By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — What’s best for a player in the short term may not be best for the current team, but the latter has always been the priority in Coach Courtney Banghart’s UNC women’s basketball program.

This played out two seasons ago when two highly touted freshmen — guard Kayla McPherson and forward Teonni Key — redshirted their first season in Chapel Hill while recovering from right ACL tears. McPherson also missed the first 20 games of last season, and Key sat out the first two.

Carolina faces back to a similar situation this season.

This time, those highly recruited freshmen are five-star stretch four Ciera Toomey (second from left, 21, in top photo), the No. 4-ranked player in the Class of 2023, and wing Laila Hull (middle, 4, in top photo), the Indiana Player of the Year. Both got hurt after arriving in Chapel Hill.

“It’s never easy when a kid redshirts because you’re delaying what you’re excited about,” Banghart said. “We’ve been recruiting these kids for a long time. And so you have your timeline of, ‘I finally get to coach them.’ “

Toomey led her Dunmore High School team to the Pennsylvania Class 3A state title 10 months after surgery on her right ACL. She felt pain in that knee this summer, though, and had July surgery to repair a torn right meniscus.

“When it finally came down to it, she said ‘it’s not about playing for four years, I want to be great for four years,’ ” Banghart said of Toomey. “We have a lot of talented pieces, so the rush is not real. Laila, same deal. She wants to come in and contribute. So it’s never an easy decision, even when it’s the right one.”

Hull, a right-handed shooter, had nagging issues with her right shoulder during her senior high school season but played through them. She tore her right labrum this summer, prompting surgery.

“It was very sad. But it gives me an opportunity to get better,” Hull said.

While Hull practiced with the team Thursday, Toomey was off to the side working with a medicine ball. Since shooting would be a problem in a game, Hull and the staff thought the best path would be to redshirt.

“It says a lot about them that they had two very talented players, but instead of risking their health to produce a good team — and they have an amazing team — they really wanted to focus on our health and make sure that we are bigger and stronger,” Hull said.

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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

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One day last summer, Toomey woke up with pain in her knee and asked the athletic training staff to check it out. What happened from there has impressed the future Tar Heels star.

“That just goes to show that they really do care about us as a person,” said Toomey, who expects to be able to practice with the team by January. “Obviously they want us to be out there and be playing. But [Banghart] wants full Ciera. She doesn’t just want post-surgery just coming back as fast as I could Ciera. She wants 110%, much stronger, much faster, all that. It helps to know that they support me as a person but it also I think they want the best version of myself.”

Tar Heels fans eagerly await the UNC debuts of Toomey and Hull a year from now.

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Date	Day/month	Score	Opponent/event (current rank)	Record
	November
8	Wednesday	W, 102–49	vs. Gardner-Webb	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 74–70	vs. Davidson	2–0
15	Wednesday	W, 62–32	vs. Hampton	3–0
18	Saturday	W, 68–39	vs. Elon	4–0
			Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
24	Friday	W, 54–51	Vermont	5–0
25	Saturday	L, 63–56	No. 15 Kansas State	5–1
26	Sunday	L, 65–64	Florida Gulf Coast	5–2
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
30	Thursday	L, 65–58	vs. No. 1 South Carolina	5–3
	December
6	Wednesday	W, 81–66	vs. UNC Greensboro	6–3
			Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn.
10	Sunday	L, 76–64	No. 10 Connecticut	6–4
			———————
15	Friday	W, 96–36	vs. Western Carolina	7–4
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
19	Tuesday	W, 61–52	No. 18 Oklahoma	8–4
			ACC season
31	Sunday	W, 82–76	vs. Clemson	9–4, 1–0 ACC
	January
4	Thursday	W, 75–51	vs. No. 22 Syracuse	10–4, 2–0 ACC
7	Sunday	W, 61–57	at No. 9 Notre Dame	11–4, 3–0 ACC
11	Thursday	L, 70–62	at Florida State	11–5, 3–1 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 81–68	vs. Virginia	12–5, 4–1 ACC
18	Thursday	W, 73–68	at Georgia Tech	13–5, 5–1 ACC
21	Sunday	W, 79–68	vs. No. 23 Louisville	14–5, 6–1 ACC
25	Thursday	W, 66–61	vs. Miami	15–5, 7–1 ACC
28	Sunday	L, 81–66	at Virginia	15–6, 7–2 ACC
	February
1	Thursday	L, 63–59	at No. 11 N.C. State	15–7, 7–3 ACC
4	Sunday	L, 70–61, OT	vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech	15–8, 7–4 ACC
11	Sunday	L, 68–60, OT	at Duke	15–9, 7–5 ACC
15	Thursday	W, 75–62	vs. Pittsburgh	16–9, 8–5 ACC
18	Sunday	W, 58–50	at Wake Forest	17–9, 9–5 ACC
22	Thursday	W, 80–70	vs. No. 11 N.C. State	18–9, 10–5 ACC
25	Sunday	L, 74–62	at No. 13 Virginia Tech	18–10, 10–6 ACC
29	Thursday	L, 78–74	at Boston College	18–11, 10–7 ACC
	March
3	Sunday	W, 63–59	vs. Duke	19–11, 11–7 ACC
			ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum
7	Thursday	L, 60–59	Second round: vs. Miami	19–12
			NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C.
22	Friday	W, 59–56	First round: Michigan State	20–12
24	Sunday	L, 88–41	Second round: No. 1 South Carolina	20–13

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Potential UNC 2024–25 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
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	Clemson
RS junior	Teonni Key	April 2	F	6–4	Kentucky
Sophomore	RyLee Grays	April 5	F	6–3	Virginia
Graduate	Deja Kelly	April 8	G	5–8	TBA

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications