CHAPEL HILL — What’s best for a player in the short term may not be best for the current team, but the latter has always been the priority in Coach Courtney Banghart’s women’s basketball program. After a tough, but correct decision, five-star stretch four Ciera Toomey and wing Laila Hull will redshirt this season.
Category: Women’s basketball
Banghart focused on process for her talented team, not national title talk
CHAPEL HILL — The stars are aligned in more ways than one as Coach Courtney Banghart enters her fifth season as Carolina’s women’s basketball coach. A deep, talented roster with six players who were five-star recruits and five others who were four-star recruits has all the elements to contend for a national championship this year. With more talent on the way, her program has set a foundation to sustain long-term success.
Video: Watch Banghart’s press conference on media day, interviews with transfers Donarski and Nivar, part of Thursday’s practice
Coach Courtney Banghart covered many topics Thursday at UNC’s women’s basketball media day. Also watch interviews with transfers Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar and part of Thursday’s practice.
Freshmen Toomey, Hull to redshirt, rehabilitate injuries
Two highly touted members of Carolina’s five-player freshman class will redshirt this season. Five-star stretch forward Ciera Toomey (top photo), the No. 4 player in the Class of 2023, and wing Laila Hull (bottom photo), last season’s Miss Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana, won’t play while they continue to rehabilitate high school injuries.
Banghart happily succeeded in second recruitment of tenacious center Gakdeng
“Remember me?” That was Coach Courtney Banghart’s text to Maria Gakdeng, the same the March day the 6–3 center entered the transfer portal. UNC’s coach didn’t hesitate at a second chance to lure the tenacious defender and rebounder who picked Boston College over the Tar Heels coming out of high school.
UNC women, loaded with talent, face schedule loaded with challenges
With eight newcomers and seven returnees, Coach Courtney Banghart’s fifth Carolina team faces a challenging women’s basketball schedule that includes at least seven — and potentially nine — games against teams in ESPN’s way-too-early Top 25 ranking. Although the Tar Heels will likely only face a challenge on one of their non-conference home game — the Nov. 30 matchup with No. 8 (according to the ESPN ranking) South Carolina, they face a difficult overall schedule.
Date, time set for ‘Live Action with Carolina Basketball’
Fans will see next season’s Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams for the first time on Friday, Oct. 13, when “Live Action with Carolina Basketball” is set for 7 p.m.
Powell zooms up ESPN rankings, but five other UNC men’s and women’s recruits fall
While Drake Powell continues to rise in the ESPN rankings impressively, the other five players committed to Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams all dropped with the latest list. ESPN has changed Powell from a four-star to a five-star and elevated him from 34th in the Class of 2024 to 12th.
Expansion may mean six-day, 16-game basketball tournaments, but ACC hasn’t decided on the format
Remember the glory days of the classic ACC when it was eight teams, the league played a double round-robin in the regular season in basketball and the tournament lasted three days? Those days ended when the league raided the Big East in 2013. But that seems like ancient history after the ACC added Stanford, Cal and SMU on Friday for the 2024–25 school year.
Phillips says UNC would only go to California once every two years in football and twice every four years in basketball
As ACC adds Stanford and Cal beginning in the 2024–25 school year, the first concern should be for the athletes who must routinely take cross-country flights while also being students. The travel sounds daunting because it is. But there are scheduling models that could make it easier.