By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — One day, Reniya Kelly wants to live off the land.
The 5–7 junior guard from Hoover, Ala., lights up when she talks about her post-basketball dream: rows of fruit trees, a garden full of vegetables, and a barn bustling with animals.
“I want to be a farmer,” she said Monday from ACC Tipoff at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. “I love land. I love fishing; I love having my own crops. I want to live off my own land. Eventually, I want to [sell] my own products, with it being eggs, it could be bacon, it could be cheese. Whatever it is like that is, I’m going to have a farm.”
But before she realizes that dream, she’s focused on cultivating something else — a championship at North Carolina. But she knows that it won’t be easy.
“Winning a national championship is really hard, and you have to risk a lot, you have to take a lot of sacrifices, but we’re willing to do it,” Kelly said. “I think because we’re so young, we’re willing to just take the leap and do whatever we need to do to win that.”
That willingness to risk was evident last March. Kelly, UNC’s sparkplug at point guard, suffered a right knee injury late in the season but pushed to return for the postseason after missing several games.
It is evident that the Kelly fans saw after the injury wasn’t close to the Kelly they saw beforehand.
“We got a lot [from her] considering what she was going through,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “Reniya is just a dog.”
After scoring in double figures in eight of the last nine games before she missed a couple of weeks, she only did it twice in her last five games and scored no more than 11 points. She scored 40 3-pointers last season, but only four in the last five games.
“I was hurt,” she admitted. “My knee wasn’t in the best condition, but I would risk anything. I would do it again if I had to. The goal was to win, and I would do anything to win. And so I played, and we got to the Sweet 16, and that was that.”
When she came back, she didn’t have the same burst that had defined her season — a year in which she started 33 games, earned All-ACC Second Team honors, and led the Tar Heels with clutch shooting and composure.
“Honestly, my knee was very tired,” she said. “I think I just did too much. No strength in my knee, honestly. I did rehab, I did the things I needed to do, but it just wasn’t enough to keep playing and last me a long time.”
Kelly feels ready to return to form — and she’ll do so with a slightly different role. After running the offense almost exclusively last season, she’ll play more off the ball this year thanks to the arrival of Finnish point guard Elina Aarnisalo, a UCLA transfer.
Kelly says that she can do that because Aarnisalo is a great passer and facilitator. Kelly didn’t hide her enthusiasm about this change.
“Who wouldn’t like to shoot the ball, right?” she said, laughing. “I’m just excited to be able to take breaks, run up the court without having to bounce the ball, just to sit down in the corner, whatever it is. I’m just excited that I can expand my game to a different level as a scorer.”
Kelly’s return gives Carolina a steady hand and a fierce competitor, one who embraces the program’s gauntlet of a nonconference schedule and the target that comes with the UNC name.
“That’s good,” she said when told other ACC teams were circling Carolina on their calendars. “We want everyone as well, so we’re not running from any competition.”
In her third season at Carolina, Kelly finds herself surrounded by new teammates and fresh energy. She’s already impressed by freshman Taliyah Henderson — “She goes extremely hard every possession,” Kelly said — and feels the entire team is rising to fill the void left by last year’s veterans.
“Honestly, the whole team has been stepping up,” she said. “You can go down the line and see how each player has been stepped up and trying to fill this role. I feel like every team does that every year, once a player leaves and another player steps in.”
Kelly also credits her relationship with former teammate Kayla McPherson, who transitioned into a mentoring role after medically retiring.
“I love Kayla, like she’s technically my mentor on the team,” Kelly said. “She talks to me about different things — how you can lead in this way, lead in that way, how you can say these and have these conversations. She’s such a great person. She puts everyone in the right spots, in the right situation, and it’s great.”
Her competitiveness balances with a quiet, grounded personality off the court — one shaped more by the outdoors than by online culture. She hates social media.
“I think it takes away the fun of the game,” Kelly said. “I think it’s a lot of pressure — outside noise that comes in on social media. I like to keep sport the sport, and I feel like the sport is very fun when social media isn’t involved.”
That perspective comes naturally to someone who still treasures fishing trips with her grandfather back home in Alabama.
“I fish every time I go back to Alabama,” said Kelly, who went fishing a month ago with new teammate Nyla Harris and McPherson. “We catch fish, and he actually fries them.
“So, I always had this love for just outdoor nature, eating the things that you catch or the things that you make,” she said. “And, so, I think ever since then, I’ve just been in love with farming and getting everything together and working on your own land.”
Whether she’s orchestrating an offense, reeling in fish back home, or planning her dream farm, Kelly’s focus is steady.
“We’re willing to just take the leap and do whatever we need to do to win,” Kelly said. “You can see in their eyes that, like, they want to reach the highest levels.”
And before she plants her roots in Alabama soil, she’s determined to sow something lasting in Chapel Hill.
| 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. 10 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–0 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at 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 |
Photo by Nell Redmond/theACC.com
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