By R.L. Bynum
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Playing during the second weekend of the NCAA tournament means double duty for coaches who must navigate the transfer portal while still preparing their teams for the Sweet 16.
The women’s basketball transfer portal opened Tuesday, and with 90 players having entered in the first three days, there’s plenty of talent out there to recruit. Florida State star Ta’Niya Latson is reportedly about to add her name.
“No one wants it in Elite Eight,” said UNC coach Courtney Banghart on Thursday, ahead of her No. 3-seed Tar Heels’ regional semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. ET Friday (ESPN) against No. 2-seed Duke. “No one wants it in the first round of the tournament or the season, but our season is so long that there’s really not a lot of other choices.”
While it’s inconvenient, Banghart understands why the portal opens so early. If it was a lot later, she says players wouldn’t have time to make visits and choose a school before summer school starts. That would be particularly bad for players who need those classes to become eligible.
“The timing is tricky no matter when you put it because summer school starts up in a lot of places in early May,” Banghart said.
On the men’s side at Carolina, Coach Hubert Davis already had his postseason individual player meetings days after the season ended, and two players — Elliot Cadeau and Jalen Washington — have already entered the portal.
With UNC’s women’s season still going — they hope until April 6 — those discussions likely haven’t happened yet. In past seasons, though, the departures were no surprise to anybody in the program. In the last offseason, six players transferred, including Deja Kelly, who finished her career at Oregon.
Whenever players don’t receive a lot of playing time, there’s always a chance they will transfer. Although they could very well return, playing time has been scarce for redshirt freshman Laila Hull (nine points in 177 minutes) and freshman Jordan Zubich (26 points in 102½ minutes.)
“You always look at your own roster first and figure out what you think you’re going to have and what you are going to keep and all that,” Banghart said. “Then you look at what you have coming in and how many spots you have and all that. So, you certainly need to monitor the names. But if there’s some that are monitoring it so closely and reaching out to everybody, that’s not us. That’s just not our style.”
Carolina will lose three starters — graduate students Alyssa Ustby and Lexi Donarski and senior Maria Gakdeng — as well as reserve graduate guard Grace Townsend.
The Tar Heels have three incoming freshmen: five-star wings Nyla Brooks and Taliyah Henderson and four-star forward Taissa Queiroz, the latter who enrolled in January and has been practicing with the team and is in Birmingham.
Duke coach Kara Lawson likely has her own roster concerns, but she suggested those can wait.
“I haven’t done anything at the portal,” she said. “I’m sure my assistants are doing that, but as far as me personally, I haven’t. I haven’t done anything. I’ve just been focused on the game.”
Banghart said that her approach is more targeted as she tries to find the right fit.
“Usually things done in haste are not always the most thoughtful things done,” Banghart said. “We are monitoring it to the point of knowing who is available that we think can help us, and we’re going to do that in due time. But we get to promote that we’re still playing basketball. So, we don’t have as much time as everybody else.”
UNC is among the six schools heavily involved with 5–9 freshman Quinnipiac guard Gal Raviv, according to On3.com’s Talia Goodman. She averaged 17.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Other schools interested in her are Iowa State, Miami, Nebraska, Clemson and Oregon, but Goodman suggested the favorites are UNC, Iowa State and Miami.
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 UNC Athletics Communications
