Seth Trimble sent a teacher a motivational video, and the response stunned him

Seth Trimble is a man of many talents, not only an indispensable and versatile four-year basketball player at North Carolina but a Franklin Street business owner with a record of commitment to service to the Chapel Hill community and beyond.

His focus, in the latter, is often supporting teachers and their students, an interest sparked when he mentored a second-grader as a high-school senior outside Milwaukee. Since then, he has recorded about a dozen short motivational videos for classrooms and schools, some in the area, some far outside.

The one he recorded for a teacher in Watertown, N.Y. — in the heart of Syracuse basketball country — will stick with him for a long time, and not because of anything he said.

He recorded it last November for Alicia Thomas, a physical-education teacher at H.T. Wiley Intermediate, a UNC fan despite spending her whole life in upstate New York. She had met Trimble’s parents in a chance encounter outside the JMA Wireless Dome after the Tar Heels played at Syracuse his freshman year and kept in touch with the family. Trimble’s message to her students was earnest and uncomplicated.

Trimble, wearing a Jumpman UNC hoodie and standing outside on a sunny day on campus, speaks directly into the camera:

“Coach Thomas, what’s up, I hope you’re doing well. Coach Thomas and you kids in the classroom at the Wiley School, I hope you guys are doing great. I just want to motivate you guys to keep going, keep up your grades in the classroom, to not be afraid to say ‘no’ and just stay focused. I promise if you guys stay focused and chase your dreams each and every day, that you guys will live the life that you want to live. So just keep going, and continue to be great. Appreciate y’all and go Heels!”

And that’s that: 27 seconds in total. Thomas often uses Trimble as an example for her students, on the video displays the kids see before gym class that have inspirational sayings, lessons on tips and techniques and outlines of the day’s activities, so her pupils were well aware of her fondness for the UNC guard. They still weren’t expecting a personal message from him.

“They didn’t believe me,” Thomas said. “They said, ‘Nah coach, no way.’ So I played the video, and when they heard him say my name and the school’s name, the whole class just erupted. I was the cool one that day.”

A versatile player

And then Trimble went back to the business of being a basketball player, although that’s hardly how he would describe himself. He was a North Carolina fan long before he ever arrived on campus as a player, as the younger half-brother of former UNC player J.P. Tokoto, nor has he ever seriously considered leaving — even while briefly in the transfer portal after his sophomore season, even after falling out of the starting lineup last season while struggling to recover from a concussion.

Trimble had spent his first two years as an impact player off the bench, because of his ability to defend and play multiple positions, and he resumed that role without complaint as North Carolina desperately made its case for an NCAA tournament berth. The Tar Heels’ eventual First Four win in Dayton over San Diego State earned him the right to finally play at home, in Milwaukee, where he grew up going to Bucks games.

The first-round loss to Mississippi’s army of ACC transfers at Fiserv Forum ushered in an offseason of tremendous change at North Carolina, with nine new players, but Trimble remains the constant, relied upon more than ever before as a leader, a role he was happy to embrace.

“One of the things that’s really important to Seth is not only for Carolina to be good, but to be good when he leaves,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “This place means something to him. The way that he leads and the way that he carries himself every day puts our program in a position to be successful.”

Trimble also purchased the Ben & Jerry’s franchise on Franklin Street, a very 2025 decision for a college athlete, in part because he and his family have put down such deep roots in Chapel Hill. (“I didn’t believe it,” Davis said. “I thought it was ChatGPT or something.”) That can put a basketball player in some difficult positions, like when Trimble appeared at a UNC media availability the same day co-founder Jerry Greenfield left the company.

“I’m glad nobody asked about that,” Trimble said. “I would have frozen.”

And who’s going to get the call if the cooler breaks in the middle of the night?

“I think my dad can handle that,” Trimble said.

Giving back to Chapel Hill

North Carolina also had an internal debate in May about whether it could use Trimble’s photo to promote the announcement of a nonconference game, long after Trimble had committed to return for his senior year, because it needed Trimble’s approval to use his image — also a very 2025 issue for a college athlete.

Only a few weeks after that, the basketball team’s official account posted a photo of Trimble reading to a class and handing out cookies with the UNC logo to students at a Chapel Hill elementary school, very much in character for Trimble, who also helps organize the players’ efforts at the Hargraves Community Center and Boys and Girls Club in Chapel Hill.

“Backpack drives, back to school drives, just going to have a pizza party with the kids,” Trimble said. “We stop by there on Valentine’s Day. It means so much to me, because this is a community that invests in me so much, that puts their faith in me and shows that they love me. So it only feels right for me to give back.”

Giving back doesn’t always have a payback — nor should it, done selflessly — but Trimble did get an unexpected reward for the video he sent to Thomas, the Watertown teacher. She recorded a video of her own, with a few guest stars, and sent it to Trimble a month later.

In the video, Thomas, in her office with a framed Trimble jersey on the wall in the background, speaks to the camera as she describes how she used the video as a teaching tool and how shocked the kids were to hear Trimble say her name and the name of the school. Then she builds to the big finish.

“Thank you so much for taking time out to make them feel special,” Thomas says. “Go Heels, and they also have a message to you.”

The video then cuts to an overhead shot of the Wiley gymnasium with 500-some 5th and 6th graders packed inside. In unison, they all say, “Thanks Seth! Go Heels!”

Watching it again, months later, Trimble is still taken aback by the reaction.

“It looks like the whole school,” Trimble said. “It may not be, but that’s what it looks like.”

‘It really means a lot to me’

Thomas said she hasn’t had much luck converting the Syracuse fans into North Carolina fans, but she won’t stop trying. Since meeting Trimble’s parents, she’s visited Chapel Hill for a behind-the-scenes tour of the campus and is planning to attend the Tar Heels’ visit to Syracuse on Feb. 21 with her 10-year-old nephew, who she has converted into a UNC fan.

Her friendship with Trimble and his family has had an impact that far exceeds the personal. It has radiated out through an entire community.

“We’re a small town,” Thomas said. “Our kids don’t often get that kind of attention from big-time athletes. To have someone like Seth send them a message, it meant the world to them. It sparked real conversations about hard work, discipline and chasing after their dreams. It helped them understand their dreams are attainable. These are the kind of athletes we want our students to look up to, not just talent but character, and Seth represents that.”

That’s also what Trimble wants to be: More than a basketball star, more than an entrepreneur, more than a motivational speaker. Staying at North Carolina for his entire career has allowed him to flourish in ways he never expected, with time still to run.

“I’ve just been able to grow as a man,” Trimble said. “I mean, forget basketball. The young man I became here, the lessons I’ve learned, all the experiences I’ve been able to have, the connections I’ve built — you can’t get all these things anywhere else. It really means a lot to me.”

It doesn’t take a gym full of kids saying his name to remind him of that. But it doesn’t hurt either.

Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at www.newsobserver.com/newsletters to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.

This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 7:00 AM.

Luke DeCock

The News & Observer

Luke DeCock is a former journalist for the News & Observer.