By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Even if a player doesn’t commit to Carolina out of high school, the relationship built with Coach Courtney Banghart can still leave a lasting impression.
That was the case for Chloe Clardy, who didn’t even have UNC among her final three schools as a four-star recruit. She scored more than 2,500 career points, led Conway to an Arkansas 6A state title and twice won the Gatorade Arkansas Player of the Year honor.
Banghart recruited her out of high school, and though Clardy chose Stanford, the connection never fully faded once she entered the transfer portal.
“I had a great connection with Coach Banghart before and my recruiting process before, so when it came to my visit, it just felt like home,” said Clardy, who made 38% of her 3-point attempts last season, averaging 12 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals.
For the 5–9 Clardy, the decision to transfer within the ACC sets up an odd homecoming later this season, when Carolina travels to face her former team on Jan. 24. She isn’t dreading it.
“I have no bad feelings towards Stanford, so I think just being back in a place where I spent three years of my college career already would be fun,” Clardy said.
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After only one NCAA tournament appearance in three seasons with the Cardinal and back-to-back losing ACC records, the pull of a UNC program coming off consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, paired with that bond with Banghart, led her to Chapel Hill.
Clardy said she never set foot on the UNC campus during her high school recruiting process.
“I was going to, but stuff happened, so I didn’t,” she said, adding that her official visits during that original recruitment had been limited to Stanford, Vanderbilt and Florida State.
The pull returned once she entered the transfer portal and visited on the same mid-April weekend as former Oklahoma State forward Achol Akot, former Syracuse guard Sophie Burrows and former Virginia guard Gabby White. All four committed to Carolina after a weekend Clardy described as carrying a great vibe.
“Going into the portal after already going through the recruiting process, I already knew what I wanted,” Clardy said. “So, I think just when I came on campus, they showed me everything that I needed to see.
“Being a transfer, it’s easier to know what you’re looking for, so I think I already knew,” said Clardy, who plays the clarinet. “And the players are great. The coach was great. The coaches had everything laid out, and so it was just perfect.”
Clardy, Burrows and Akot give UNC seven seniors in an era when all of them can return for a fifth season in 2027–28.
Clardy has scored at least 20 points five times, including a 30-point outburst on Feb. 20, 2025, at Virginia Tech in a 75–74 overtime win. She has 11 games with at least three 3-pointers, including two with four 3s and a career-high six on Feb. 5 last season in an 86–65 victory at Pittsburgh, when she scored a season-high 26 points.
Basketball runs in her family. Sister Alexis and brother Terry played at Williams Baptist and brother Xavier at Arkansas State.
Banghart connected Clardy’s arrival to a broader shift in her roster’s makeup, one that includes several additions she said have exceeded expectations early on.
“I’ve been used to having so many freshmen, and I just don’t right now, which is really helpful,” said Banghart, whose only freshmen are five-star point guard Kate Harpring and 6–4 forward Noelle Bofia, who was part of the team and participated in practices during the spring semester last season.
“I think those four newcomers are, in a way, maybe even better than I thought, which I’m thrilled about, because we obviously are very thorough in our evaluations,” Banghart said of Clardy, Akot, Burrows and White. “But they’ve been really exciting, and then of course Kate and Noelle are a totally different dynamic that we feel like we’ve been waiting for, and they’re finally here.”
Banghart said that leaning heavily on experience in constructing her roster was by design.
“I think there’s something about a kid who’s proven, obviously, with this five-and-five year, that really helps us,” Banghart said. “I think every coach in the country would rather have the older team, and we finally have older guys.”
In Banghart’s eyes, Clardy is a proven veteran presence who brings a specific set of tools the program needed, giving Carolina yet another player with point-guard skills to deploy across the backcourt.
“She was a problem,” Banghart said after having to face her the past three seasons. “We all know her. Played about 36 minutes a game at Stanford as a junior. Can play the one, the two, the three. Can score. She’s incredibly steady as well. The game doesn’t speed her up. She can really shoot it.”
Clardy went 1–2 against the Tar Heels during her time at Stanford. She scored 15 points in UNC’s 69–67 win in Palo Alto, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2025. Last season, she had 12 points in Stanford’s 77–71 overtime win over Carolina in Carmichael Arena.
Banghart also pointed to the physicality and “clear basketball IQ” Clardy adds to the backcourt.
“She’s a shot maker,” Banghart said. “She was impactful on the defensive end. She’s a bigger guard. We needed to get sturdier and bigger in terms of our physicality, and I think she brings a lot of that.”
Clardy describes herself as a two-way threat who reads the floor well.
“I think I’m pretty good on defense, and I take pride in my defense and my shooting, and just my IQ level, especially,” Clardy said. “I think I see the game well, and so that’s what I try to bring to the court and to all those around me as well.”
With several guards on the roster capable of initiating the offense, Clardy expects the group’s interchangeability to be an asset rather than a logjam.
“Whatever the coaches see, whatever they need at that moment, I think we’re all interchangeable, and we can all handle the ball and play off the ball as well,” said Clardy, who played mainly point guard at Stanford.
She sees that depth paying off in the ACC’s pace, pointing to the value of having multiple lead guards who can bring the ball up, run the floor and get back on defense together, which should speed up Carolina’s tempo in both directions.
“It’s going to help us push the ball, because whoever’s closest can just bring it, and everybody else fills their lanes, and then we’re going,” Clardy said.
That uptempo identity is one reason Clardy said she’s drawn to Banghart’s system.
“The defense and the running up the floor, as well as just playing basketball, reading and reacting, is the biggest thing,” Clardy said. “And I know that’s what you need at the next level as well.”
Building chemistry quickly among so many new faces and returning players is the challenge ahead, and Clardy said the foundation is already being laid off the court.
“I think a lot of that goes to the off-the-court stuff that we do, and just having the chemistry off the court that also transfers on the court as well,” she said. “I think the more time we spend together, the better we’ll be on the floor as well. And we practice well together already, so it’s just flowing.”
Clardy got a taste of the Sweet 16 during her freshman season in Palo Alto, and she has bigger goals now that she’s joined a program that’s made a habit of getting that far.
“I think just making it there again, and then even going further, I think that’s the goal for this team,” Clardy said.
| Year | No. | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | 11 | Kate Harpring | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | 52 | 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 | |
| Senior | 21 | Ciera Toomey | F | 6–4 | |
| Senior | 4 | Laila Hull | W | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 5 | Sophie Burrows — X | G | 6–2 | |
| Senior | 8 | Achol Akot — Y | F | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 10 | Reniya Kelly | G | 5–7 | |
| Senior | 15 | Sydney Barker | G | 5–6 | |
| Senior | 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 |
UNC schedule
| Date | Day/ month | Time | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | |||
| 18 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Davidson (exhibition) |
| November | |||
| 2 | Monday | TBA | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No 12 Oklahoma |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina |
| 11 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. N.C. Central |
| 14 | Saturday | TBA | at Penn in Palestra |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | ||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama |
| ——— | |||
| 24 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 27 | Friday | TBA | vs. Army |
| 29 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Brown |
| December | |||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15, ESPN2 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU |
| 6 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Elon |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 13 | Sunday | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| 17 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Monday | TBA | vs. Norfolk State |
| 28 | Monday | TBA | vs. UNCW |
| 31 | Thursday | TBA | at Syracuse |
| January | |||
| 3 | Sunday | TBA | at Clemson |
| 7 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Wake Forest |
| 10 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 11 Louisville |
| 17 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Boston College |
| 21 | Thursday | TBA | at California |
| 24 | Sunday | TBA | at Stanford |
| 28 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame |
| 31 | Sunday | TBA | vs. No. 5 Duke |
| February | |||
| 4 | Thursday | TBA | at Miami |
| 7 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Virginia Tech |
| 14 | Sunday | TBA | at SMU |
| 18 | Thursday | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 21 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Florida State |
| 25 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 19 Virginia |
| 28 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 5 Duke |
| March | |||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
