Nyla Harris, who spent the previous three seasons with Louisville, signed with head coach Courtney Banghart and the Tar Heels out of the transfer portal Friday morning. Harris will have one year of eligibility remaining.

“Nyla is the perfect fit,” said Banghart. “She is a proven winner in our conference, an elite rebounder, and high motor two-way contributor in the ACC. She will bring great experience, and her personality lights up the room. Importantly, Nyla is hungry to be a part of this special team and she will make us better.”

A five-star recruit out of Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, Harris was ranked as the No. 35 overall player in the class of 2022 by ESPN. The Tar Heels offered her a scholarship and were among Harris’ finalists, but the six-foot-two forward ultimately chose the Cardinals. Florida State, NC State and Georgia Tech were her other finalists.

Though she played a reserve role to begin her freshman season at Louisville, Harris eventually broke into the starting lineup midway through the year and stayed there for the rest of her time with the program. Harris started 81 of her final 82 games as a Cardinal, including a run to the Elite 8 in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where Louisville ultimately lost to Caitlin Clark and Iowa.

Harris averaged 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds as a junior during the 2024-25 season, though those numbers represent a slight regression from her sophomore campaign, when Harris averaged 10.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She shot 74.7 from the free throw line across her final two seasons at Louisville.

Harris’ addition to Banghart’s program – the first of the 2025 offseason – comes as UNC will lose frontcourt starters Alyssa Ustby and Maria Gakdeng, who are both out of collegiate eligibility. The Tar Heels will hope to retain forwards Blanca Thomas and Ciera Toomey, who each have three years of collegiate eligibility remaining but have not made an announcement about their future plans.

 

Featured image via Louisville Athletics

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