Daniel Bolick, aka the Yellow Mamba, swiftly runs down the court wearing his Carolina Blue Swag. This awesome walk-on basketball player not only plays for the UNC basketball team, but he shines throughout campus. In addition to being a student athlete, Daniel is dedicated to many other organizations on campus. He is a crucial member of Blue Steel, which was recently mentioned in an article published on ESPN.com. If you spend more than five minutes around Daniel, you are sure to fall head over heels for this campus celebrity.
HC: Why did you choose to come to Carolina?
Daniel: Well, for three reasons – Carolina has the prettiest girls in the southeast, great academics and basketball.
HC: What are you going to miss the most about UNC after graduation?
Daniel: Probably physically being on our campus, especially the pit. Also, I am going to miss all the friends that I have met throughout the years.
HC: How did you guys come up with the idea behind Blue Steel?
Daniel: In the beginning of the season, Coach Williams was still calling us the “JV guys” or the “parenthesis” because on the practice plan the walk-ons names were in parenthesis. One day, we all looked at each other and decided we were over it. So, at practice we were talking about names we could be called. We started talking about the movie, Zoolander, and Blue Steel got thrown out. By the end of the week, Coach Williams started calling us Blue Steel and it stuck.
HC: Why do you think Twitter was so successful for the team?
Daniel: First, it was successful because we were winning games. Also, nearly every one of our scholarship players is an active Tweeter. We wanted to join in, but we wanted Blue Steel to stick out. Blue Steel Twitter took a different aspect, we didn’t tweet normal stuff, we tried to tweet funny stuff from a walk-ons perspective.
HC: Who runs the Twitter account?
Daniel: We all do it — we all talk about what we should Tweet about and then one of us Tweets it. There have been a couple of times where I have been censored and I tweeted without consensus so I was banned for a little while. Our MVT (most valuable Tweeter) probably goes to DJ Johnson though. He Tweets most of the time.
HC: What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever tweeted?
Daniel: Definitely our “Day light savings Tweet.” Right before the Carolina/Duke ACC championship game in the tournament, we Tweeted “I’m sure Duke lost at least an hour of sleep over having to face Real Blue Steel today #daylightsavingjoke”
HC: What did you guys do with the funds raised from the Blue Steel T-shirts?
Daniel: We donated them to Camp Kesem. According to NCAA rules, athletes aren’t allowed to make profits, so we wanted to donate it somewhere and we thought Camp Kesem was the most deserving charity.
HC: How did you get the Yellow Mamba nickname?
Daniel: Well, Kobe Bryant’s nickname is Black Mamba, and I am Asian, so I became the Yellow Mamba.
HC: Any advice for prospective basketball walk-ons?
Daniel: Don’t ever give up on your dream. Also, work hard over the summer.
HC: What is the funniest thing that happened this season?
Daniel: Blue Steel got 3,000 sticky notes one night over winter break when nobody was in town. We decided to play a little joke on John Henson, so we sticky noted his car. Henson retaliated and saran wrapped DJ Johnson’s car.
HC: Do you have a pregame ritual?
Daniel: Yeah, usually Blue Steel will go lift in the weight room before, so we looked jacked during warm-ups. Then I usually play ping-pong…and I’m obviously the best because I am Asian, so I beat everyone. Then, I chill with the fellas and go warm-up.
HC: What are your plans for next year?
Daniel: I am actually in the process for applying for two additional semesters at Carolina. I am waiting to hear back to see if I will be granted another year of undergrad. If not, I am going to try to get into coaching or maybe playing basketball overseas.
Everyone follow our campus celebrity on Twitter @yellow_mamba_