By R.L. Bynum
Alyssa Ustby will continue her basketball career playing for the Panthers Roseto pro basketball team in Roseto, Italy.
The team competes in the Lega Basket Femminile (LBF), Italy’s premier national league for women’s basketball clubs. It played in Serie A2 last season. But the team got promoted to Serie A1 following a sixth-place finish.
Ustby finished an outstanding five-year career at North Carolina as the program’s all-time leading rebounder with 1,251, which is third on the all-time ACC list.
“Ustby will be a key player for our team because she is able to fill multiple roles,” Panthers Roseto coach Simone Righi said in the team’s press release and Instagram post, translated to English, pointing out that she could play the four or the five spot.
“In addition to the technical aspect, she has shown great human qualities, with such a desire to show off in her first experience outside the United States,” Righi said. “I am sure that, in a warm and welcoming environment like Roseto, she will have the opportunity to grow as much on an individual level, becoming pivotal on the team.”
Ustby is the third player from last season’s Sweet 16 team who will play in Europe. Earlier, Maria Gakdeng signed with KSC Szekszárd and Lexi Donarski signed with TFSE-MTA, both based in Hungary.
Ustby competed last month in the Hoop Fest three-on-three event in Spokane, Wash., playing on a team with Diamond Johnson. She leaves on Wednesday to play in another three-on-three event in Romania, with former UNC guard Carlie Littlefield on her team.
Ustby, who attended training camp with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks but didn’t make the team, earned All-ACC first-team honors last season when she averaged 10.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists to lead the Tar Heels to a 29–8 record. She led the ACC with 7.64 defensive rebounds per league game.
Ustby is the only player in program history with a triple-double, pulling that off on Jan. 4, 2024, in a 75–71 home victory over Syracuse with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
She scored at least 20 points nine times in her career, with a career-high 25 points on Feb. 18, 2024, when she also had 10 rebounds in a 58–58 win at Wake Forest.
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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