Aaron Beard has worked for The Associated Press since August 2000. His primary duties involve coverage of North Carolina's four Atlantic Coast Conference schools: UNC, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest. Since joining the AP's Raleigh bureau, Aaron has covered the Tar Heels (2009, 2017) and Blue Devils (2015) in NCAA title-clinching wins, six Final Fours, the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run in 2006, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and was the lead reporter on the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case in 2006 and 2007. His hometown is Concord, N.C.