News-Record.com

Anyone who listened to Rock 93 radio last week heard ACC Commissioner John Swofford reveal a piece of trivia about himself.

In 1969, while a sophomore at North Carolina, he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. The talk show host, who did his show from New York, often asked dignitaries and celebrities in the audience to stand and be recognized.

He called on Swofford as the starting quarterback of the UNC Tar Heel football team.

Well, actually there was another reason. One of Sullivan’s guest performers that night was a singer named "Oliver," one of the first celebrities to use a single name. Oliver’s full name was Bill Oliver Swofford. He was John’s older brother.

Oliver, who died in 1999, was like his brother, a Morehead Scholar at UNC. He was also a sprinter on the track team. He went to New York after graduation to study for a master’s in broadcasting at Brooklyn College. There, the musical talent he demonstrated starting in about the 7th grade back in Wilkes County, thrust him to stardom.

He recorded two hit songs, “Good Morning Starshine" and "Gene," still heard today on golden oldie stations.

In an interview during half-time of the Saturday Duke-Maryland game in the ACC women's tournament, John Swofford recalled the thought of taking a bow on national television wasn't what made him nervous.

It was the apprenhension he felt in approaching his football coach, Bill Dooley, for permission during the season to go to New York.

He figured the coach would say no way.

But Dooley's face lit up.

“That’s national TV exposure for us,” he declared. “It will be great for recruiting.”

Swofford says he can’t remember any future UNC football recruits ever citing his appearance on the Sullivan show as why they chose UNC.