By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Even by transfer-portal era standards, it was a crazy offseason for Coach Courtney Banghart’s Carolina program.
Programs rarely have six players leave and bring in five newcomers in the same offseason when there are three staff changes.
“You’re never surprised,” Banghart said at ACC Tipoff in Charlotte on Wednesday. “It’s a two-way decision most of the time. It’s very rare — and I’ll speak for just North Carolina — that someone would walk into your office and say, ‘I’m transferring,’ and it’s rare you would say that’s only your decision.”
The only starter lost from last season among the six transfers was guard Deja Kelly, the three-year All-ACC first-team pick who transferred to Oregon for her fifth season. The other five didn’t figure to start: graduate forwards Ali Zelaya (who transferred to UNCW), Anya Poole (Clemson), Teonni Key (Kentucky) and Rylee Grays (Virginia) and guard Paulina Paris (Arizona).
“The great thing about the portal is it lets you reinvent your team and add as needed and also subtract at times. We had four four-year seniors last year,” Banghart said of returnee Alyssa Ustby, as well as Deja Kelly, Zelaya and Poole. “You can’t keep all four seniors; otherwise, you can’t get a freshman class from a numbers perspective.”
Last season’s senior class turned the program around in four years but Ustby is the only member of that class who stayed around at UNC for a fifth college season.
“It is a really emotional piece, especially because I came in as the lowest-ranked recruit of that class, and there weren’t many like high expectations for me to impact this team,” Ustby said. “It’s kind of a bittersweet moment because those are my friends, first and foremost, before they’re my teammates. They’re people that I naturally bonded with, and seeing them go their separate ways is really tough.”
But don’t mistake this for a rebuilding situation. Starting with those freshmen: two five-stars — 6–5 center Blanca Thomas and 5–9 point guard Lanie Grant — and four-star guard Jordan Zubich. Add the start of five-star redshirt freshman Ciera Toomey’s college career and two transfers — junior guard Trayanna Crisp and graduate guard Grace Townsend — and the Tar Heels are loaded.
“Getting Tray and Grace out of the portal, just like Maria [Gakdeng] and Lexi [Donarski], we were able to pick a kid that was exactly what the existing group needs,” Banghart said. “I think if you had asked us on Feb. 1st what the roster is going to look like, I think we all would have picked this roster.”
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If 5–7 sophomore guard Reniya Kelly and redshirt junior guard 5–8 Kayla McPherson can stay healthy, UNC will be deep, with three returning starters — graduate 6–1 forward Ustby, graduate 6–0 guard Donarski and senior 6–3 center Gakdeng.
Injuries to Reniya Kelly, McPherson and Paris last season limited UNC’s rotation and made it difficult to play the aggressive style Banghart prefers on both ends.
“We have a healthy blend of experience with a lot of youthful talent,” Banghart said. “Most importantly, our experience really intangibly shows that to their peer group in a really connected way. And we’re healthy. Yay. Knock on everything that you know. No, we’ve got some guys off redshirt we know will help us. We’ve got some young guys we know will help us, and we know we’ve got some great experience here that we’ll lean on all year.”
Assistant coaches Itoro Coleman and Sean Sullivan both left for bigger roles at other programs after three seasons at UNC, Coleman as Virginia Tech’s associate head coach and Sullivan as Iowa’s assistant coach and general manager.
After five seasons on the staff, Banghart promoted Joanne Aluka-White to associate head coach, and brought in former East Carolina assistant coach Cory McNeill and former Loyola of Maryland assistant coach Katherine Bixby. In addition, Shellie Greenman joined the program as Director of Basketball Operations, a job she had at Clemson, after Jessika Carrington left.
Following an offseason with plenty of change, UNC enters this season with plenty of optimism.
Projected roster if all players with eligibility other than Elina Aarnisalo, Lanie Grant and Taliyah Henderson return, with years listed for next season (4 under the 15-player limit)
| Year | No./ Stars | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | 5 star | Kate Harpring | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | 4 star | Noelle Bofia | F | 6–4 | |
| Sophomore | 5 | Liza Astakhova | W | 6–2 | |
| 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 | 10 | Reniya Kelly | G | 5–7 | |
| Senior | 15 | Sydney Barker | G | 5–6 |
In transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elina Aarnisalo | Junior | G | 5–10 |
| Lanie Grant | Junior | G | 5–9 |
| Taliyah Henderson | Sophomore | W | 6–1 |
Photo by Nell Redmond/theACC.com
