Why Deems May III chose to be a UNC football walk-on over lucrative scholarship offers
Deems May III, a senior athlete at Charlotte’s Myers Park High School, grew up loving the North Carolina Tar Heels.
His father and his grandfather played football in Chapel Hill. His mother was a gymnast there. For the past four years, his sister has played drums in the band. For the past 19, his father has worked on the Tar Heels’ football radio broadcast team.
“I’ve been to almost every home (football) game since I’ve been born,” May said. “It got the point where it was weird seeing the logo on TV for home games because I’m always there.”
But when it came time to pick a college, May had a tough choice to make.
While he was good enough to get opportunities to play football at Butler, Davidson, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, he wasn’t being offered a scholarship by the Tar Heels.
North Carolina coaches did talk to him throughout the season about offering him a Preferred Walk-On, meaning he’d pretty much be guaranteed a spot on the team and at least get to dress for home games. But he would have to pay for his room, board and tuition.
“He thought he had a real shot at playing at Davidson,” said Susan May, Deems’ mother. “We loved the facility and we loved the coaches. It’s a smaller Chapel Hill. But ultimately, Deems decided he wanted a bigger school.”
Former NFL standout cornerback and Myers Park assistant coach Dre Bly, now coaching defensive backs at North Carolina, called May in late January with the PWO offer, just a few days after May had announced his offer to Davidson on social media. National Signing Day was barely a week away.
“I was pretty excited,” May said. “When I got that offer (from North Carolina) that’s how I kind of knew — if I was this excited, this is where I’ll end up. I still had to think about all the pros and cons, but pretty much I just knew.”
.jpg "image002 (1).jpg")
Fast development to college prospect
Growing up, “Little Deems” — as friends and family call him — always dreamed of playing for the Tar Heels, but at least early in his high school football career, it wasn’t apparent that was going to happen.
He certainly had the pedigree: His mother, Susan, walked onto the gymnastics team in Chapel Hill and one year later earned a scholarship. Two of her sisters were Tar Heels: Catherine was a gymnast and cheerleader; Martha was on the diving team. And Susan May’s dad, Abie Williams, was the Tar Heels kicker from 1947-51, playing with Tar Heel legend Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice on a football team that reached the 1950 Cotton Bowl.
Years later, Deems’ father, Deems Jr., played quarterback and tight end for the Tar Heels from 1988-91 before embarking on an eight-year NFL career with the Chargers and Seahawks.
And all Little Deems wanted to do was be like his dad, a former Parade All-American at Lexington High School, and play football in Chapel Hill.
.jpg "image004 (1).jpg")
“When I was real young in high school, freshman and sophomore year,” May III said, “I was thinking maybe I’d have to choose from either going to school there or playing football somewhere else. Junior and senior year, I was thinking maybe I get a chance.”
During his high school career, May moved from tight end to defensive end, and he began to grow, shooting up to 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. By his senior year last fall, he had become one of Myers Park’s best players on defense.
He finished with 58 tackles, 9.5 sacks and 34 quarterback hurries, earning all-conference honors.
“I loved to coach him,” said South Mecklenburg’s Joe Evans, who was a formerly an assistant at Myers Park, “and I hated to coach against him. He is always going to be a problem. He’s just always there. He’s a high-motor guy and he’s never going to be wrong. In high school football, you take advantage of other people’s mistakes, and you knew he was not going to make many.”
What is a ‘PWO’?
The term “PWO” has become popular in high school recruiting these days — because with scholarship limitations, more high school players are being offered them, coaches say.
The PWO athlete has a roster spot guaranteed, but doesn’t count against a school’s scholarship limit. These student-athletes must pay their own way, but sometimes earn playing time and scholarships down the road. NFL stars JJ Watt and Antonio Brown were walk-on players.
And there’s the famous story of UNC basketball coach Roy Williams offering Luke Maye a preferred walk-on when Maye was a senior at Hough High School outside of Charlotte. Maye accepted, but got a scholarship before he arrived on campus after Brandon Ingram chose Duke over North Carolina and Williams had the scholarship to give him.
Why is May different?
Myers Park coach Curtis Fuller thinks Deems May will eventually get a shot to play in Chapel Hill.
“He’s got huge upside,” Fuller said. “You know what his dad looks like. It didn’t surprise me that he took (the UNC offer). That’s where his heart is at. And I think (Tar Heel coaches) can see what he can become. They can see him developing late, like what he did for us towards the end of his junior year. If he can grow into his 6-4 body and put on 30 pounds and be a 250-pound rush end, he’s got a shot.”
Fuller also thinks that given the family’s connections to the team and coaching staff — which cannot comment on May due to NCAA rules — that this PWO is different than most.
“Some people take a PWO,” Fuller said, “and using Michigan as an example. You got there because the graduate assistant or quality control guy convinced (the coaching staff) to get this guy in there. What Deems is walking into is different. It’s a good situation for a PWO.”
Evans, the South Meck coach, agrees. Evans said he used to see a PWO athlete get a scholarship, if one was coming, after his third year in a program. Evans said that’s changing now.
He used his senior star linebacker, Matthew Reddick, as an example. Reddick was offered a PWO by Virginia Tech, but ultimately took an offer from Air Force.
“In the old days, you would have a PWO kid be a three-year walk-on guy,” Evans said, “and you get the video clip of them in their senior year and the coach gives them a scholarship and everybody gets excited. In this climate, a lot of kids are one-year PWOs. Virginia Tech told me that Matthew Reddick was going to be a one-year PWO. So you have these (seniors granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA due to COVID) and after this year, they’re done and now you have a guy who has come in as a PWO, paid his own way, worked hard and maybe you give him a scholarship over an incoming freshman.”
Evans said he can see something like that happening for May.
“He could have gone to other places and been a scholarship guy,” Evans said, “but I can definitely see him as someone who can eventually play up there. He’ll work hard in the weight room and he’ll never have grade problems. He’s a glue guy, and you’ve got to have a ton of those guys.”
Dreams do come true
In high school, Deems May Jr. was a superstar, and he could’ve picked any number of colleges. In most years, his son would’ve had a much bigger selection to choose from, having put up the numbers he did in a city that produces some of the top football talent in the Southeast.
But the past couple of years have been different due to the pandemic.
“I’m pretty proud obviously,” said the older May. “As everybody knows, this ‘22 class has had a rough go. It’s been through the transfer portal and COVID in the spring, and juniors were not getting evaluated early enough, so having the opportunity (to take college visits with his son) was exciting. There’s a lot of great players in Mecklenburg County who haven’t had that opportunity yet and I hope they will get it. We feel very fortunate that he had a couple options and then, of course, me playing for coach (Mack) Brown was pretty cool that he selected North Carolina.”
Deems May Jr. will start his 20th season with the Tar Heels football radio team this season. But one thing will be different: “Little Deems” will not be riding shotgun up I-85 with his dad anymore.
He’ll already be on campus.
“I knew at Davidson, I’d be able to play a lot sooner,” May said. “But it’s just a really small school and growing up at a big high school, I wanted to go to a big college as well. It would be weird going to a college that’s smaller than my own high school. I was ready to get to a bigger school and Chapel Hill felt like home.”
Deems May III bet on himself and his future — and this fall he probably won’t need a map to find his classes.
“I’ve always been a huge fan,” he said. “Now that I’ll be part of the team, it will be really cool. I’ve just go to keep lifting and keep running and keep developing, and the time will come. I just feel like I’ve got a lot more developing left. I’m really excited.
“This has been my dream.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Why Deems May III chose to be a UNC football walk-on over lucrative scholarship offers."
