By R.L. Bynum
Coach Courtney Banghart picked up another significant transfer on Monday when former Iowa State guard Lexi Donarski, a former five-star recruit, picked the Tar Heels.
The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season with 32 steals is ranked as the No. 4 player in the portal by 247 Sports and she was considered the best shooter in the portal. She played three seasons with the Cyclones and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
She visited Chapel Hill last Tuesday and Indiana three weeks ago. She began her Iowa State career as a point guard but shifted to the two spot.
Donarski entered the transfer portal on March 27 and is the second player to transfer to UNC after Boston College center Maria Gakdeng. The Tar Heels lost two players to the transfer portal: Kennedy Todd-Williams, who committed to Ole Miss, and Destiny Adams, who will play for Rutgers.
The Cyclones finished 22–10 and won the Big 12 Conference championship, with Donarski averaging 21.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
In three seasons, she scored 196 3-pointers while shooting 36.4% from outside the arc. She shoots right-handed but will also put up shots left-handed on drives.
She shot 86.7% from the free-throw line last season and became the 33rd player in Iowa State history to reach 1,000 points, collecting 1,251 points, 301 rebounds and 203 assists. She scored in double figures 21 times last season, scoring at least 20 points five times with a season-high of 22 against Southern and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
In Carolina’s 73–64 victory in Portland on Nov. 27 of last season over Iowa State, Donarski had six points in 24 minutes before fouling out and was 2 of 7 from the floor and missed all four 3-point attempts. There are a couple of Donarski plays on the above video at 9:43.
Donarski collected 2,106 points in her career at Aquinas High School in Wisconsin, where her team went 107–3 with two state Division 4 titles and made the state championship game four times. She was named McDonald’s All-American, Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year and first-team All-State after her senior season. She was a five-star recruit ranked No. 14 in her class by ESPN.
She committed to Iowa State after her eighth-grade season.
In other program news, the Pennsylvania Sports Writers group named incoming freshman Ciera Toomey the state player of the year and her mother Carrie, Dunmore High School’s coach, the state coach of the year. The team won the school’s first state title in 24 years.
Potential UNC 2024–25 women’s roster
| Year | No. | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | — | Lanie Grant (5 star) | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | — | Blanca Thomas (5 star) | C | 6–5 | |
| Freshman | — | Jordan Zubich (4 star) | G | 5–11 | |
| RS Freshman | 21 | Ciera Toomey | F | 6–4 | |
| RS Freshman | 4 | Laila Hull | W | 6–1 | |
| Sophomore | 10 | Reniya Kelly | PG | 5–7 | |
| Sophomore | 15 | Sydney Barker | PG | 5–6 | |
| RS Junior | 11 | Kayla McPherson | PG | 5–8 | |
| Junior | 24 | Indya Nivar | G | 5–10 | |
| Senior | 5 | Maria Gakdeng | C | 6–3 | |
| Graduate | — | Grace Townsend | G | 5–5 | |
| Graduate | 20 | Lexi Donarski | G | 6–0 | |
| Eligible for fifth season | |||||
| Graduate | 1 | Alyssa Ustby | F | 6–1 |
2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal
| Class | Player | Date entered | Pos. | Hgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | Paulina Paris | March 26 | G | 5–9 | Arizona |
| Graduate | Ali Zelaya | April 1 | F | 6–4 | UNCW |
| Graduate | Anya Poole | April 1 | F | 6–2 | TBA |
| RS junior | Teonni Key | April 2 | F | 6–4 | Kentucky |
| Sophomore | RyLee Grays | April 5 | F | 6–3 | TBA |
| Graduate | Deja Kelly | April 8 | G | 5–8 | TBA |
Photo via @CycloneWBB
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