Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
When star sophomore Carolina guard Deja Kelly signed a big endorsement deal last week, building her brand and making a difference were as important to her as the money, which is the envy of former college athletes who never got this chance. Gone are the days of scholarship athletes pinching pennies because they weren’t allowed to make money off the court, thanks to the NCAA giving them the right to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL).
CHAPEL HILL — It may not have come as smoothly as in most years, but Monday’s 70–63 victory over Louisville assured North Carolina of the 62nd 20-win season in program history. Like many other games this season, the Tar Heels’ inability to keep an opponent from driving to the hoop and collecting inside buckets made winning difficult. In the second physical battle of the season with the Cardinals and the better of the inside play for most of the night.
As North Carolina continues its breakthrough season in Coach Courtney Banghart’s third year, the comparisons to a Tar Heels team that made the Sweet 16 team seven years ago keep piling up. Another one got added Monday. The Tar Heels (21–5, 11–5 ACC) jumped six spots to No. 18 Monday in the AP Top 25 poll after winning at home against Louisville (23–3, 14–2) 66–65 (which fell one spot to No. 4) and at Florida State 64–49. It’s the highest UNC rank since that 2014–15 team finished the season 26–9 and ranked No. 15.
Walker Kessler and Garrison Brooks went through up and down weeks in the SEC while Brandon Huffman’s Jacksonville State team picked up two big victories and Walker Miller played well in a Monmouth victory. Kessler had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks in Auburn’s Wednesday’s 94–80 home win over Vanderbilt but was held to 11 points and three rebounds in Saturday’s 63–62 loss at Florida. The loss to the Gators was only the second game this season without a block for Kessler, who leads the country with 4.56 per game.
For many older Carolina fans who remember N.C. State’s dominance in the early 1970s, the Tar Heels’ run to the 1975 ACC Tournament title in Greensboro in Phil Ford’s freshman year was memorable. The 1975 tournament is one of the main focuses of the ACC Network documentary “The Tournament” in Episode 5, which debuts at 9 p.m. Monday.
No matter how ugly it might have been, UNC’s women were happy to battle through it all to finally get a victory over Florida State. It helped that sophomore guard Deja Kelly was pouring in the points, distributing the ball and playing solid defense. The No. 24 Tar Heels didn’t play nearly as well as in their upset Thursday of No. 3 Louisville. But they pulled away with a 16–3 fourth-quarter run for a 64–49 win to snap a six-game losing streak against the Seminoles with their first win in Tallahassee, Fla., since 2014.
There was good and bad news on North Carolina’s NET ranking even after the Tar Heels’ big 65–57 Saturday victory at Virginia Tech, as they continue to navigate life on the NCAA tournament bubble. The good was that it gave UNC (19–8, 11–5 ACC) a badly needed Quad 1 victory to, at the moment, put Tar Heels 2–7 in Quad 1 games. Michigan (14–10) moved up to 29 in the NET rankings after the Wolverines’ 84–70 road win Thursday over Iowa.
George Karl, a star guard at Carolina in the early-1970s who coached in the NBA for 27 seasons, is one of 11 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. The inductees will be announced in New Orleans on April 2 at the Final Four.
Karl was the Tar Heels’ starting point guard all three of his seasons in Chapel Hill, leading them to an NIT title in 1971, the Final Four in 1972 and the NIT semifinals in 1973 when he was All-ACC. He played five seasons for the San Antonio Spurs, the last three as an ABA franchise and the first two as an NBA franchise.
The ascent of Carolina’s women’s basketball program under Coach Courtney Banghart has been on a clear path to becoming a national-title contender next season. With their talent, poise and determined mindset, though, the Tar Heels showed Thursday night that they might just be ready to do some damage this season. No. 3 Louisville (22–3, 12–2 ACC) is no doubt convinced after losing 66–65 at Carmichael Arena to the No. 23 Tar Heels (20–5, 10–5).
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s rare detour through the bubble to earn an NCAA tournament berth careened into a ditch Tuesday night. The scenarios for the Tar Heels to make the NCAA tournament were already challenging. But losing 76–67 to a lowly but physical Pittsburgh team that’s 179 in the NET rankings has made it quite the uphill fight.
North Carolina, one of 10 ranked teams to lose last week, fell one spot to No. 24 in the AP Top 25 women’s poll released Monday after beating Pittsburgh 64–54 and losing Sunday at Virginia Tech 66–61. The Hokies, who have played like a ranked team for a few weeks, finally debuted in the poll at No. 23 after also defeating Georgia Tech 73–63 to give the ACC six ranked teams.
For Garrison Brooks, Brandon Huffman and Walker Miller, their teams battled through rough weeks. Walker Kessler’s Auburn team dropped its first SEC game of the season but rebounded thanks to his second triple-double of the season. After collecting 16 points and 19 rebounds in No. 1 Auburn’s 80–76 Tuesday loss at Arkansas, Kessler had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 12 blocks in Saturday’s 75–58 home victory over Texas A&M.
When North Carolina blew out Virginia Tech in Chapel Hill last month, the Tar Heels limited one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the ACC. On Sunday, whenever the No. 23 Tar Heels tried to make a run, big Virginia Tech 3-pointers kept them at arm’s length in a physical battle.
CHAPEL HILL — All of the tough games and ugly-looking wins were a distant memory as Carolina played its best game of the season against depleted Florida State. There was so much to love for Tar Heels fans as they led by 40 points in the second half on their way to a Saturday’s 94–74 win in the Smith Center, starting with the return of consistent shooting from Caleb Love.
While life on the NCAA tournament bubble is an annual routine for Syracuse, North Carolina rarely faces pressure to win in February just to make the field. In 2010 and 2020, the Tar Heels weren’t even playing well enough to ascend to the bubble. They had to settle for the NIT in 2010, one year after winning the 2009 NCAA title. It didn’t matter in 2020 because the NCAA tournament got canceled. But, other than those years, UNC hasn’t tasted life on the bubble since 2000, and that turned out pretty well.
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