Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
Before Coach Courtney Banghart arrived at Carolina in 2019, the Tar Heels hadn’t been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll the previous four seasons, but her team on Tuesday made that preseason poll for the fourth consecutive season.
CHARLOTTE — Jim Phillips says that the ACC is reshaping its competitive balance and its basketball schedule to better position the league for national prominence.
CHARLOTTE — With Lexi Donarski gone, there’s little mystery about who will likely take on the toughest defensive assignments for North Carolina this season. Senior guard Indya Nivar, the Tar Heels’ best returning defensive player, is ready to embrace that challenge, and as one of the team’s veterans, she’ll do it while leading a younger, retooled backcourt.
CHARLOTTE — Most coaches replacing three starters, including a decorated five-year player, face significant challenges. It’s not as if North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart wouldn’t love to have forward Alyssa Ustby, center Maria Gakdeng and guard Lexi Donarski back. But the influx of six talented players, including an incoming recruiting class ESPN ranked No. 5, along with stars returning, could make that transition easier after last season’s Sweet 16 run.
ABC will televise two North Carolina games as part of its college basketball package, one each for the men’s and women’s teams.
Recruiting players in Europe presents numerous challenges, even when there is a two-month gap between the time a player commits and the start of the fall semester. Getting 6–1 Russian Liza Astakhova to campus by the first day of classes on Aug. 18 was daunting, even though she committed to North Carolina on June 17.
Perseverance and drive to reach the moment have been motivating forces for Taliyah Henderson for more than a year. When she plays at Carmichael Arena in her Carolina debut on opening day, that will be 468 days after she last cut hard off a screen, showed her speed running up the floor or swished a jumper in a game that counts.
As you might expect, a battle of two of the traditionally strong men’s college basketball programs will be in prime time.
When Taissa Queiroz steps on the court this fall in Chapel Hill, she’ll bring with her more than just size, strength and skill. She’ll bring life experience and basketball seasoning that’s remarkable.
North Carolina’s women’s basketball team already knew its nonconference schedule and, on Tuesday, the ACC announced the league schedule.
Elina Aarnisalo’s connection with Carolina coach Courtney Banghart goes back years — long before she set foot in Chapel Hill. Banghart relentlessly pursued the dynamic 5–10 combo guard from Helsinki, Finland, calling her once a week for two years before losing her recruiting battle with UCLA.
Kayla McPherson came to Carolina as a four-star point guard full of star power, but after four years in Chapel Hill defined by promise and perseverance as she battled injuries and endured six surgeries, she announced Tuesday that she is retiring as a player.
When Nyla Harris faced North Carolina in a Louisville jersey, she expected talent. What she didn’t expect was what stayed with her: the connection. The 6–2 senior says the family-oriented atmosphere that was evident when she played against UNC helped convince her that Chapel Hill was the place to play her final college basketball season.
Steve Newmark is set to earn $600,000 during the upcoming school year before his salary increases to $1 million when he officially takes over as North Carolina’s athletics director on July 1.
Viewers wondering what comes next for ACC Network on weekend afternoons after the retirement of longtime Mark Packer got their answer on Monday.
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