By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — North Carolina will have a different-looking frontcourt this season, and Coach Courtney Banghart said she cannot yet say exactly the combination she’ll use for the opener.
The Tar Heels lost Nyla Harris, a key part of last season’s frontcourt, to graduation. Ciera Toomey returns, as does Blanca Thomas, who is now healthy, and the newcomers include 6–4 freshman Noelle Bofia and 6–1 senior Achol Akot, a transfer from Oklahoma State.
The mix gives Banghart more options than settled answers, and she said the biggest variable is Akot, who can slide between several spots depending on how the staff wants to match up. The coach said the decision will start with who the Tar Heels are playing.
“The hard part is that Achol can play everywhere,” Banghart said Monday during ACC Tipoff at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. “Ciera and Blanca and Noelle have really come along. You’ve got options, so I think it’ll be based on the opponent.”
That flexibility will come with some early-season uncertainty. Banghart said the staff has roughly a month to settle on a rotation, and she was candid that the starting lineup for the first game could look different by the second.
“I wouldn’t be able to tell you right now who’s starting the first game,” Banghart said. “It might change from Davidson because they’re different than Maryland, who’s different than South Carolina. We just have a variety of pieces.
“You can be really big; you could put Achol at three and just put Blanca and Ciera at the four and five,” Banghart said. “You can be small, and put Achol at the five. She can play anywhere,” said Banghart, who added that Syracuse transfer guard Sophie Burrows adds to the frontcourt flexibility. “Sophie can play 2, 3, 4, so I think we’ve got a lot of options.”
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Akot said she sees herself as a four, but quickly added that her role will not be fixed. She said her ability to move between positions is the strongest part of her game, and she’s willing to go wherever Banghart needs her.
“Yeah, I consider myself a four,” Akot said. “I think my biggest strength is versatility. So to be able to transfer from a guard to a post player. I’m versatile, so it depends on who we’re playing that day. Whatever coach says, though. Whatever she wants me to play, I just play.”
For Toomey, who played more at the five last season than she ever had, Banghart said the question is less about her position on the floor and more about the player across from her.
The coach said the Tar Heels’ offense doesn’t depend on traditional position labels, which makes lineup decisions easier to adjust from game to game.
“They’re really all interchangeable. It doesn’t really matter. So, it’s a matter of who they’re defending,” Banghart said. “The way we play, it doesn’t really matter what number they are.”
Thomas may be the biggest source of optimism. Banghart said injury issues kept her from fully integrating into the rotation last season even though she was in uniform for most games later in the season, and the 6–5 junior is at full strength.
“She had a pretty significant injury, and she could never quite come back from it last year,” Banghart said. “She wasn’t able to practice as much, and she’s just been fully healthy since spring and summer. If you’re fully healthy, you get better. It’s just a fact.”
Sophomore guard Nyla Brooks asked which returner had elevated her game the most in the offseason and picked Thomas without hesitation. Brooks said teammates did not get a good look at what Thomas could do a year ago, and she expects that to change.
“She’ll be key for us this year. Y’all will see that, for sure,” Brooks said. “Y’all didn’t see her much last year.”
Bofia is the youngest member of the frontcourt group, and Brooks said the freshman is already working her way into the rotation, alongside several other newcomers adjusting to the college game. Akot said freshmen have to adapt to the pace of college basketball, a different challenge than the one transfers face with a new environment and structure.
“Noelle is getting in the mix of everything,” Brooks said.
For Banghart, the number of capable players matters less than the quality at the top of the roster. She said she believes this group has the best top-end depth she has had at Carolina, and she said the group of players she can trust extends beyond a typical starting five.
“I think our top whatever number of kids are certain, I think they’re the best we’ve had,” Banghart said. “We’ve got an elite top group, and that top group’s more than five for sure, which is exciting.”
| 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 transferred
| 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) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Davidson | |
| 24 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 Maryland | B1G+ |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 12 Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina | ESPN |
| 11 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. Central | ACCNE |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at Penn in Palestra | ESPN+ |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | |||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech | ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama | ESPN+ |
| ——— | ||||
| 24 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Gardner-Webb | ACCNE |
| 27 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. Army | ACCNE |
| 29 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Brown | ACCN |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU | ESPN2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN |
| 17 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 21 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Norfolk State | ACCN |
| 28 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. UNCW | ACCN |
| 31 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Clemson | The CW |
| 7 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 10 | Sunday | 3 p.m. | at No. 11 Louisville | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 17 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCN |
| 21 | Thursday | 8 p.m. ET | at California | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | 2 p.m. ET | at Stanford | ESPN, 2 or U |
| 28 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 31 | Sunday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ACCNE |
| 7 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at SMU | ACCNE |
| 18 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 21 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Florida State | The CW |
| 25 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 19 Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
