‘The towel baby.’ ‘The microphone.’ When the Tar Heels win, the bench celebrates.

The first time Garrison Brooks saw one of his teammates on the bench use a towel as a prop for a celebration on the bench, he couldn’t help but laugh.

After Brooks scored through contact, North Carolina sophomore guard Andrew Platek grabbed a towel, made it into a circular shape and cradled it into one of his arms.

Then he rocked it.

“Ahh, that’s creative,” Brooks thought.

Platek passed it around to his teammates, as they also took turns rocking the fake baby.

In basketball, celebrations and the energy players bring off the bench can be crucial in a tight game. With the NCAA tournament field now whittled down to the best 16 teams, close games are expected.

And energy can swing momentum in a team’s favor. That was case in North Carolina’s first-round game against No. 16 seeded-Iona last week.

The energy was low in the first half and the bench had little to celebrate about. North Carolina trailed Iona by five points at halftime.

But North Carolina graduate senior Cam Johnson nailed a 3-pointer at the start of the second half and the bench erupted. The players screamed out and many threw up three fingers. Even Roy Williams clinched his fists and yelled out.

“I hit the 3 on the sideline and my teammates were gassing me up big time,” Johnson said with a smile, as he recalled the moment. “Saying, ‘Let’s go.’ You catch that energy and it’s contagious.”

The Tar Heels went on a run, and what was once a five-point deficit eventually became a 15-point win for the top-seeded Tar Heels. North Carolina is now in the Sweet 16 and will face No. 5-seeded Auburn on Friday.

North Carolina has been known for its celebrations on past teams. Former North Carolina forward Joel James used to make an eating motion when his teammates went on scoring runs. The celebration went viral and became a GIF on social media.

The celebrations are also never planned, junior forward Shea Rush said.

“It’s all in the moment, whatever feels right for whatever play it was,” Rush said. “You can’t plan it. You’ve just got to let it come to you.”

Everyone has a favorite celebration. Johnson and senior forward Luke Maye favor the 3-point fingers their teammates throw up when they hit a three. Sophomores Sterling Manley and Brandon Huffman like the microphone celebration. When one of their teammates scores while being fouled, Manley will hold up an imaginary microphone to Huffman’s mouth, while he sings.

“And-onnnnnnnnnnnne,” Manley sings for a reporter.

But most players’ favorite celebration is the “towel baby,” because of what it signifies. When is it appropriate to do the towel baby?

“Any time it’s a super-strong move,” Manley said.

The celebration began with Platek, who said he stole it from one of his best friends back home in Albany, New York. Every time his friend would score through contact, he would flex and do a cradle motion like he was rocking a baby.

Platek said he brought it to North Carolina’s bench, hoping it would add a little fun and instill some confidence in his teammates who were on the court.

“If your teammates, if your guys on the bench and the people behind you have your back, that just makes you play so much harder,” he said.

Staff photojournalist Robert Willett contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 4:22 PM.