What is does it mean to be a North Carolina Tar Heel basketball player? What does Tar heels mean? The Answer: The University … Tar Heel definition is - a native or resident of North Carolina —used as a nickname. A cheap source of pine tar was the American colonies. Answer Save. The North Carolina Tar Heels are back in the NCAA basketball national championship game, this time playing fellow No. Tar Heel State. What does it mean? 1 Answer. Describing battle actions from a month earlier, Sgt. Anonymous. During the 18th century, the British Navy needed pine tar to coat the hulls of their ships to protect them from worms and rot. This was an action, Hancock wrote, “we Tar Heels, or a large majority of us, do most heartily commend.” And by 1912, it was a term of clear identification‑ recognized outside the state. The “Tar” is most certainly unique—no other institution of higher learning has adopted it as its mascot. The origin of this nickname is mysterious, though most historians agree that the name derives from North Carolina's long history as a producer of naval stores--tar, pitch, rosin and turpentine--all of which were culled from the State's extensive pine forests. Favorite Answer. North Carolina is known by numerous nicknames, one of which is the “Tar Heel State.” The origin of the nickname remains a mystery, and many theories have come up over the years attempting to solve the mystery. Relevance. In this week’s episode, Neil sits down with two former North Carolina Tar heel ba… By joining my email list … 1 seed Gonzaga Monday night for the title. Most of the theories are based on North Carolina’s participation during the Civil War while one theory links the nickname to the state’s historic prominence in tar production. A dozen protesters stood outside the administrative building at UNC-Chapel Hill on Tuesday afternoon arguing against the name of the university's athletic teams, "Tar Heels… But what exactly is a Tar Heel … The Question: The state of North Carolina is nicknamed “The Tar Heel State.“ Where did this nickname originate? 1 decade ago. On June 2, 1863, an article in the semi-weekly Raleigh newspaper the North Carolina Standard, the nickname “Tar Heel” appeared—one of the first known uses in print. What is does it mean to be a North Carolina Tar Heel basketball player?