By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Upon further review, the call was reversed.
No, this wasn’t a referee overturning a call. Indya Nivar overturned her decision 17 months earlier as a senior five-star recruit at Apex Friendship High School, where she was Ms. North Carolina Basketball, state Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American.
She wanted to be part of a program that competed for national titles, so she picked Stanford instead of staying home and playing for North Carolina. On the day she committed, Stanford was ranked No. 7, and UNC was unranked. Watching the Tar Heels from afar go 22–11 last season and ascend to a No. 6 ranking, her view of them shifted.
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t feel that they were going to be like that last year,” Nivar said. “Now that I see the talent that they have, the growth that they made over the past year, I feel like I’m ready to join and come back home.”
The No. 16 Tar Heels are even better with the dynamic Nivar, whose arrival gives them two sophomore guards ESPN ranked highly in the high school Class of 2022. She was ranked No. 20, and lead guard Paulina Paris No. 27.
UNC coach Courtney Banghart was happy to see Nivar enter the transfer portal after only one season at Stanford, but immediately wondered why the 5–10 guard didn’t pick Carolina when it was one of her final three schools.
“She had a really poignant answer,” said Banghart, whose team opens next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home against Gardner-Webb (ESPN3). “She said she didn’t know we’d get good so fast.”
She didn’t seriously consider any other school as a transfer destination, even though N.C. State (ranked No. 5 on the day she committed out of high school) was one of the final two schools she considered before picking Stanford in November 2021. N.C. State coach Wes Moore wanted her so badly that the entire Wolfpack team showed up for one of Nivar’s volleyball matches her senior year.
Nivar, who got her first scholarship offer from Campbell in eighth grade, says she wasn’t a fan of any ACC school while growing up in Apex.
Nivar has a smooth jumper and can score around the rim or on the perimeter, has good court vision and is a good defender.
“She brings such an athleticism,” Banghart said of Nivar. “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.”
Carolina had a huge advantage over other transfer portal suitors because Nivar knew the staff well. Even though Nivar eliminated UNC when she named her final two schools as a high school senior, she had a terrific relationship with Banghart.
“It was hard for me to enter the transfer portal to build relationships with a new school I’d never talked to,” Nivar said. “Because I wanted to be around people that I could trust and that were going to be honest with me, and UNC was always honest with me.”
Nivar impressed Banghart last spring by asking how she could help rather than what her playing time might be. Nivar said she just wants to know she’ll have the opportunity because she knows that playing time is earned and not given.
Nivar’s one season at Stanford didn’t meet her expectations, so she entered the transfer portal.
“Just the experiences that I had, I didn’t really expect,” Nivar said.
Nivar doesn’t mind intense practices, but says that Stanford practices went non-stop for three hours every day from the start of preseason practice until the end of the season.
“Our practices are very intentional,” Nivar said of how it is at UNC. “We have things that we want to accomplish in practice. And they care about your bodies because … three hours? I’m thankful my body didn’t break down last year, but it could have. I don’t know how much longer my body could have sustained all that. Here, they take care of your body, and we’re also being pushed as hard as you can.”
Last season, she scored in double figures twice — with 13 points in the opener, an 86–48 victory against San Diego State, and 11 points in the Cardinal’s 92–49 win over Sacred Heart in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She produced per-40-minute averages of 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.7 steals while averaging 12.6 minutes in 35 games, starting once.
After last season, Nivar said offseason workouts with her new teammates and coaches were important.
“I felt like being in a new environment, new team, trying to find myself again after having a down year, [the practices were important],” Nivar said. “I felt like it was very important for me to just be loose, give myself grace. Coach Banghart has always said she wants you to make mistakes because she knows it’s very new.”
The differences in the style of play and what Banghart will expect of Nivar will be drastically different.
“She spent a lot of time just passing into the posts, and we want her to continue to go back to being the aggressive player that she was last time I recruited her,” Banghart said of Nivar, who averaged 18.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.4 steals in leading Apex Friendship to a 29–3 record and the state Class 4-A title game as a senior. “I think offensively, you’ll just see her continue to grow as she understands there’s less handcuffs in that way, offensively. But defensively, she can move, she can jump.”
Scott Campbell, who retired as Apex Friendship girls coach following Nivar’s senior season after 34 years in coaching, called Nivar the best player he’s coached, telling The Fayetteville Observer in November 2021 that she “imposes her will; it’s fun to watch.”
Nivar is the first Ms. North Carolina Basketball to play for the Tar Heels since Stephanie Watts, who won the award in 2015. Before that, winners of the award to play at Carolina included Candace Wood (2008), Cetera DeGraffenreid (2007), Rashanda McCants (2005), Camille Little (2003) and Tonya Sampson (1990).
Nivar welcomes the clear contrasts between Stanford and Carolina she’s seen during preseason practices.
“Guard-dominant here, which is very different,” Nivar said. “Coming to fast-paced tempo, being able to create when you have the ball. We also have bigs that can make an impact inside.”
She expects to play on the wing, running the lane and getting up the floor to push the tempo, but says that she has the ball-handling skills to dribble the ball up court if needed. Nivar describes her game as high motor, allowing her to affect the game on both ends of the court, and she can also have an impact under the boards.
“I thank my parents for giving me the athleticism that I have,” Nivar said. “And then I have the desire to get the ball off the rim — kind of helps me … that effort, that second chance that I want to have for my team.”
Returning to North Carolina will also allow Nivar to watch her sister, Jasmine, during her junior season at Apex Friendship High School, where she averaged 18 points and 7.7 rebounds last season for a team that went 23–6.
“That’s something I’m really looking forward to,” said Indya Nivar, who played with Jasmine in her last season at Apex Friendship. “I didn’t get to see her play at all last season. Excited to see her play.”
Her sister and family are undoubtedly happy that seeing her play this season will be easier. It will be exciting for Tar Heels fans to see Nivar’s development in a system more suited to her skill set.
| 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 |
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 | 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 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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