UNC head coach Courtney Banghart, guard Reniya Kelly and wing Indya Nivar spoke at the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte Monday afternoon. The Tar Heels are coming off a run to the Sweet 16 last spring, which also saw the program host NCAA Tournament games in Carmichael Arena for the first time since 2015.
Here are selected highlights from the program’s time at the ACC podium:
Indya Nivar
Image via UNC Athletic Communications
On the team’s game with Duke being broadcast on ABC: That rivalry means so much to us. For it to be on national television, it doesn’t make it even bigger. It’s already really big for us to play in that game. Every time we play them, it’s such a great competition. Sometimes it’s not fun, but you know, the competition is what we love. He with always love to come out on top. So that’s what we hope to do.
On hosting NCAA Tournament games at Carmichael Arena: That’s the expectation: for us to host, to have that support behind us and to have those games. It’s just bringing the legacy back. It’s been a while since we had hosted games at Carmichael and now that’s the expectation for us and to have their support. We always play better at home because [the fans] feed us with energy whenever we get low.
Reniya Kelly
Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini
On other teams looking forward to their matchups with the Tar Heels: That’s good. We want everyone as well, so we’re not running from any competition. We’re trying to beat every team that comes in our way to get to the national championship, so that’s always the goal every year.
On her injuries at the end of last season: I was hurt, I’ll tell you that. My knee wasn’t in the best condition, but I would risk anything. I would do it again if I had to, you know what I mean? The goal was to win and I would do anything to win. And so I played and we got to the Sweet 16 and that was that. So I wasn’t really worried about my knee at the end.
My knee was very tired. I think I just did too much, honestly. But we made it to the Sweet 16. It wasn’t enouge strength on my knee, honestly. And I did rehab, I did the things I needed to do, but it just wasn’t enough to keep playing and last me a long time through the Final Four or to the national championship.
On which new players have impressed her: Taliyah Henderson. She’s a sleeper. She goes extremely hard every possession, every practice. Whatever it is, she’s giving 110 percent every time. I think because she’s a hard worker. I love players who just work hard every time, and she’s a sleeper. The first impression was great, and so I’m really excited to play with her more on the court.
Courtney Banghart
North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart, left, reacts after a score during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against SMU, Thursday,Jan. 16, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
On how different her team will look this coming season: You don’t lose two of the best post players the league has seen in a long time [Alyssa Ustby and Maria Gakdeng] and try to replace them immediately in the same way. So we have some posts that need to step into that opportunity. They’ll play the game a little differently. They can extend the floor a little more. They can allow us to play with a little more spacing. Then we bring back a lot of experienced guards, talented guard play, as well as what we brought in both through the portal and freshmen in recruiting. We have a good guard group that has a lot of game pressure, whereas our inside game we’ve got to use our nonconference, which you see scheduled, to put them to the test early so we can get as much game pressure on our youth as we can as we prepare for the gauntlet of the ACC.
On how she built her team’s non-conference schedule: It was pretty strategic. The ACC is so hard every year, and we knew that this was going to be a year where we were losing 60 percent or more of our productivity. Instead of finding out late, I want to find out early kind of what the traditional, sort of over the last year, were the best. UCLA brought back a lot of their players. South Carolina brought back a lot of their players. Texas brought back a lot of their players. We are going to go against people that are really experienced and had a great year last year. I think that will bode well as we continue to persistently prepare for what’s going to be the ACC gauntlet.
On her team’s depth: The more reliable or available guys are, the deeper you are. Otherwise, you just have a lot of talent. The only way we’re going to do that, like we said, is with our non-conference schedule. Multiple mid-majors have won a tournament game in the NCAA Tournament. They’re not just tournament teams. They’re advancing in the tournament teams.
On any concerns she has for her team: I worry more about the rebounding quite honestly, because there’s not a better rebounder in program history than Alyssa Ustby. And then you throw in Maria Gakdeng too. The five-year experience of her and Grace Townsend, the four-year starting experience of Maria and Lexi [Donarski], that’s game pressure, which is why we’re playing three Final Four teams from last year in the first month of the season. We have to get as much game pressure and not worry about how many wins Courtney Banghart has. It doesn’t matter. What matters is how much could I quickly get game pressure so that available players become reliable players so that we can be good in the ACC season. I worry less about scoring with this team than I did last year’s team. But we’re gonna have to make sure that we’re as tough defensively and that we find a way to rebound.
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