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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.
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.
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.
Hear what UNC wide receiver Nate McCollum and wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway ahead of Saturday’s Miami game.
Two Carolina women’s teams that have won multiple national championships — field hockey and soccer — fell Tuesday from No. 1 to No. 3, and the Tar Heels slipped in the men’s soccer poll.
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.
Hear what UNC players Myles Murphy, Drake Maye, Marcus Allen and, Willie Lampkin had to say ahead of Saturday’s big clash with Miami.
DURHAM — An irritating pattern for North Carolina women’s soccer struck again, leaving them fit to be tied. It happened in the national championship game against UCLA last season, two weeks earlier against Florida State and Sunday at Duke — a win booted aside by a late opponent goal. There were 16 seconds left against the Bruins and one second left against the Seminoles.
After a dominant 40–7 home victory over Syracuse on Saturday, North Carolina moved up in the AP Top 25 for the fifth consecutive week. The Tar Heels (5–0, 2–0 ACC) jumped two spots to No. 12, their highest rank since they were No. 10 in the 2021 preseason poll and their best ranking this late in the season since they were No. 5 on Oct. 11, 2020.
Should North Carolina need to win a tiebreaker with Louisville to make the league championship game, the Cardinals’ easy ACC schedule could be helpful for the Tar Heels. In the first ACC football season without divisions since 2004, the teams finishing first and second in the ACC standings will play in the ACC championship game.
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