Kayla McPherson had had enough.
The UNC guard and one-time hotshot recruit had just announced her medical retirement from basketball, 20 months after playing her final game in December of 2023. After seven operations on both of her knees across the last four years, McPherson’s playing days were over.
So, for the first time in her adult life, she stepped away from the game.
“I was forcing it, trying to be in the gym,” McPherson told Chapelboro. “But it just got to a point where I wasn’t helping anybody. So I was like, ‘I think it’s probably best for me to step away.’ In that time, I was able to relax, get outside, do things other than basketball, because that’s all I’ve done for 17 years of my life.”
Unfortunately for McPherson, the last handful of those 17 years had been spent in grueling rehab, trying to overcome procedure after procedure on her knee. The final operation was what’s known as an osteochondral allograft, in which cartilage from a cadaver was transplanted into McPherson’s left knee. There was literally more to work with in the knee of a dead body than hers.
McPherson said she was given just a 10 percent chance of playing again after the surgery, which took place in February of 2024. But for a while, she appeared to be defying the odds. McPherson’s progress was so encouraging that she was working out and even practicing with the Tar Heels this past summer.
Eventually, though, those workouts took their toll. The surgically repaired left knee simply could not withstand the grind of college basketball anymore. McPherson had to confront a harsh reality: that quitting the game now would ensure a healthy life afterward. At this point, the two could not coexist.
And so, with the blessing of head coach Courtney Banghart, McPherson left.
“At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” McPherson remembered. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be on the team, I didn’t even know if I wanted to be around the game of basketball now that I’m not able to play anymore. But after that month of sitting out, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to the gym.’”
Today, McPherson is back in the gym with the Tar Heels, but in a different role. The 2025-26 UNC women’s basketball roster lists McPherson as a “student assistant,” a role Banghart created specifically for her. In essence, McPherson is an assistant coach-in-training, while also serving as a liaison between the staff and the players.
“She’s gonna be a great coach someday, here and anywhere else that she is,” said Banghart, who herself made the transition from star player to coach. “She’s providing incredible value. It’s just not in the way that either of us would’ve thought.”
Part of that value comes in counseling other injured players. McPherson is far from the only Tar Heel to suffer a devastating knee injury – Taliyah Henderson and Ciera Toomey both tore their ACLs in high school. Now, both say McPherson’s presence has been an invaluable one.
“It gives me perspective,” said the freshman Henderson. “And it fuels my mentality of, every minute and every time you play on the court could be your last. Making sure you play as hard as you can and making sure you leave no regrets.”
“Kayla is a gem of a human,” Toomey said. “She’s so helpful on and off the court. She uses her energy in different places, and it’s been really, really helpful.”
In addition to her role with the team, McPherson is currently enrolled in UNC’s Masters of Applied Professional Studies, or MAPS, program and is on track to graduate this spring. She deferred when asked about what she would like to do post-graduation, saying she’s simply trying to enjoy the year.
And so, “Coach” Kayla McPherson is now embarking on a season of firsts. And as it turns out, coaching is no cakewalk. The game, which had slowed down for McPherson during her playing days, has sped back up again. Her coaching style? Players say it’s loud and boisterous, very much like McPherson herself. In fact, many players described McPherson’s voice as her signature trait.
That voice, which encouraged the Tar Heels from the bench when McPherson still hoped to play again, hasn’t lost any luster now that she’s retired. It’s helped Carolina win eight of its first nine games and achieve the highest ranking of any ACC team in both the AP Poll and the NCAA’s NET metric. But the Tar Heels, and McPherson, aren’t done. In fact, McPherson says she’s only going to get louder.
“They will see a lot more yelling from me,” she said. “I already yell at them a lot, and it’s all out of love. But you will see me talk a little bit more this next year. My voice is already loud, so you’re just gonna hear more of me.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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