Representatives from the UNC women’s basketball team spoke to the media at the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte on Tuesday morning. Head coach Courtney Banghart, guard Deja Kelly and wing Alyssa Ustby all were in attendance and discussed numerous topics, including the strength of the ACC and various offseason bonding activities.
Read the trio’s full comments, which have been lightly edited for clarity, below:
Q: When you’re looking at how you guys can build this season what does that look like for you guys?
Courtney Banghart: We give a lot of credit to the ACC as a whole, because this is a league where stars come because stars want to play stars. Mm-Hmm. . The coaches and the players in this league are gonna challenge these guys and get them better night after night. The coaches are both competitive and prepared. So you as a coach, you’re being sharpened as well. I’ve been in this business a long time. It’s how you do in March and April. So we’re doing the groundwork of what we should be doing in October, so that we can be where we need to be in in March and April.
Q: Just a few seasons ago, I remember having a conversation with you and you’re like, “No one really expected us to be a great team. No one expected us to make the noise that we were making.” Now three years of the road, everyone knows what UNC is gonna bring to the table. But you’re also adding with the three returning starters, eight new faces. So what that looks like for you guys this season? How do you infuse that into your game plan. What can we be excited for? What can we look forward to?
Courtney Banghart: You know, acquiring talent is certainly one of my main responsibilities, but it’s also [the players’], right? They’ve created a style of play and a culture that people want to be a part of. So we were able to attract three really talented transfers. I give a lot of credit to the courage. The people to my left, Deja and Alyssa, have dreamt big in this program. Their actions have matched their intentions. We’re very purposely here. When you think about the additions of our rookies and our transfers, they were instrumental. These are people [that] people want to play with. They’ve handled themselves in the right way. I love our roster. We’re the most competitive team I’ve had since I’ve been at Carolina. We’re the deepest team I’ve had since I’ve been at Carolina. We hope we’ll be the most well-led since I’ve been at Carolina. Everyone’s excited about their team. I’m gonna focus on mine and I’m sure glad that I’ve got that locker room.
Q: Deja, for you, just knowing that all the eyes are on you, the nods that you’ve gotten nationally as well as as within this conference. What’s the next step for you and your game?
Deja Kelly: I think my biggest thing that I’ve really been focusing on is my leadership. Just being able to pour that into our younger ones. I have been in this league so long and I have had to go through those growth steps myself, because I had to lead myself first. I think that’s the biggest conversation that me and Coach Banghart have had is making sure that I was on top of all of my stuff and making sure that I could lead myself before I could lead others. I’m really leaning into that role a lot. And I think I’m starting to do a pretty good job so I’m looking forward to the start of the games.
Q: You’re in a very unique situation when you look at the grand scope of being a student-athlete and the balance of it all. You’re looking at NIL, you’re looking at different things on being a leader and being an example in your locker room, but also how you can build on that and using your brand. What have you learned about how to balance all of that?
Deja Kelly: I think just knowing that I have to keep the main thing the main thing. I know what has gotten me all of those opportunities is basketball and school. So I know that that can’t really interfere. Keeping the business side separate, but also knowing that it all mixes in a way. Just also making sure that my teammates know that I am still there for them. I’m working hard as well on my part to make sure that I’m giving my whole to the team. I think that that’s super important. I really don’t have a choice but to balance it. I think I’ve done a pretty good job. I don’t remember when I have had an off day. But I think that’s the beauty of it, because it just shows that hard work is paying off in a way. And I’m really happy to share that with my team as well.
UNC’s Deja Kelly has become one of the most marketable players in women’s college basketball. She has NIL deals with Outback Steakhouse, Beats By Dre and Forever 21, among others. (Image via Todd Melet)
Q: Alyssa, Coach talks about how you’re that Swiss Army knife, doing so many things. Knowing your impact on this team, what do you feel like your role is and how does that expand?
Alyssa Ustby: I feel like my role is really whatever the team calls for. Whatever Coach Banghart asks me to do, what’s needed from my teammates, whether it’s specifically for that game or that season. So stepping into the roles of just being a competitive worker and inspiring my teammates to do the same, that’s something that’s really important to us. And we have a collective understanding that if we all come together, we compete well together, then we’ll go far.
Q: What do you think that this team can do in this season?
Deja Kelly: I think we can do a lot. With the eight new pieces that we have, I think everyone brings their own competitive nature, which I think is huge to have on a really good team. Because we’re battling every single day, we’re competing against each other and building off of those strengths and weaknesses. I think that that is something that will gel us really well, because we all are like-minded and have the same goals. Being able to hold each other accountable in those ways and being able to help each other reach those goals as well, I think will be huge.
Alyssa Ustby: In addition, communication is something that’s really important, and all of us have agreed that this year we’re going to commit to learning how to communicate better with one another inside the lines and outside the lines as well, because we realized that that’s a really important component for successful teams.
Q: It takes some time to build the chemistry. So can you explain a little bit about this pickleball tournament that you guys hosted?
Courtney Banghart: On the last day of workouts we surprised them with a pickleball tournament. So they picked names out of a hat and played. And watching, 5-9 [players] all the way to 6-5 play pickleball was hilarious. We left some scratches on the court for sure. There’s long wingspans and super competitive natures. So that was one of the many fun things that we’ve done. Wiffleball tournaments. Mm-Hmm. Whitewater rafting. These guys are doers. They’re livers. They’ve got a lot of layers to them, so we’ve really had a blast and everybody connected.
We had gone on the New River up in West Virginia a couple years ago and it was just remarkable. So we came into this venue [in Charlotte] and we said, “We wanna give it to ’em.” Man, we’re not doing that again. Indya [Nivar] fell out twice, Coach fell out. We’re better on the basketball court, let’s put it that way.
Just some Tar Heels getting ready for a white water rapid run.
Summer school ✅
Staying in the boat 🫣
Love me some them 💙 pic.twitter.com/UmchB1sDo9— Courtney Banghart (@CoachBanghart) August 3, 2023
Q: How that can translate for you guys on the court? I know it’s limited time that you’ve been on the court together, but already what you have seen as far as what you guys can be as a cohesive unit?
Deja Kelly: Those moments, those small games that we play, just things like that to be able to show each other’s personality, I think is huge. Because I think that plays just as big of a role as our on-court performance as well. Because for us to be able to bond like that and being able to laugh together and go through the fun times together, we know that we’re gonna have to go through the hard times together as well. So I think that those games and the rafting, I think that all plays a big part because it just gives us a chance to bond and learn about each other in a different way and in a different environment. I think it’ll definitely carry over.
Q: How will your early non-conference schedule help you gauge where you are?
Courtney Banghart: It’s critical. The game right before South Carolina, if we advance in the [Gulf Coast Showcase] tournament on Thanksgiving, we’ve got Iowa. And then two games later, UConn. And then of course we’ve got Kansas State and it’s a neutral site, and the Jumpman Invitational here in Charlotte against Oklahoma.
When you have a good team, you want to play good teams. It’s really good for our game. The viewership and the media and the country want good teams playing good teams. We’ve got a good team now. So we want to make sure that we are helping grow the game in the ways that we’re responsible for. Mm-Hmm. , right? And then also you’ve got the opportunity to get ready for what is the gauntlet of the ACC. We’ve gotta be able to be prepared. We’ve gotta take some hits in stretches to ensure that we’re tough enough and we’re resilient enough. We’ve just gotta find out a little bit more about the margins, right? Because the margins are what separate these top 10 teams from each other. And so we’re gonna learn a lot about our margins as we prepare for ACC play.
Q: Alyssa, I wanted to go back to you. When you hear your coach say, “We have an opportunity to grow the game,” how does that sound with you? What does that feel like? Knowing that you are a difference-maker for what this game is?
Alyssa Ustby: It’s just an incredible opportunity to even know that younger girls and people in general are looking up to myself and my teammates. That gives you another reason to keep showing up and working hard. Because not only are we doing it for ourselves and each other, but we’re doing it for the community and to grow something that’s much bigger than ourselves.
Q: Coach, when you were recruiting Alyssa out of high school, what did you see that other recruiters didn’t? And what has she done in Chapel Hill to surprise you?
Courtney Banghart: The things I saw when I first saw Alyssa were the relentlessness and the athleticism. If you give me those two things with her size, the rest is history. The kid’s a winner. She’s won in everything she’s ever done. I remember when we first got her, she wasn’t as highly-ranked as she should have been. She led us in minutes her freshman year. And people are like, “How’d you get Alyssa Ustby?” And I said, “Because none of y’all wanted her.”
You want to recruit kids you can lose with, right? Because if you can lose with them, you won’t lose very often. I can walk down any tunnel after a game and know she gave me everything she got. Those are the kids we want in our program.
She’s gone from being a great athlete to a great basketball player. And that has been just with work. She can run the floor and she can be versatile. She can also play the game. She can change her pace, she’s extended her range. She can finish with her right and left [hands]. She’s got great footwork in the post. She uses her angles defensively. The kid has used her desire to be great at anything to make her a great basketball player. And that’s been really fun to be part of that process.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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