By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s women’s basketball program lost a member of its coaching staff Friday when new Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy hired Itoro Coleman as her associate head coach.
Coleman, a former WNBA player, had been on the Tar Heels’ staff since the 2020–21 season. She was part of Duffy’s staff at Marquette for the 2019–20 season before joining Coach Courtney Banghart’s staff at UNC.
Duffy replaced head coach Kenny Brooks, who left Virginia Tech to become the coach at Kentucky.
A 2000 Clemson graduate and a member of the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame, Coleman was the head coach at Clemson for three seasons before the school fired her in 2010 after her teams went 25–63.
During her tenure at UNC, the Tar Heels have made the NCAA tournament four times, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2022. Coleman has also been an assistant coach at Penn State, Butler and Liberty.
On Thursday, Duffy hired former Penn State assistant coach Sharnee Zoll-Norman as a Hokies assistant coach.
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 via @HokiesWBB