By R.L. Bynum
With one of the country’s most talented and deep rosters but only so much playing time to go around, UNC coach Courtney Banghart is focused on making her program the best it can be, rather than worrying about who might hit the transfer portal.
In an era when players can leave and immediately play elsewhere, there will invariably be players who are unhappy about playing time. Look across campus, where seven of Coach Hubert Davis’ men’s players moved on after last season.
Banghart said that a player could play 40 minutes a game and still not be happy, so she’s learned to realize that you’ll never be able to keep everybody happy.
“My job is to do what’s right for this program every single day,” she said. “And that doesn’t mean it’s always right for you or for you or for you. But it’s what’s right for this program. And the fact that we have more talent means our practices can be more competitive. It means we’ve got more depth; it means there’s more iron sharpens iron.”
Banghart said there are two choices for a team surrounded by talent: rise to it or fall because of it.
“There’s just nothing else in between,” Banghart said. “So, I’m not going to begrudge if you want to fall from it and go somewhere else. But I’m going to coach you if you want to rise to it.
“The kids that are here have chosen to rise to it,” Banghart said. “We’ll figure out how to make sure that every kid continues to get better, because that’s my job. And then the ones that help us win basketball games at the highest rate in the most efficient way will be the ones to play more.”
Most Carolina fans understood when Destiny Adams transferred to Rutgers to play closer to her New Jersey home. But many were caught off-guard when starter Kennedy Todd-Williams, who once called UNC her dream school, left for Ole Miss.
That wasn’t the case for Banghart, who was confident that both would transfer.
“You’ve been having these conversations throughout the year on how they’re doing and what the fit is and what you’re liking and all that,” Banghart said. “Not super-surprised in either case. Obviously, hoping that their next decision is the right one for them.”
She’s assembled a roster that includes six former five-star recruits, five four-star recruits, three transfers and five freshmen, and is concerned with her team being as successful as possible and reaching its goals.
“We certainly hope they enjoy the experience enough to be a part of this for as long as they want to be,” Banghart said. “But you don’t want kids that don’t want to be here. You can’t coach to that. You can’t worry about the portal. You can use it to your advantage, and you can also coach the team you got, which right now is a team of 15 kids — every single one of them can help us.”
“The portal is an active thing, because it allows you to play with a little bit more maturity,” Banghart said. “Also, it’s their second place, and so it has to work for them. So you get a good opportunity there to fill an exact need.”
The other end of the portal game is different because coaches can’t recruit players until they submit their names into the portal.
Knowing that players can leave for the portal whenever they want, Banghart tells her players that she has to keep up with who is in the portal.
“ ‘What we have to do is we have to go date people in case any of y’all leave, ‘ ” she recounts telling her players. ” ‘So you’re all clear, when you date people, you ultimately might fall in love. That’s actually how it goes. You’re just casually dating and then your next thing you know, you fall in love.’ Well, I fell in love with three kids, so we added them to our program.”
Once Stanford sophomore guard Indya Nivar, Iowa State senior guard Lexi Donarski and Boston College junior center Maria Gakdeng entered the portal, Banghart sprung into action.
“I think if you look at the top teams in the country, a lot of them are going to have at least one transfer because you can really pinpoint what you need,” Banghart said. “And you can finish out your roster with what you need. We knew we needed a defensive mindset. We needed a post game. We needed a guy that could really knock down shots. We needed an elite two-way athlete. We sort of got that in those three positions that we picked up.”
Banghart didn’t need much scouting to determine that she’d love to welcome Gakdeng to Chapel Hill. She saw her block plenty of shots when the Tar Heels played BC.
“We recruited her the first time, so it was basically between us and Boston College and, and once she went in the portal, I was like, ‘remember me?’ I think that was my first text to her,” Banghart said. “I’ll never forget when the day she committed, and I was just like, oh my gosh, I’m so happy. She’s so lovable. I mean, the team loves her. She is so long. It’s ridiculous. I mean, she has great extension. She got a really soft touch. She’s incredibly coachable. I think she’s already making strides to be a little more skilled.”
Another player who Banghart recruited out of high school was Nivar, who played at Apex Friendship High School.
After Nivar committed to UNC a year after picking Stanford out of high school, Banghart wondered why she didn’t pick the Tar Heels the first time.
Read about UNC’s freshmen
Five-star forward Ciera Toomey
— Big-time UNC recruit Toomey’s love for Carolina, the state stoked years ago during Pinehurst golf trip
— Five-star UNC recruit Toomey leads team to state title 10 months after ACL surgery
Four-star point guard Reniya Kelly
— Dynamic UNC guard recruit Reniya Kelly won first of four state titles at age 12; at 7, ‘Broadway’ wanted to be great
Four-star forward RyLee Grays
— Funny off court, intense on court, 4-star Grays will give UNC versatile skills for 6–3 player
Indiana Miss Basketball wing Laila Hull
— Hull, a sharpshooting, versatile wing, has expanded, refined her game after talent was evident at an early age
Walk-on guard Sydney Barker
— Barker walking on at UNC to follow dream
“She had a really poignant answer,” Banghart said. “She said she didn’t know we’d get good so fast. She brings such athleticism. She’s one of our most explosive and powerful athletes. She’s great on the glass. And she is thrilled to be back home. When her name went in, I was like, ‘we’re gonna get her.’ I think that recruitment took a day.”
Banghart got excited when Donarski went into the portal. But she had never recruited or spoken to her, although she faced her at the PK Invitational in Portland last season.
Donarski’s family asked that Banghart, as well as the other schools, send her recordings of three games so that they could understand the style of the various teams.
“I told our guys that because of how they competed and your style of play and the energy that we brought to games, it was what gave us a chance to get someone like Lexi,” Banghart said. “Our product did the sell. It’s been really fun coaching her. She’s incredibly competitive. She’s probably as fast with her hands up as she is when she’s running. She plays with great length, moves her feet laterally really well and is just incredibly competitive. And then she’s just a great shooter. We really needed that to stretch out our offense a bit.”
We’re a few months away from the season to see how all of these Tar Heels rise up.
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| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at No. 22 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Projected roster if all players with eligibility other than Elina Aarnisalo, Lanie Grant,, Taliyah Henderson and Liza Ashtakhova and Liza Ashtakhova return, with years listed for next season (UNC is one below the 15-player limit)
| Year | No./ Stars | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | 5 star | Kate Harpring | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | 52/4 star | Noelle Bofia | F | 6–4 | |
| Sophomore | 3 | Gabby White — W | G | 5–10 | |
| Sophomore | 7 | Nyla Brooks | W | 6–1 | |
| Sophomore | 26 | Taissa Queiroz | G | 6–1 | |
| Junior | 34 | Blanca Thomas | C | 6–5 | |
| Junior | 1 | Jordan Zubich | G | 5–11 | |
| RS junior | 21 | Ciera Toomey | F | 6–4 | |
| RS junior | 4 | Laila Hull | W | 6–1 | |
| Senior | Sophie Burrows — X | G | 6–2 | ||
| Senior | 11 | Achol Akot — Y | F | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 10 | Reniya Kelly | G | 5–7 | |
| Senior | 15 | Sydney Barker | G | 5–6 | |
| Graduate | 13 | Chloe Clardy — Z | G | 5–9 |
W — Virginia transfer; X — Syracuse transfer; Y — Oklahoma State transfer; Z — Stanford transfer
Former players who entered transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elina Aarnisalo | Junior | G | 5–10 | UCLA |
| Lanie Grant | Junior | G | 5–9 | TCU |
| Taliyah Henderson | Sophomore | W | 6–1 | Clemson |
| Liza Astakhova | Sophomore | G | 6–2 | BYU |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
