By R.L. Bynum

It’s impressive for a program to be between UConn and South Carolina in any women’s basketball rankings.

That’s exactly where North Carolina lands in ESPN’s ranking of the Class of 2025. The Tar Heels come in at No. 5, just ahead of the No. 6 Huskies, the reigning national champions, and just behind the No. 4 Gamecocks, who lost to UConn in the national championship game.

Heading Coach Courtney Banghart’s incoming freshman class is five-star wing Nyla Brooks (top photo), whom ESPN ranks as No. 13 in the class.

In addition, UNC welcomes four-star wing Taliyah Henderson, ranked No. 27, and four-star guard Taissa Queiroz, ranked No. 77, who enrolled at Carolina during the spring semester and played for the Brazilian National Team in two exhibitions earlier this month against WNBA teams.

Here’s what ESPN’s Shane Laflin wrote about UNC’s class:

“Coach Courtney Banghart has serious athleticism, which will allow UNC to increase the ball pressure on the defensive end, play a multitude of schemes and attack the paint aggressively. They should pair nicely with the Tar Heels’ interior players and point guard (Ciera Toomey, Blanca Thomas and Lanie Grant, respectively) next fall.

“Brooks is a slashing wing with a serious pull-up jumper. She is lengthy and impactful on the defensive end.

“Henderson, from Tucson, Arizona, is a versatile forward who saw her perimeter game blossom this summer before sustaining a knee injury.

“Queiroz excels in transition and bullies her way to the rim.”

The ACC has the most players in the ranking of the top 100 players in the class, with 27 players representing 14 schools.

The top three schools in the ranking all have more freshmen coming in than UNC.

LSU — which welcomes four players ranked between No. 6 and No. 32 — is ranked No. 1 in the class rankings. No. 2 Tennessee has five players ranked from No. 9 to No. 57. No. 3 Stanford has five players, four of whom are ranked between No. 8 and No. 85.

Other ACC teams in the ranking are No. 10 Miami, No. 20 California and No. 25 N.C. State.

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5	Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7	Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
		Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3	Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
		Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26	Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
		Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17	Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
		Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0	Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34	Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1	Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2	Nyla Harris	F	6–2
		It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10

Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	L, 76–66, OT	vs. No. 16 Louisville	9–3, 0–1 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 84–34	vs. UNCW	10–3
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Stanford	ESPN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 20 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	7 p.m.	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix