When Luke Maye announced his decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft process and return to college for his senior season, he wasn’t on UNC’s campus. In fact, he made the social media post on Thursday while 8,000 miles away from Chapel Hill.

Maye traveled to South Africa this month with classmates from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The group’s two-week global immersion program based in Johannesburg and Cape Town consisted of “10-12 hour days filled with company visits, academic sessions, debriefs, and some cultural exploration,” according to the school’s web site.

We will be exploring topics like inclusive business models, social entrepreneurship, grassroots business, social innovation and the role of mobile technology. In the conversations about these topics, leadership will be a recurring theme – business leadership, political leadership, youth leadership and your personal understanding and application of leadership as you go through this immersion.

And there was also basketball.

The group visited the Montana Vikings, a Cape Town organization that aims to help at-risk area youth through the sport of basketball, with Maye coaching and playing with the kids.

"Luke has inspired our players," Montana Vikings coach Craig Daniels told Inside Carolina. "His positive attitude and character really resonated well with our club. Our players are now working out ways to come close to being like Luke and making 500 shots in an hour.

"The positivity of all the UNC students made for encouraging interaction and gave our club a much need shot in the arm, as we commence our basketball season. It reassuring to hear that we are not alone as we develop our life skills teachings in our belief that better people make better basketball players."

Vikings players sent Inside Carolina their reactions to spending a day with Luke Maye and the rest of the UNC group and what they learned from the experience.

“It was a great experience. To play with someone at [Luke's] level. I learned to focus on the small details when I play and to take care of them. Also being a good team player, communicating and doing the little things that make a difference. I also learned that we have to grow team chemistry off the court and not just on it. And just the way the games went, the passion and emotion in them ….. It made me feel like I knew Luke for years” -- Ace Mayi

“It was great having them there and taking time out to with the club. It was an honor sharing the court with Luke and I hope to see him in the NBA soon. It was brilliant meeting them all and learning more about them. I wish them all the best for their future and we look forward to hosting the University of North Carolina again.” -- Chestlyn Petersen

“Playing with Luke Maye, I learned a lot, it was indeed a great experience but most importantly, I learned that being humble takes you far.” -- Xabiso Mthambeka

“It was a good, new experience. On the court, playing with Chris was fun, especially when we played against Luke and Ace. Being able to compete in a fun and enjoyable way. And then off the court. The energy and vibe was just great and the different interactions just made the day a great one. It would be nice to do it again.” -- Adrian Daniels

It's not common for Division I basketball players to find the time for an overseas trip away from their team, let alone players in the middle of the NBA Draft process. But Maye isn't the common player.

“Luke really does take his academics and everything with school (seriously), and because of that he gets opportunities like that through the business school and he thought it’d be a really neat experience,” his father, Mark Maye, told Inside Carolina.

“We talked to him a couple times and he said it’s been a really neat experience to see another part of the world, and different cultures.”

Maye, a business administration major, was named second-team Academic All-America this past season, and received the Skip Prosser Award as the top scholar-athlete in ACC basketball.

The South Africa trip followed Maye's three pre-draft workouts with NBA teams – Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

“They went well, he really enjoyed them,” Mark Maye said. “He had an opportunity to play against some of the best players coming out, go through the interview process and learn the routines.”

Maye is coming off a junior season at UNC in which he was named First Team All-ACC and Third Team All-America, averaging 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. He is one of three starters returning to a 2018-19 Tar Heel team that CBS ranks No. 9 in its Way-Too-Early Top 25.

“He’s got a lot left to accomplish,” Mark Maye said. “He needs to work hard, and I’m sure he will. It was a real disappointment for him the way last year ended – he really thought they had a team that could win it, but they had a bad game at a bad time.

“He’s excited about it, and he knows there are a lot of areas where he can play better. He’s looking forward to it.”