CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Owen Hull is a renaissance man. He’s an ice cream connoisseur, finding joy in classic vanilla with frozen gummy bears from YoPo. He’s seen Remember the Titans over 10 times—he hails from Alexandria, Va. after all. He can juggle. He’s a black belt in Taekwondo and, according to himself, he could take on at least six assailants on Franklin Street if need be. 



But above all, he loves baseball and he loves his mantras. 



Resting on the shoulders of the 6-4 junior transfer from George Mason is the mantle of UNC’s center field; a position filled the last few seasons by two Carolina greats: Vance Honeycutt and Kane Kepley. 



But Hull doesn’t feel pressure in the traditional way. He leans on his mantras to help him there. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pressure-is-privilege">Pressure is Privilege  </h2>



“There’s definitely big shoes to fill,” Hull said. “But pressure is privilege. So honestly, I’m trying to kind of put my head down and work and practicing as hard as I can, because it’ll take care of itself in the game.” 



Kepley and Hull had an unseen battle going on between them last year. The two waffled atop the Division I stolen bases leaderboard, their positions switching per weekend. Hull had more after the Patriot League’s regular season came to a close but Kepley and the Tar Heels played well into late May, giving Kane a three-bag edge. 



Funny enough, Kepley helped Hull find a literal home in Chapel Hill. He also gave Hull advice and connection on the decision to transfer from a smaller school to the ACC powerhouse Tar Heels. 



“It was a tough decision, because I was a draft eligible sophomore and I just wanted to try to be the best player I can be,” Hull said.



He loved George Mason, and leaving—whether to the MLB Draft or to another school—was a difficult fork in the road to navigate. 



It was Carolina head coach Scott Forbes that convinced the Virginian to try his bat in Tar Heel blue. He was the last commit for UNC’s transfer class. 



Hull for one, and Forbes for two, are happy with his decision. 



“I immediately called my mom and dad,” Hull said. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-culture">The Culture </h2>



Leaving George Mason was like a literal break-up, both sides were sad, but one acknowledged that it was time for the other to move on. 



“I had a bond there, and we had such a great season last year and it was hard to go face-to-face and tell coach [Shawn Camp] ‘thank you for everything, but I have to go’. I still remember to this day, he wasn’t very happy, but I had to do what I had to do.”



What attracted Hull to both the Patriots and the Tar Heels was the culture around each program.



At George Mason, it was the relentless and gritty approach that Camp preached, and at UNC it was the team chemistry, development and competition threshold.



Hull is bringing the blue-collar mentality from the Patriots to Boshamer Stadium, which fits well into the Nick Saban-inspired mentality that oozes through the UNC clubhouse. 



Forbes and Hull connected on their commitment not to the name on the back of the jersey but to the one on the front. The Forbesism, “who you are is more important than what you do,” was the line that popped out to Hull so much that it’s now on his phone. 



“So, it’s about the character, what you do is of course great, you can hit plenty of home runs, but it matters about who you are,” he said. “And I think that’s something that really struck me”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="538" src="https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull-1024x538.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3814563" srcset="https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull-300x158.jpg 300w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull-768x403.jpg 768w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull-50x26.jpg 50w, https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/07/11173711/0C1A1277-owen-hull.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Owen Hull (Jim Hawkins/Inside Carolina)</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smooth-as-fast">Smooth as Fast </h2>



In high school Hull played as many sports as time allows in the day. His parents shuffled him from baseball, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, soccer and his black belt in Taekwondo. By sophomore year of high school at Bishop Ireton, Hull could dunk a basketball and led the Cardinal in on base percentage, runs and RBIs, among others. Senior year, he slashed .387/.467/.516 and picked up WCAC All-Conference First Team and All-MCBL First Team honors.



But by the time he got to George Mason his freshman year, he found himself on the bench only logging a mere 22 at bats.



The Virginian traveled down to South Carolina for collegiate summer ball, suiting up in bright pink for the Florence Flamingos. 



“I really found my love for the game of baseball again, and it’s been… it’s been amazing ever since,” he said. “Every day I’m out there, no days off. And that’s something they love [at UNC], no days off.”



His love for the game has been paying off. He doesn’t seem to take any time off, like a shark who can’t stop moving. 



Hull calls his brand of baseball “controlled aggression”. If he sees any advantage, he will try to exploit the opponents’ weaknesses.



This offseason in particular he’s worked with the UNC coaching staff on his routes in the outfield, which can at times get scenic. Forbes pointed out that Hull’s tool kit may be somewhat of a combination between those UNC centerfield greats Honeycutt and Kepley. 



“That elite speed, and he can steal bases, he can bunt,” Forbes said. “He also fits that profile with Kepley, advance with that elite speed, closing speed, where if he does make a mistake, he can catch up for it with his speed. 



“He’s the fastest player on our team. Really big draft prospect as well. You know, I’m hoping for him he puts together a great year.”



Hull is working to live up to the UNC centerfield expectations and enhance his power by fine-tuning his mechanics to be more “effortless” at the plate. 



“I try to keep it simple at the plate,” he said. “That’s my biggest thing. My thing is as smooth as fast, another mantra.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-riding-the-wave">Riding the Wave </h2>



Baseball’s penchant for handing its greatest acolytes a steaming pile of failure is one of the reasons that Hull loves the game. 



He calls it “riding the wave”, others may call it “controlling the controllables” but it’s the Sisyphean promise that no matter how much work is put in, failure is inevitable. 



 “I really find my love for the game of baseball, because no matter how hard you work and how long you hit or how long you work on your defense, you never know what you’re going to get in the game,” Hull said. “Either you’re going to have a good game or bad game but you never know.”



Hull knows the year is going to be difficult, ACC play is not a cake walk, but he’s ready to bring his tools, mantras and grit to each game—and maybe grab some YoPo after.

0C1A0039-owen hull

Inside Carolina Baseball

Inside Carolina

Pressure Is Privilege: Owen Hull Steps Into UNC’s Center Field

team image

Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina

Organization Logo

The Tar Pit Premium

News

Lobby

UNC Basketball Premium

The Diamond Heels

UNC Women's Basketball

UNC Olympic Sports

Ticket Exchange - Premium

Forums

News Feed

Roster

Schedule

Transfer Portal Ranking

Transfer Portal

North Carolina Draft History

[site-team] Draft History

Football

Search

Commitments

Transfers

Team Rankings

Player Rankings

Industry Comparison

Offers

Visits

Recruiting Prediction Machine

FB Recruiting

Basketball

BB Recruiting

About

Contact

Inside Carolina On3+ Subscription

[site-name] On3+ Subscription

YouTube

Podcasts and Shows

JBC Fund

Johnny T-shirt

10% Discount

Team Store

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Message Boards

Transfer Portal {{ hot }}

Transfer Portal Player Rankings

MegaBoard

Rivals300

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Winback

Inside project costs

Smith Center Renovation

Wants to stay in Smith Center

Roy Speaks Out

Time is now to fix UNC defense

'This Has to Change'

Post-portal window

State of QB Room

Announcement postponed for UNC target

Mingo Pushes it Back

Enters the transfer portal

Cooper Barkate