In her preseason meeting with the media in August, UNC women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart said, “Alyssa Ustby is better. I know that’s scary.”

Usbty, a rising sophomore wing with the Tar Heels from Rochester, MN, averaged 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman, and is now turning heads nationally in the leadup to the 2021-22 season. Ustby was announced Wednesday as a member of the preseason watch list for the Cheryl Miller Award, which recognizes the nation’s top small forward. She is one of 20 players on the list.

Ustby started in 17 games for Carolina in the 2020-21 season, and played in all 24, while also being named to the All-ACC Academic Team. She is one of five ACC players on the Miller Award watch list.

“This is such deserving preseason recognition for Alyssa,” Banghart said in a release from Carolina Athletics. “She was incredibly impactful on both sides of the ball last year and over 94 feet. Lys is such a joy to coach.”

The Miller Award is given out annually by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Players can play their way onto the 20-person watch list at any point before late January, when the list is pared down to 10 names. The list will further be whittled down to five finalists before the award is officially given out in March.

Ustby and the women’s basketball team will begin their season on the afternoon of November 9, when they host North Carolina A&T in Carmichael Arena.

 

Featured image via Carolina Athletics

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