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Carolina senior guard Deja Kelly will try out next week for one of the four remaining spots on the United States Women’s AmeriCup team, which includes LSU star Angel Reese. The 5–8 Kelly travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday, where the team’s training camp for the competition begins next Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The FIBA Women’s AmeriCup is July 1–9 in León, Mexico.
Under Coach Courtney Banghart, North Carolina is becoming a nationally respected program, and more evidence of that comes next season when the Tar Heels play perennial national power Connecticut for the first time in nearly 12 years in a showcase tripleheader. UNC (22–11 last season) takes on UConn (31–6) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Sunday, Dec. 10, as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase, with perennial national power South Carolina (36–1) facing Utah (27–5) and UCLA (27–10) going up against Florida State (23–10) in that facility the same day. Starting times and television will be announced later, with tickets going on sale Sept. 8.
Two Carolina seniors, guard Lexi Donarski and forward Alyssa Ustby, were named Thursday to the United States women’s U24 three-on-three team. The team will compete in select three-on-three events this summer with the goal of qualifying for the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series final in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Sept 16 and 17.
The United States team got off to an impressive start at the FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship, and future Tar Heel Lanie Grant also showed why she’s a five-star recruit in the Class of 2025. Carolina’s only commitment so far in the class, ranked No. 20 by ESPN, came off the bench to score more than a point per minute in the first quarter and finished the game with 12 points as the Americans rolled to a 124–39 victory over Puerto Rico at Poliforum Zamna arena in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, on Tuesday.
The United States team, which includes five-star Carolina Class of 2025 commitment Lanie Grant, plays three pool play games at the FIBA Women’s U16 Americas Championship beginning Tuesday night. Grant, a 5–9 guard ESPN ranks as the No. 20 player in her class, is one of four players her age on the team.
Coach Courtney Banghart continues to be a big winner in the women’s basketball offseason, and the evidence comes with a couple of recent rankings.
For the second consecutive night, the star power of incoming Carolina freshman wing Laila Hull was on full display as her Indiana All-Stars faced a team of Kentucky All-Stars again. Hull scored a couple of huge buckets in the last two minutes Saturday and earned MVP honors with a second consecutive double-double to lead Indiana to a 71–67 victory in Indianapolis to avenge a loss one night earlier.
Incoming UNC freshman Laila Hull’s ability to pour on the offense was on full display in the second half on Friday night at the first of two games in the Indiana All-Star series against Kentucky in Owensboro, Ky., putting up a double-double.
I’ll never forget driving on Lejeune Boulevard in Jacksonville, N.C., in the spring of 1984 when I heard a report on the radio that nearly led me to drive off the road. It was so stunning.
The radio reporter broke the news to me that Michael Jordan was going to forgo his senior season at North Carolina to enter the NBA draft. As a rookie sports writer at the Jacksonville Daily News making a paltry wage, I couldn’t imagine the riches ahead for Jordan.
Coach Courtney Banghart continues to bring in five-star recruits, so why not add another one? This time, it wasn’t because of a new commitment for North Carolina. ESPN updated its Class of 2025 rankings on Monday and upgraded 5–9 guard Lanie Grant from a four-star to a five-star and moved her up from No. 23 overall in the class to No. 20 and the No. 3 point guard in the class.
Five-star guard Lanie Grant, the only Carolina women’s basketball commitment for the Class of 2025, has earned a spot on the United States U16 team. Grant’s team will play in the FIBA Women’s U16 Americas Championship from June 13–19 in Merida, Mexico. High school players graduating in 2025 or 2026 make up the team, but Grant is one of only four Class of 2025 players on the 12-girl roster. Fifty-five players tried out for the team in Colorado Springs, Colo.
North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart continues to stack up the five-star players. She added another one on Monday when 6–5 Charlotte Catholic post player Blanca Thomas became the second Carolina commitment in the Class of 2024, picking the Tar Heels over Duke, N.C. State, South Carolina, Stanford, Notre Dame, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
With Coach Brian Kalbas’ Carolina women’s tennis team winning the NCAA title on Saturday, here is a look at the University of National Champions by the numbers.
North Carolina is one of the seven winners in the women’s basketball transfer portal this offseason, according to an analysis by The Athletic. Joining the Tar Heels on the list of winners are reigning national champion LSU, UCLA, Ohio State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M.
The next stops for former North Carolina women’s basketball players Kennedy Todd-Williams and Destiny Adams have been known for a few weeks, but their new schools both made their moves official Monday. Todd-Williams, a 6–0 guard from Jacksonville, N.C., who will be a senior with two years of eligibility, is one of three transfers at Ole Miss and Adams, a 6–3 junior forward, is headed to Rutgers.
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