What Seth Trimble Had To Say Before, During His Senior Night
By David Glenn
Last summer, long before the start of his fourth and final season at UNC, senior guard Seth Trimble already had contemplated the aftermath of his final home game at the Smith Center.
“In all honesty, I’ve thought about my Senior Day speech a few times already,” Trimble said before the season. “I mainly want to tell Chapel Hill how thankful I am for them, how they’ve changed my life, how they’ve allowed me to grow into such a blessed young man. I thank all of my coaches, of course, through the adversity we’ve battled over the years and how closely we’ve been able to bond. I thank my teammates. I thank my family.
“It’s all gratitude and thankfulness to everybody who’s had such an impact on me.”
Trimble’s preseason comments were thoughtful and noble, but his extremely early Senior Day plan seemed a bit odd, mainly because that long-standing tradition, initiated by legendary Carolina coach Dean Smith decades ago, had fallen by the wayside in recent years, without any official explanation.
Fifth-year UNC leader Hubert Davis said he agreed to reinstate the idea mainly because of the heartfelt requests he received from his two 2025-26 seniors, who — for different reasons — always will have a special place in the coach’s heart.
Elijah Davis, a transfer from the University of Lynchburg, is the coach’s son. Hubert had never previously coached Elijah in an official capacity, so they’ve been able to live out a dream together this season.
Trimble, meanwhile, unexpectedly has come to represent another college basketball rarity: the four-year college player who — even in an era complicated by the NCAA’s push-button transfer portal, revenue sharing and Name-Image-Likeness money — started and completed his career at the same university.
This season, in the entire 16-team Southeastern Conference, there is only one men’s basketball player who signed with his university out of high school and has stayed there for the entirety of his four- or five-year college career.
In the 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference, only three players — including Trimble — fit the description this year.
There was something symbolic about Clemson serving as UNC’s opponent on Senior Day this season. The Tigers’ point guard, Dillon Hunter, has been a four-year player for veteran coach Brad Brownell. (Stanford guard Benny Gealer is the only other current ACC senior who has stayed with the same program for the entirety of his college career.) The Tigers’ best player, forward RJ Godfrey, played for Brownell as a freshman and sophomore, transferred to Georgia last season, ended up calling that the worst decision of his career, then transferred back to Clemson for his ongoing senior campaign.
Trimble, of course, seriously considered leaving UNC midway through his time in Chapel Hill. He later said the most important aspect of his multi-layered decision to stay with the Tar Heels came when he focused on his own contributions to a career he felt had stalled during his first two seasons.
“Whatever it is, if you’re looking at a transfer or staying or whatever, you’ve gotta take a look in the mirror and say whatever it is you could do better,” Trimble said. “My first two years at Carolina, I don’t think I unleashed myself to the best of my ability.
“So my goal, going into my junior year, was about letting go and being me all year. I was able to do that, and it made a huge difference.”
Trimble has been a major contributor for the Tar Heels (see career stats below) as a junior and senior, after averaging about two and five points per game as a freshman and sophomore, respectively.
Although he didn’t have a great game offensively (nine points on 2-for-10 shooting) on his Senior Night, against a stifling Clemson defense, he did ultimately get the things he wanted most — a (67-63) victory for the Tar Heels, then an opportunity to address publicly many of those assembled at the Smith Center.
As he had forecast prior to the season, Trimble thanked God, his family, his teammates, his coaches and the entire UNC community.
On his family: “I just wanna let y’all know that I love you so much. You guys have been my greatest supporters, my greatest motivators, and you’ve been my best friends. So I thank you so much for that.”
On his teammates: “Y’all boys are such a pivotal part of my life. Most of you guys are new, and you guys all came here and accepted me as one of your leaders and one of your captains right away, and I just want to thank you so much for that. You guys have helped me grow.”
On his coaches: “These last four years, I’ve been in really, really tough spots, and I’m very appreciative of y’all. Y’all have dragged me out of some tough times. Y’all have shown me ways to persevere, and y’all have given me ways to grow.
“Coach Davis, you took a chance on a 16-year-old kid who was playing on some random AAU team from Wisconsin, and you gave him an offer, and it was the best thing that could happen to my life. I just want to say thank you. Our relationship over the last four years has grown so much. It wasn’t the greatest our first year, but it continued to grow and grow, and you just continued to put just so much belief and confidence in me over these last four years that I’m just a much better man now than I was when I first got here, and I have to give a lot of credit to you and the rest of this coaching staff.
“I want to give a special shout-out to the man who probably had the greatest (Senior Day) speech in Carolina history, Marcus Paige. This is all you guys, but Coach Paige, you’re not just a coach. You really became a big brother, and you put so much belief in me these last four years. You stayed in the gym with me. You brought me up when I was down, man. You’ve done so much in my life, so much in such a short amount of time, man, that I just have to say thank you. I mean, everybody has a foundation, and you are, like I said, a part of my foundation.”
On the UNC community: “Lastly, to the University of North Carolina, thank you. I love you with all of my heart, and you will forever be my home. The opportunities, the blessings and just the things I’ve been able to experience here, I wouldn’t have gotten this at any other place. I’m so glad I got to be here four years. I’m so glad and so appreciative that you guys were able to just embrace me as this kid, this energetic kid from Menomonee Falls. I appreciate y’all so much.”
And a quick postscript: “I got one more thing. I got one more thing. I know y’all are on my side, but I really, really hope to see the Dean Smith Center here for a long, long time.”
Although not part of his Senior Day speech in front of the post-game Smith Center crowd, Trimble added a couple final thoughts on his four-year journey.
On winning: “I think chemistry matters the most, out of everything. If it was just about talent, I think that group my freshman year (when the Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament) would have won almost every single game we played. Talent goes a long way, but I think we’ve seen less talented teams win the national championship because they had that bond, that chemistry and that unity with each other.”
On the UNC fan base: “It’s been a blessing to see my loyalty, and to see my decisions, just continue to be cheered on. When you’ve got a fan base like this behind you, there’s not much of a better feeling.”
Seth Trimble’s Four-Year Growth Chart
2022-23—9.8 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.6 apg
2023-24—17.1 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.9 apg
2024-25—28.6 mpg, 11.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.3 apg
2025-26*—31.7 mpg, 14.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
*—through March 6
David Glenn (DavidGlennShow.com, @DavidGlennShow) is an award-winning author, broadcaster, editor, entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, writer and university lecturer (now at UNC Wilmington) who has covered sports in North Carolina since 1987.
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