Drake Maye recalls why he flipped his commitment from Alabama to North Carolina

Alabama and North Carolina both share 7-1 records through week 9 of the college football season, but not everyone knows they also both shared the commitment of star quarterback Drake Maye at different points of his recruiting process as well. Maye was committed to the Crimson Tide in high school before flipping to the Tar Heels, and spoke recently about what factored into that decision.

“Obviously the big thing was just seeing Coach Brown come back. I think one of the first few weeks, I was telling a reporter earlier, coach Brown and coach Bly came by Myers Park like maybe a week or two after coach Brown got hired and they just came by to see me,” Brown said. “And then even with me being committed to Alabama, they kept recruiting me, they made me a priority.”

Mack Brown and Dre Bly’s in-state trip to Maye’s home city of Charlotte was likely around a two-hour trip from Chapel Hill, and one that was well worth making, as Maye is currently tied for the national lead in touchdown passes and has led the Heels to a perfect record in conference play so far this season as a freshman.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Maye also had plenty of family ties to North Carolina, including his mother being an alum, his brother Luke playing on their basketball team from 2015 to 2019, his father playing quarterback for the Heels from 1986–1987, and another one of his brothers Beau currently on the basketball team as a walk on.

“Didn’t want to miss out on the home state, my brother Beau was applying here, he got it, so a lot of things kind of played into it and obviously my parents always wanted me to go here. But they kind of tried to let me enjoy the process, but my mom and my dad they’re huge Heels fans so it just kind of worked out, kind of meant to be,” Maye said.

Another memorable part of Maye’s recruiting journey with UNC was meeting their most famous alumni, Michael Jordan, a meeting that not many schools can top in their recruiting process.

“Yeah I met Mike, MJ, the goat,” Maye said. “I think it was UVA maybe, UVA home game, I forget what game it was but coach Brown brought us down and that was pretty cool. Yeah that’s pretty surreal just to see the Carolina family in a perspective, I didn’t really know what to say but it was pretty cool.”

Maye may or may not have been a little starstruck in the moment, as he struggled to recall what was actually said between him and the Jumpman.

“I don’t even remember honestly, I think he said something to coach Brown. We took a picture, I didn’t say much, I said maybe big fan or something.

Maye’s play so far this season has him creating some big fans of his own in Chapel Hill, as Tar Heel nation is likely thrilled that their freshman phenom flipped his commitment and chose to stay home as he’s led them to their best record through week 9 since 2015.