UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts calls fervent Smith Center debate ‘a positive’

Before the gaggle of reporters surrounding UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and Board of Trustees Chair Malcolm Turner were dismissed at Thursday morning’s board meeting, Roberts wanted to have a final word.

“Let me say one more thing about the arena while I have you all here,” he said, stepping back with a smile.

There has been plenty of discussion surrounding the potential relocation or renovation of the Dean E. Smith Center this week — and that’s putting it lightly. While Roberts has been adamant that no decision has been made on the future of the arena, he took the time Thursday to illuminate some of the factors the university is weighing in the thought process.

The main questions were as follows:

1) How can UNC win as many basketball games as possible at a time when that’s becoming more expensive for everybody?

2) How can UNC get as many students in the arena and as close to the court as possible?

3) How can UNC improve the basketball fan experience?

“Those are the considerations we’ll be keeping in mind as we try to make the best decision we possibly can about the arena,” Roberts said Thursday.

His comments come at a tense time in the debate over the future of the Smith Center — specifically its location. Monday evening, former head coach Roy Williams weighed in with a video urging UNC leaders to renovate the Dean Dome rather than move off campus. The clip was posted to several newly minted “Smith Center South” social media accounts across platforms. Tuesday, former UNC basketball Tyler Hansbrough posted a similar video. His message was the same: Renovate, don’t relocate.

The full-court press approach from The Committee for the Smith Center Renovation — a group of lifelong UNC basketball fans and donors, one organizer told the N&O — includes a petition on its website: renovatesmithcenter.org. That petition had collected more than 16,800 signatures by midday Thursday.

Wednesday, Roberts asked UNC trustees for $8 million to start Carolina North campus planning. That night, a swarm of students took to the Smith Center risers for North Carolina’s contest against Notre Dame and held up that morning’s edition of The Daily Tar Heel in a quiet protest. The back of the latest print edition displayed an advertisement protesting the relocation of the Dean Dome, complete with an image of Dean Smith at center court.

Hubert Davis was asked about his thoughts on the Smith Center debate after his team’s 91-69 win over the Fighting Irish on Wednesday evening. He expressed his profound appreciation for the Dean Dome — “obviously I love this place” — but did not take a definitive side on the issue.

“This is home to me,” Davis said. “I’ve said this before. This is where I went to school and this is where I played. It’s much more than just basketball for me... but I love the leadership of Chancellor Roberts.”

Thursday morning, Roberts framed the ongoing debate as “a good thing.”

“It’s a positive,” Roberts said. “It shows the commitment of Carolina nation to Tar Heel basketball. I’d be much more worried if people didn’t care.”

He also expressed his respect for Williams and Hansbrough, calling them “two of the biggest names in the history of our program.”

“One has his name on the court, the other has his jersey hanging in the rafters and his name in the record books,” Roberts said. “So their views deserve a lot of weight, perhaps more than most.”

Here’s a breakdown of what Roberts had to say Thursday about the Smith Center decision process:

Remaining elite in today’s college sports landscape

Roberts has been up front about what UNC needs in order to stay elite in today’s professionalized college sports world: revenue.

Beyond paying athletes from department funds — a result of the NCAA v. House settlement in June — the costs of coaches, administrators and running a broad-based athletic program is skyrocketing. For reference, the University of Texas’ athletic department reported spending $375.9 million in operating expenses in fiscal year 2025, Sportico’s Daniel Libit reported Thursday morning. That’s a $50 million jump from the Longhorn’s previous, record-setting year.

“How do we put the most elite team on the court that we possibly can?” Roberts said Thursday. “We can all think of examples of universities that have tremendous history and tradition. Many of them play in fantastic arenas, but they’re no longer considered elite because they didn’t keep pace. They didn’t continue to innovate.”

Proponents of off-campus relocation have touted the revenue-generating potential of a move to Carolina North. Building a new arena would allow, for example, more modern amenities and premium seating.

On the flip side, the group behind the Smith Center South effort has argued on its website that “many schools (Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan State, SMU, Duke) have successfully renovated aging arenas, and Carolina should follow their examples.”

“The top basketball programs in the country all have on-campus facilities,” the website reads, “and most have been renovated at budgets far less than the proposed Carolina North project of more than a billion dollars.”

Improving the student, fan experience

Roberts said Thursday that the UNC basketball program belongs to the students.

“It’s their team,” Roberts said. “It’s what makes college basketball so great. And it also makes it a tough place to play.”

The reputation of the Smith Center as hosting a ‘wine and cheese’ crowd is nothing new. Williams himself lamented — several times, actually — during his tenure as head coach the lack of a consistently loud, boisterous environment at the Dean Dome.

A new venue could unlock more student seating close to the court, creating an atmosphere more similar to Carmichael Arena. That’s due to, in part, many lower bowl seats currently occupied by lifetime ticket holders — whose investment helped build the Smith Center — that could open up due to relocation.

“What helps a competitive advantage in a basketball arena is the students on their feet and hollering,” Roberts said. “Not people like me, chatting to their friends and looking at their phones.”

Roberts also spoke about wanting to improve the fan experience as a whole.

Forty years ago, when the Smith Center opened, there were fewer options for the sports fan in the Triangle, Roberts argued.

“We didn’t have a hockey team in town,” Roberts said. “The Lenovo Center didn’t exist. People didn’t have giant 4k screens in their basements. And so what you’re seeing for similar arenas, similar venues around the country is an effort to try and upgrade and enhance the fan experience.”

The Lenovo Center district is one such example. A $390 million renovation is planned for the arena opened in 1999, including less-congested concourses, improved concession options and new seating options, as the N&O previously reported. Outside the arena, a billion-dollar mixed-use development area is planned that will include an outdoor concert venue, offices and restaurants.

Wake Forest is developing “The Grounds” over the next two years — a 100-acre, $250 million mixed-used development. It’s yet another example of a sports-adjacent model that’s being created in the hopes of amplifying game day experiences and providing a new source for long-term, sustainable revenue.

Roberts has highlighted both as similar projects to what he hopes to develop at Carolina North.

While there’s no final say on the Smith Center’s future, there will be an emphasis on giving fans more reasons to “fight the traffic, deal with the parking, get out of their living rooms and rec rooms to come cheer on the Heels,” said Roberts.

“That’s what we want,” Roberts said. “And those are the considerations that we’ll be keeping in mind as we try to make the best decision that we possibly can about the arena.”

Extra points: Roberts speaks on UNC football, new role with CFP Board

Roberts also spoke Thursday about the state of UNC’s football program and his new role with the College Football Playoff Board of Managers.

After Bill Belichick started the season 2-2, with both early losses coming in blowout fashion to Big 12 teams, Roberts preached patience. At a Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 13, with the team 4-5 at that point, Roberts once again expressed optimism. He said he was “delighted” by all the attention being paid to UNC football.

The Tar Heels capped off the season with three straight losses to in-state opponents. Nearly two months removed from the end of Belichick’s inaugural 4-8 campaign, Roberts said Thursday he feels “great” about the program.

“The intent was to make a long-term commitment to success in football,” Roberts said. “I don’t know who you could point to who’s not making a significant investment in football across the Power 4.”

Roberts named Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Cal, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Duke and Georgia Tech as examples of peer institutions that have ramped up investment in an attempt to “significantly raise their game in football.”

“That’s the environment that we are in, and we’re going to continue to invest in the football program,” Roberts said. “I think you saw a lot of attention being paid to our football program this year, and that’s what we want.”

More attention will be paid to Roberts in the football space, too, as the chancellor has been named to the CFP Board of Managers, the ACC announced Thursday morning. Roberts is replacing Clemson University President Jim Clements, who retired on Dec. 31.

The 11-member board, made up of university presidents and chancellors, oversees the CFP’s business, property and affairs.

“I’m honored to have the chance to represent the ACC,” Roberts said Thursday.

This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 11:53 AM.