PHILADELPHIA — After giving North Carolina six points and a whole lot of hustle off the bench in the team’s 88-74 East Regional Final against Notre Dame, Theo Pinson finally earned a spot at the press conference — nametag and all.
Saturday afternoon, Pinson crashed the starting five’s press conference, earning his place in the viral newscycle as he strode across the stage asking where his chair and nametag were placed.
Sunday night, UNC’s larger-than-life sophomore was all smiles as he was invited to walk across the dais to his seat next to coach Roy Williams.
Theo Pinson has a spot at the presser table. Brice shouting down the hallway: I CANT BELIEVE THEO GOT A SPOT BY CRASHING A PRESS CONFERENCE
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) March 28, 2016
Before he sat down, he held his phone up high, nearly touching the lights positioned to shine on the foursome and took a selfie.
Look for me on Theo’s snapchat later: pic.twitter.com/9WSbYlAjGN
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) March 28, 2016
Once he sat down, Pinson wasn’t done documenting the occasion quite yet, pausing to take a couple selfies with Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson.
Coach Roy Williams even joined in with the jokester, switching his and Pinson’s name plates while Pinson nearly took a sip of his coach’s water and then snapped a photo of his coach making his opening statement.
Theo accidentally almost steals a sip of RoyW’s drink and then switches their name tags pic.twitter.com/EIZxvCALa5
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) March 28, 2016
“We invited Theo because we knew he was going to invite himself,” Williams said. “So we might as well make it legit and let him come.”
It took a couple minutes for a question to be directed Pinson’s way, but once Brett Friedlander of the Wilmington Star News shot one his way, Pinson grabbed the microphone with both hands and was ready to roll.
Pinson, who played 23 minutes in Sunday’s win, answered a couple questions, but his enthusiasm dwindled as the conference went on and the questions continued to come.
The Greensboro native said he’d be ok if he wasn’t invited to another press conference — he’d just crash it again.
When his time was finally up, Pinson grabbed his paper nameplate from Williams, promising to hang it on his dorm room door.
Update: Theo took his name card with him as a souvenir.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 28, 2016