UNC's Carter French: The Old-School Walk-on

Photo Courtesy of North Carolina Athletics

As the final out of the 2025 ACC Tournament Championship settled into the back of Tyson Bass’s glove in right, North Carolina left fielder Carter French jogged across the outfield to join his teammate in celebration. For the first time in years, there was no dogpile for the ACC Champions. North Carolina has higher aspirations and more work to do as they look to return to Omaha in back-to-back seasons.

French is no stranger to higher aspirations and more work. The junior outfielder is currently pre-med at UNC with dreams of being a doctor in the future. While handling a heavy academic course load, he’s worked his way up on the field from walk-on to defensive replacement to everyday player– which is very impressive for a young man who had seemingly given up on playing college athletics following his high school graduation.

“I decided that I was done playing sports and I applied to schools for just strictly academics,” French said. “I'd always been doing well in school, so I got into pretty much everywhere I applied to– including North Carolina, which was my dream school from a young age.”

French was a two-sport star at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, winning state championships in both football and baseball. If Jesuit sounds familiar, it should. The entire 2025 Florida State weekend rotation, including projected top five MLB draft pick Jamie Arnold, attended the same school. Miami’s Jake Kulikowski, Pitt’s AJ Nessler, and FSU bullpen ace John Abraham were also teammates alongside French at Jesuit.

While his teammates were receiving division one offers, French was playing wide receiver for the football team, which also won a state championship. Because he wasn’t playing baseball in the fall, many scouts and coaches were unable to see him play. Big-time offers to play baseball didn’t come, so French opted to attend North Carolina and pursue dreams of becoming a doctor.

“I've always wanted to be a doctor and help people,” French explained. “It is the profession that I want to do most.”

When looking at schools, the Tampa native prioritized southern schools with good academics, good culture, and elite athletics. He wanted to leave Florida without getting too far from home, and the school’s success across the board in athletics always made UNC a dream destination. Chapel Hill still fits the southern city aesthetic and culture, which also appealed to Carter.    

After getting into North Carolina on his own and making the decision to attend, French realized that he wasn’t quite done with sports after all. According to UNC head coach Scott Forbes, Carter’s summer ball coach reached out to tell Forbes of French’s talent and ability as a walk-on candidate. French also reached out to see if being a walk-on was a possibility.

“I reached out to Coach Forbes and asked if there was an opportunity for me to potentially have a walk-on spot or at least an opportunity in the fall,” French said. “I was blessed that he gave me that chance. He gave me a locker in the fall and said, ‘I give you no guarantees past that point, but let's see what you got.’ I came in the fall and did well enough to make the team in the spring and the rest is history from there.”

"He's a really tough kid," Forbes said of French. "We talk about this new age, and you've got the transfer portal, and you've got NIL, yet here's a kid that got into UNC on his own because he wanted to be a doctor... literally the old school walk-on." 

French arrived that fall as an undersized,  6’2”, 165 pound freshman that couldn’t bunt or hit for power. Despite that, he made the team and contributed off the bench in each of his first two seasons. As a freshman and a sophomore, French played in 48 games for the Tar Heels while serving primarily as a late-game defensive replacement or a pinch runner. It’s a testament to his work ethic and athleticism that he was able to be a key piece off the bench.

French is no stranger to hard work or being busy. He balances being a starting outfielder on an Omaha aspiring team with an intense undergraduate course load. 

“This year has been harder than the last two years because the courses get harder as you go on,” French said. “For me, that means I have to handle or manage my time a lot better. Instead of one night going out to eat or do something with a bunch of my friends, I've got to make the decision to stay in and study. It's about laying out what I need to do for the week and in my head knowing, ‘okay, I need to find time to get A, B, and C done. How am I going to do that? Does that mean waking up early this day or not going to something or asking the coach if I can leave early to go to an exam or a lab?’ They worked really well with me throughout this year and let me get done what I needed to get done academically. It was difficult but made a lot easier with the help of our academic advisors and our coaches.”

While French has plenty of time to figure out what type of medicine he’d like to specialize in, he did profess a passion for orthopedics and cited a desire to perhaps become an orthopedic surgeon someday. He stressed his athletic background and being around so many teammates who have suffered torn ACLs or a need for Tommy John surgery as the reasoning behind that specialization dream.

For much of the season, Carter had been playing sporadically in a similar role to what he’d been doing over the last few years. But on April 11th, against Wake Forest, French started in left field for the Tar Heels and has been the regular there ever since. Despite slashing just .240/.314/.240, he’s been a critical part of UNC’s team with outstanding defensive play and the ability to get bunts down.

“He's close to tied for second best defender in the outfield, and he's definitely number three,” Forbes said following a win over Wake Forest. “We met as a staff, and he knows the strike zone. He's never scared and he can get the bunts down now. But he's a plus-plus defender.”

Since becoming a regular in left for North Carolina, French and the Tar Heels went 17-4 and captured the ACC Championship. In a crucial regular season series at Florida State, French went 2-for-2 off former teammate Jamie Arnold as UNC won, 11-1. Time and time again he’s made a crucial defensive play or laid down a huge bunt.

“My gosh, he is unbelievable,” teammate Kane Kepley said following a win over NC State on May 8th. “I love having him right beside me. He's so trustworthy, knowing that he can track down balls, and knowing how close he can get to me in the gap when there's a ball in the gap. I love having him in the nine hole too, when he can put some bunts down and get the runners over. He's a great asset to have in the lineup.”

Forbes credited French with his team’s defensive surge. “You see why our defense has been so good, especially since we inserted him. He brings us that toughness, too, so our outfield now has really solidified defensively.”

Between school and baseball, French doesn’t have much time for anything else, which he claims suits him just fine. He believes that staying busy on and off the field benefits both his academics and his time on the field. He’s able to focus on the present and stay in a comfortable routine that sets him up for success. After spending most of his life being in some various sports season while balancing school, baseball at UNC has kept him in a setting he is familiar with as he works towards medical school.

As he approaches his senior year at North Carolina, French will start to look at medical schools in North Carolina and Florida– two places where he qualifies for in-state tuition. Right now, his top three choices for medical school are UNC, the University of Florida, and the University of South Florida. And while being an orthopedic surgeon is the current goal, French acknowledges that a lot can change between now and the end of medical school.

In the meantime, the aspiring doctor affectionately known as “Frenchie” to his teammates has another goal to focus on: winning a National Championship. As for how he feels now that he is finally getting an opportunity everyday? He just stays focused on the here and now while trying not to make a big deal of it.

“It's awesome,” French said. “I'm trying not to make it bigger than what it is. I've been working hard to try and get in the lineup the last three years and I've been sitting behind a lot of very, very good players. I knew last year that it was going to be tough to get into the lineup with the outfield we had, so I was just trying to absorb as much as I could and help in any way I can. And now I've gotten more of an opportunity, but I'm just trying to keep doing what I always do– just stay focused and work hard and good things will happen as long as we're trying to win games. I'm just trying to stay focused on the moment. Whatever game or practice we got today, that's all I'm worried about.”

Carter French and the North Carolina Tar Heels are the 5th overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They host a regional and will play Holy Cross at noon on Friday.