[Good News Friday is Cardinal & Pine’s weekly roundup of positive news stories from around NC. For past editions, tap here.]
Following a week of relatively consistent rain around the state, one might allow themselves to think we’re in the clear from all that drought. I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
We’ll start Good News Friday with the good news: The rain helped. Jordan Lake, for example, benefited the most from the recent rainfall. The lake, which spans Durham and Chatham counties, is now close to full.
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However, we still need much more than a week of steady rains to recover from a drought that’s lasted a year, as Gov. Josh Stein’s office warned residents on Thursday. Most of the state’s lakes and reservoirs are still alarmingly low, so heed those warnings.
This is Good News Friday, however, so we’re going to keep the good news coming. This week’s feel-good stories all come from the North Carolina sports world, where inspiration can show up on or off the field (or pitch).
Duke football team visits Durham Rescue Mission
With a little over a month before the season starts, Duke University football players were in the community this week connecting with families who will surely be some of their biggest fans during the coming year.
WTVD was there as the reigning ACC champions took reps and ran drills with kids living at Durham Rescue Mission’s Good Samaritan Inn, a shelter for women and children, many of whom are fleeing domestic violence situations.
Parents told reporters on the scene how they noticed their children open up and form relationships with fellow children at the site for the first time thanks to the visit from Duke players.
“The message I want our children to receive is [that] everything is possible if you’re willing to work for it and apply yourself,” said Ernie Mills Jr., vice president of Durham Rescue Mission. “The limit is unlimited, really, in what you can achieve in life.”
Duke will begin training camp next week then kick off its season against Tulane University at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham on Sept. 5.
NC State surprises walk-on player with a scholarship
Cary native Audrey Ericksen, a senior guard with the NC State University women’s basketball team who transferred as a walk-on from Boston University to be closer to her hometown in May, shared the inspiring story of her surprise scholarship with WRAL this week.
Coach Wes Moore pulled a prank of sorts on Eriksen, which the team first posted to its social media last week. He first presented her with a $30,000 bill for tuition, room and board then ripped it up and informed her she had been awarded a scholarship to cover all the costs.
“When I see that video, I skip past the beginning and go straight to that part,” Ericksen told WRAL. “Everybody just has pure joy on their face for me.”
The all-time leading scorer for Green Level High School in Cary, Ericksen said she’s now focused on checking an item off her bucket list in her final year of eligibility by helping lead NC State to its second Final Four in four years.
A local star and teenage prospect show out at home during MLS All-Star Week
Some of the top soccer players in the world converged on the Queen City this week, with Charlotte hosting the MLS All-Star Game for the first time.
While South Korean star Son Heung-Min of LAFC took home MVP honors after scoring twice during Wednesday’s match, a local star and a 15-year-old Charlotte prospect both grabbed the spotlight during the surrounding festivities.
First, on Monday, 15-year-old rising star Daniel Brown of Charlotte FC Academy put the cap on a wild night of scoring for the East All-Stars during the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, held at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews.
Brown scored the last of six goals on the winning side of the match. The hometown crowd instantly recognized the importance of the moment, chanting Brown’s name as the final minutes ticked away.
“It’s hard to not smile, to have a whole bunch of kids calling my name,” Brown told Soccer Sheet after the match. “It’s awesome.”
Not to be outdone, Charlotte FC defender and USMNT captain Tim Ream showed up ready to make his mark at the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge on a rainy Tuesday night in Uptown Charlotte.
Ream took the passing challenge title home—across the street to Bank of America Stadium from Truist Field where the Skills Challenge took place— after setting a record by hitting five targets with just seven touches.
