UNC women’s basketball head coach Courtney Banghart spoke at her program’s annual media day at Carmichael Arena last week. Banghart is entering her fifth season on the bench in Chapel Hill. She addressed several topics, including new depth, potential lineup changes and her team’s challenging 2024-25 schedule.
Read through Banghart’s comments, which have been lightly edited for clarity, below:
On the evolution of Alyssa Ustby’s game: Year, by year, the layers of Alyssa’s game have been on full display. She’s gotten better and better incrementally, coming from a non-top 100 player to, we’ve already had WNBA teams in here watching her. And the last stage of her development is the three-point shot. So starting from the first day we were allowed to get in the gym, that’s all we did. She didn’t work with anybody else. She didn’t work on her passing or her ball-handling or her mid-range. All we did was we broke her shot down from her feet to her hands to her release. And in typical Alyssa fashion, she’s put the time in. That kid has put in thousands of hours, and knows that that’s an important part of her game. And she’s looking forward to using it, which will help our team play with better spacing.
On Ciera Toomey’s rehab and recovery from injuries which sidelined her for the entirety of last season: She’s just so much stronger now. What she wasn’t able to do when she was injured was a lot of the contact, and what she was able to do is work on her body. So she’s much stronger and more agile. She’s obviously been skilled for quite a while. And the big thing is, she’s guarding Alyssa Ustby every day. You know how these quarterbacks buy their offensive linemen Rolex watches and cars? I told her she should buy her dinner every night, because Alyssa’s gotten her a lot better. Imagine dealing with Alyssa on both ends every single day. I think that’s helped with her speed and her reactions and her anticipation. And she’s also a top-five player coming out of high school. So we are going to ensure that her journey is one of great success. You’ve gotta hit some singles before you hit home runs. So we’re gonna hit some singles with her to start.
On Toomey’s skillset: She’s really skilled, and what she does is she allows us to stretch. She’s a great passer. She’s a great shooter. She can play inside. We’ve really worked hard on that part of her game. She just gives you a true three-level scorer that can pass and, along with it, she’s big. She’s hard to move. Everything creates more space for our team, which makes everybody better.
On potential lineup changes: It’s totally different. I don’t know who’s who. I don’t know who’s starting. I don’t know how the minutes are gonna shake out, because we have so many options in such a good way. We have a lot of guys that can shoot it. We have a lot of guys that can handle and facilitate. We have a lot of guys that are two-way players. Regardless of age, they’ve been going really hard since June. And they’ve really shown very unique skill sets to one another. It’ll be fun. We’re gonna see together how it all plays out in the first few games to figure out what that rotation will look like. They’re all a little bit different in a really good way. They all offer a lot to what we do.
On the offense being described as ‘free-flowing’: It’s funny because we’ve been really good defensively here, and I’ve got a lot of friends in the business and they’re all like, ‘It’s almost comical that a Courtney Banghart team is talking about defense.’ Because I’ve always preferred offense. Offense is a balance of control and freedom. That’s what we were just showing on film. It’s not like, ‘Do what you want.’ That’s called pickup, which is also incredibly fun, but it’s a balance between control and freedom and reads that we need to make based on where the ball is and what our skill sets are. And they’re learning that, and I think they’re really enjoying learning that because there’s a lot of options. It doesn’t mean they do whatever, it just means they have way more options. Whereas last year I had to really manage the game through sets and play calls to get certain people the ball in their certain particular skill set. And as skill has increased and as we have more versatile skill sets, we now can play with more freedom.
Alyssa Ustby will lead a UNC offense which coaches and players have described as more dynamic than those of seasons past. (Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jerome M. Ibrahim)
On players saying this year’s team is ‘flying under the radar’: I don’t know. I mean, I think the radar has us basically somewhere in the top 15. It’s kids being kids, really thinking that before they’ve done anything. ‘Hey, what about us?’ What? You’re o-o. We haven’t won a game yet. Let’s talk about that later. So I think some of them are probably thinking they’re under the radar thinking they should be top 10. I don’t know. And some are probably like, ‘What is the radar?’ We’re 0-0. I really like our team. They’re joyful, they’re humble, they’re really hard-working, they’re very connected. And I like that we have a lot of options.
On her team playing in the Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas: It’s great to be included. Obviously, it’s not an event you can just ask to be a part of. So that’s super exciting. Three games in three days, you gotta be deep. So I like that it’s a better year for us to do that. It’s hard because it’s one of those tournaments where if you win, you play them, and if you lose, you play [someone else]. Six [scouting reports] in three days for me, so I don’t think I’ll be enjoying the Bahamas too much. But I’m really just glad to be a part of a field like that. And you come off of the UConn game [on November 15] and then you get to play that, and then you come back and play Kentucky [on December 5], these guys will find out what their radar is when they start playing these guys.
On bringing in guards Grace Townsend and Trayanna Crisp via the transfer portal: We felt like the portal gives you such an opportunity to fill important gaps. We knew what we needed, and those are the two we went after. There’s always media who says they’re going after so and so. Those are the two we wanted. And we got them. And we made sure that we were their only visit and made that happen. They have been even better than advertised. Those two kids are really good basketball players and even better teammates.
Richmond’s Grace Townsend is one of two players who joined Carolina via the transfer portal this offseason, along with Arizona State’s Trayanna Crisp. (Image via Richmond Athletics)
On the team’s improved shooting: When we played Michigan State [in the NCAA Tournament] and they averaged almost 90 points a game, the guys that were doing the scout came in and said, ‘All right, they average 90 points a game.’ And I said, ‘And if they score over 55, we don’t beat them.’ We wouldn’t score 90 points in an empty gym if you gave me a 40-minute game. But now we’ve got a lot of people that can score the ball. There’s not one kid that we brought in that can’t shoot. We all can. It’s not that last year there was a mental psyche, it was that they actually didn’t have the skill to do that. Now we have more options there.
On freshman Lanie Grant reclassifying and joining the team a year early: Right after the ACC Tournament, she played in the state championship the next day. So I drove up there to see that, and I literally texted her mom and said, ‘Your kid could help us right now.’ That’s all I said. And then within 48 hours, the decision had been made that she was coming. For her, it made sense. She felt like she was ready for the next challenge. All she cares about is competing. She knew this would be a place where she could really compete. She’s not even old enough to vote. So she is very young. And you won’t be able to tell. She’s as tough as they come and incredibly confident. And for young guys to contribute, they have to have maturity. What I mean by that is, one bad play, one bad possession, one bad day: does that force you to come in and say, ‘Ugh,’ or does it force you to say ‘What’s next?’ She’s able to just go to ‘What’s next?’ so easily and seamlessly. She’s just an old soul. She’s more mature than I am actually.
Featured image via Associated Press/Gerry Broome
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