused specifically on how to address questions about the existing Smith Center structure, with leadership to stress that the building 'will remain a vital part of campus' while its exact future is determined," Marks wrote.
“Without this,” the summary read, “the media will define the narrative for us,” as reported by Marks.
Following a list of priorities, the summary read, “These are essential to ensuring a confident, unified, controversy-free announcement.”
Marks then laid out the following timeline chronicling the ebb in momentum it had taken months to build behind the project:
Thanksgiving 2025 — University leadership had drafted a “Song Sheet” full of financials, narratives and other information to share with to prominent donors and stakeholders. "Importantly, even as that 'Song Sheet' underwent multiple edits in the following weeks, it never expanded to discuss any arena options except renovation or the Carolina North site," Marks wrote.
Nov. 30, 2025 — UNC spokesperson Dean Stoyer confirmed in an email that UNC was “18 days out from our planned announcement,” with conversations already underway between athletic leadership — including Cunningham, incoming athletic director Steve Newmark and chancellor Lee Roberts — and important donors and alumni.
Early December 2025 — The announcement was delayed, with Jan. 7 and 8 becoming the new targeted rollout dates.
Dec. 12, 2025 — 91 influential donors and former players — including James Worthy, Billy Cunningham, Ty Lawson, George Lynch, Mitch Kupchak, Luke Maye — wrote a letter to the chancellor saying they did “not support the move of the Smith Center and our historic Carolina’s Men’s Basketball program off campus, specifically to Carolina North.”
Dec. 15, 2025 — Chancellor Roberts and school leadership hosted a video call with dozens of former players, many of whom emphasized their desire for the arena not to move off-campus.
Dec. 30, 2025 — A new draft of the Carolina North press release was emailed to the school’s decision-makers, asking for edits. "It didn’t include any mention of a basketball arena," Marks wrote.
February 2026 — UNC said it had considered seven proposals overall, but with three front-runners: renovation of the Dean Dome; Carolina North; and another on-campus option viewed by some loyalists as the best compromise option, as reported by Marks.
