North Carolina
Wake Forest student Kyan Patel builds business by painting portraits of North Carolina's biggest athletes :: WRALSportsFan.com
“It’s very simple, I’ll draw it out first, kind of get a rough sketch of what it looks like,” Kyan Patel said from a Wake Forest University art studio. “I’ll start from the head and go down and work on every little detail.”
The detail he’s working on right now is getting the color burnt orange correct on a portrait of new Texas receiver Isaiah Bond who transferred from Alabama. Bond is one of many college and pro athletes who have been the subject of a Patel portrait.
“It’s always kind of hard the first time you’re using a specific color the school is known for,” Patel said as he mixed some orange next to his canvas.
Patel is a freshman art and economics major at Wake Forest. He’s on scholarship thanks to his art, a talent that runs in the family.
“My mom was an artist, my grandparents are artists, my mom went to art school in New York,” Patel said. “I kind of always just thought of it as a hobby and a passion that I was naturally good at. When I got to high school I started seeing it as a way to form new opportunities.”
One of those opportunities arose when he helped out his high school friend Andre Greene plan his commitment. Greene was a four star wide receiver prospect with offers from schools like Clemson, Georgia and Oregon. He chose UNC, and a painting by Patel of Greene in a UNC jersey helped him reveal it.
“It was on national news, a lot of attention was brought to it the days after,” Patel said. “That’s kind of where it all blew up from there.”
It didn’t take long for UNC head coach Mack Brown to get word of the creative commitment. He was at St. Christopher’s School three days later. The football coach introduced Patel to Brown. Patel ended up painting a portrait of Brown next.
“He invited me down to North Carolina, took me on a tour of the football stadium… facilities everything like that. So he was super cool, super nice guy,” Patel said. “From there I started to realize I was doing something different. I started doing research and realized there’s not many artists who are painting athletes.”
Patel started direct messaging and emailing hundreds of athletes. Next he painted Clemson running back Will Shipley, then former UNC receiver Josh Downs.
“They would put it on their social media, I would put it on mine,” Patel said. “My social media grew, I got a lot more attention and a lot more athletes started reaching out to me wanting pieces.”
The first dozen or so were free, but now Patel’s work is commissioned by the athlete. He hopes to continue growing the business to a point where he could make two paintings for each athlete, one to keep and one for them to sell and profit legally via NIL.
“Really trying to take advantage of NIL in a way that the athlete is getting paid and I’m also getting paid if we are to sell a piece of the athlete to some college, university or fan,” Patel said.
Social media offered Patel his big break, but make no mistake a lot of time and sacrifice goes into his craft.
“I’m in the studio everyday four hours, I’m always here, you have to be committed, you have to be constantly working,” Patel said.
He’s done portraits for about fifty athletes and counting including UNC’s RJ Davis and Armando Bacot, Duke’s Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor, even NFL receiver Deandre Hopkins. His portfolio is on his website Kyanpatel.com and on his Instagram @Kyanpatel.
“It’s just really cool being able to work with these people I’ve watched my whole life,” Patel said. “Be able to work with, meet them, talk with them. It’s been definitely a really cool experience.”
A man once given the nickname Cardiac Kemba due to his heart-stopping heroics at the University of Connecticut, Kemba Walker is back to breathe life into the 704’s youth basketball community.
The Charlotte Hornets’ legend officially opened the Kemba Walker Sports Academy in Concord, North Carolina this afternoon, a multi-sport facility just north of Charlotte that’s mission is “to provide a safe, fun, and inclusive environment for athletes to learn, grow, excel and compete.”
At a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the 54,000 square foot facility, Walker took some time to answer questions from assembled media about his latest venture that was created with community in mind.
“It’s really bigger than, you know, basketball,” said the Hornets’ all-time leading scorer this afternoon when talking about the academy. “We want the kids to have some discipline and really teach them how to work hard you know? That’s what we’re chasing. We’re chasing something that’s much bigger than the actual sport.”
It’s a bold vision, and one that Walker has dreamed of fulfilling since he was a kid suiting up for his childhood AAU program, the New York Gauchos.
“(The Gauchos’ facility) is probably not quite like this. It’s not as big as this. But that was my safe space, you know? That was the place I was able to go to, to enjoy the game of basketball and meet some of my closest friends that I still have to this day who actually run this place.”
Walker has been a pillar of the grassroots basketball community in Charlotte since he was a baby-faced, 20-something-year-old suiting up for the Bobcats. And even though he spent some time playing elsewhere in his professional basketball career, the four-time All-Star has considered the Queen City his domain since draft night.
“I never left, first of all” said Walker when asked about returning to the Hornets as an assistant coach and being able to now give back to the community that embraced him with open arms when he was drafted in 2011. “Obviously, I went to a couple of different teams and, you know, my path took me to a couple of different places, but I always kept my house here, and my family was always here, and whenever I had time in the summer, something like that, I was always here.”
“But it is amazing to be back. I love Charlotte.”
And Charlotte loves him back.
Walker stamped his name in the franchise record books with a successful career on the court, but he forever endeared himself into the community by embracing the basketball-crazed city he didn’t have a single tie to until he was drafted there.
The Kemba Walker Sports Academy will host its first grassroots basketball event this weekend, the Kemba Walker Invitational, where AAU teams from across the country (including Walker’s own New York Gauchos) will convene in Concord to christen the facility.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Charlotte Hornets
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Home sales in western North Carolina have increased since last year, according to the latest report from a realtor group.
Canopy MLS, a subsidiary of the Canopy Realtor Association, reports that May home sales across the four-county Asheville area (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties) reflected a spring market that remains “active and competitive.”
NETWORKING EVENT FOCUSES ON HELENE RECOVERY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, PLANS MOVING FORWARD
A total of 592 homes closed in May, representing a 6.3 percent increase compared to May 2025 and a 2.1 percent gain over April, the report said. Buyer demand continued to strengthen, with pending sales, a leading indicator of future closings, surging 22.4 percent year over year as 728 properties went under contract during the month.
“The strength of buyer demand in May is encouraging and reflects continued confidence in the Asheville region as a place to live, work and invest,” said Dave Noyes, a Realtor/Designated Managing Broker with eXp Realty and Canopy MLS Board of Director, in a news release. “
ASHEVILLE HOUSING MARKET SHOWS STEADY STRENGTH AS INVENTORY RISES ACROSS REGION
Contract activity also increased 7.1 percent compared to April, signaling that buyers remained engaged despite mortgage rates averaging approximately 6.5 percent throughout May, the report said.
“Buyers are adapting to today’s mortgage rates and taking advantage of the increased inventory we’ve seen over the past year. Although fewer new listings came onto the market in May, homes continue to attract strong interest, which is helping maintain a healthy balance between supply and demand as we head into the summer months,” Noyes said.
While buyer activity increased , new listing activity moderated. Sellers introduced 1,165 homes to the market in May, a 6.7 percent decline compared to the same month last year and a 7.7 percent decrease from April. Even so, the region’s inventory of homes for sale continued to expand, rising 3.2 percent year over year to 3,092 properties at report time. Months of supply, however, declined from six months in May 2025 to 5.4 months this past May, suggesting that the pace of buyer demand is absorbing available inventory faster than new listings are being added.
The report said that although buyers have more choices than a year ago, the market remains relatively balanced, with strong contract activity continuing to support overall sales momentum.
AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Former Madison County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bronis Coy Phillips was processed on Thursday, June 25, in a North Carolina county, according to court documents.
The warrants were served in Avery County on behalf of Madison County. He is now being held without bond, according to the court paperwork.
SBI ARRESTS FORMER MADISON CO. CHIEF DEPUTY FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY INVOLVING INMATES, STAFF
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation announced that Phillips was arrested on June 14 in Maricopa County, Arizona. He’s expected to face charges in N.C., as News 13 previously reported.
According to court records, Phillips faces multiple felony charges, including:
- Furnishing controlled substances to inmates
- Furnishing deadly weapons to inmates
- Involuntary servitude
- Two counts of assault with a firearm on a detention facility employee
COURT RECORDS REVEAL NEW DETAILS IN FORMER MADISON CO. CHIEF DEPUTY ARREST
He was also charged with two misdemeanors:
- Furnishing alcoholic beverages to inmates
- Furnishing tobacco products to inmates
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
The NCSBI said the charges stem from an investigation into alleged criminal activity involving inmates and detention facility staff.
-
New Mexico4 minutes agoNew Mexico AG opens formal probe into claims DEA let fentanyl pills spread statewide
-
North Carolina7 minutes agoKemba Walker Opens Youth-Focused Multi-Sport Facility in Concord, North Carolina
-
North Dakota12 minutes agoBurglars steal from Grand Forks business, cancer fundraiser
-
Ohio19 minutes ago20-year-old Emerson homers in Ohio homecoming
-
Oklahoma22 minutes ago523 animals rescued in SE Oklahoma City meth bust, animal welfare overwhelmed
-
Oregon27 minutes agoThe Cost of the Crackdown: How Trump’s immigration enforcement affects Oregon
-
Pennsylvania34 minutes agoFederal government sues Pennsylvania, others over SNAP data
-
Rhode Island37 minutes agoTarget 12: State of RI’s fire hoses
