The UNC women’s basketball team is preparing to begin play in the NCAA Tournament this weekend after its best season in seven years. The Tar Heels finished 23-6 overall and 13-5 in conference play. They are seeded No. 5 in the Greensboro region of the tournament.
And within the program, there is a strong belief that this season isn’t simply a flash in the pan. A big reason why? The Tar Heels are currently missing three rotation players, all of whom are recovering from torn ACLs and none of whom have played a single minute this season. Freshmen Teonni Key and Kayla McPherson, along with redshirt junior Ariel Young, are all expected to be ready to practice this fall. Key and McPherson were both top 20 recruits for Carolina, while Young transferred in from Michigan before the start of the 2020-21 season.
Key came in as the crown jewel of a heralded 2021 recruiting class for head coach Courtney Banghart. The six-foot, three-inch wing from nearby Cary was ranked as the ninth overall player in the nation. But her freshman year was torpedoed before it even began, after she tore her ACL during a preseason scrimmage against the top-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. Key told Chapelboro this season has been the longest she’s ever been away from basketball, but there are still some positives to take away from the experience.
“It’s really good seeing everything from the sidelines,” she said. “Practices, games and stuff. It’s been a really big learning experience, basketball-wise and also just personally.”
McPherson, a five-foot, seven-inch guard from Hull, GA, is still dealing with the effects of a torn ACL from her senior year of high school. Unlike Key and Young, McPherson didn’t initially think her injury was as serious as it was.
“My first thought was, ‘I’ll be out for like two months, and I’ll be fine,'” she told Chapelboro. “And once they told me it was an ACL, I did all the research about it, and I was like, ‘Man, this is a long, long process.'”
That process has now stretched out over two years, with McPherson taking a medical redshirt this season. It was a decision which was more precautionary than anything else. As of now, McPherson can play 1-on-1 with her teammates. The only hill left to climb is 5-on-5 action.
Key and teammate Ariel Young are still further away. Young is the only one of the injured trio who have played in a Tar Heel uniform. The redshirt junior appeared in all of UNC’s 24 games last season off the bench. She suffered her injury during a preseason practice last fall. Unfortunately, torn ACLs appear to run in Young’s family: Ariel’s mother and sister have both suffered the injury.
“I kinda heard that popping sound, and I was like, ‘Yep,'” Young told Chapelboro. “I kinda knew in my heart.”
“You don’t forget those days,” Banghart said of the injuries. “It’s just gut-wrenching. It’s awful.”
Young’s rehab process has been challenging, but she’s embracing the perks that come with it: namely, dedicating more time to school and her hobbies.
“Eva [Hodgson] and Carlie [Littlefield] have gotten me really into puzzles,” she said with a laugh. “So I’ve been doing a lot of puzzles.”
Young, Key and McPherson will all be critical pieces to Banghart’s UNC puzzle next season and beyond. With four of five starters projected to return for 2022-23, and wing Carlie Littlefield applying for a waiver from the NCAA, it’s likely none of the three will initially start next season. But with all three earning medical redshirts, the trio are in effect getting a free season of learning basketball on the sidelines.
“We’re seeing the bright side of [the injuries],” said Banghart. “Obviously, we’re doing quite well without them… think about the advantage they have. They travel, they do the scout, they’re responsible for the scout. They get quizzed like everybody else.”
With each of their rehab journeys happening simultaneously, Key, McPherson and Young each acknowledged how one player’s progress pushes the other two. It’s another form of competition for the sidelined competitors, but one in which every single step is a win.
“It’s just our bond with rooting for each other,” Key said. “You’re never going through it alone.”
“It’ll definitely show when we get back on the floor,” said Young.
And that time is closer than ever before. Key impressed fans with her performance at the program’s Late Night celebration in October, but for a women’s basketball program whose campus-wide notoriety is on the rise, the three players still aren’t as well-known as stars like Deja Kelly or Kennedy Todd-Williams. Key and McPherson have never played in a collegiate game, and Young’s one season with Carolina came when fans weren’t allowed in the building. That will change next season, and all three are looking forward to introducing themselves to Carmichael Arena.
“I expect fans to see that I am going to be 100 percent committed to this team, no matter what,” Young said. “I definitely want to be an energy-giver.”
Key, the highest-ranked recruit for the women’s basketball program in recent years, gave a sly smile before giving her answer.
“They can expect some dawgs,” she said. (“Some real ballplayers,” McPherson said in the background.)
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Key went on. “It’s gonna be crazy, though.”
Featured image UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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