New Montross award, honoree represent legacies of service
The late Tylee Craft, Tar Heel wide receiver and advocate for lung cancer awareness, received the first Eric Montross Public Service Award.
Press play above to watch a video about Tylee Craft and the Eric Montross Public Service Award
In many ways, the Carolina Center for Public Service couldn’t have presented the first Eric Montross Public Service Award to a more appropriate recipient. Poignantly, like the award’s namesake, honoree Tylee Craft also died of cancer. But both college athletes shared more than a fatal illness; they were also tireless patient advocates, raising awareness and funds to fight cancer and help patients.
“Eric was a leader, a role model and a champion for service,” said Lynn Blanchard, Carolina Center for Public Service director, at the April 16 awards presentation. “His kindness, generosity and dedication to making a difference are the heart of this award.”
The award
The Montross award will be given annually to a student-athlete who exemplified outstanding engagement and service to the state through a specific effort.
Montross ’94 was a 7-foot All-American center on the 1993 National Championship Tar Heel team. He went on to play for six NBA teams before returning to Chapel Hill to be the color commentator for the Tar Heel Sports Network for 18 years.
He supported UNC Children’s Hospital through his annual Father’s Day basketball camp. The camp raised more than $1 million, funding the creation of a teen room and rooftop garden for pediatric patients. Montross died in December 2023 at age 52.
His wife, Laura Montross, and daughter Sarah Montross thanked the center for naming the award for him. “He made an impact on UNC and the Chapel Hill community well beyond his time on the basketball court as he dedicated his life to serving others and making a difference in their lives,” Laura Montross said.
The recipient
When looking for another student-athlete who embodied those values, the center found its hero on the football field. Craft played only two seasons as a Tar Heel before being diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, already at Stage 4.
“Tylee’s story is one of strength, selflessness and unwavering commitment to others,” Blanchard said. After his diagnosis, “rather than retreating, Tylee fought, not just for himself, but for others.”
While being treated for cancer, Craft continued his studies so he could graduate in 2024 and supported his football teammates as a student coach. But he also became involved in several cancer-related initiatives, especially the White Ribbon Project, which raises awareness about lung cancer. He crafted, sanded, painted and signed white ribbons for patients and helped bring the national White Ribbon Relay to Carolina.
Craft worked with other organizations such as Team Draft, LiveLung and the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative and volunteered at UNC Children’s Hospital, inspiring patients and their families. He died Oct. 12, 2024 —a football Saturday — at age 23.
Craft’s mother, deputy sheriff September Craft, accepted the honor on her son’s behalf, six months after his death.
“He lived 23 years, and he has done more than what an 80-year-old has done in a lifetime,” September Craft said. “He touched so many people that I had never met.”
Recently on the job, she met a firefighter who had been one of her son’s high school classmates, a young woman who had attempted suicide. Tylee Craft had counseled her, and his words made such an impact that “she changed her life around.” She sent him a text message hours before he died to tell him she was thinking of him.
After telling her story, the firefighter then showed September Craft the tattoo on the inside of her wrist — No. 13, Craft’s jersey number. The firefighter and deputy cried together in the street.
“Stuff like this always makes me feel like he did what he was supposed to do,” September Craft said.
