Incoming recruiting class providing versatility for UNC women's basketball

Look through the North Carolina women’s basketball team’s 2021 recruiting class, and it’s hard not to see a pattern.

Athletic. Rebounds. Defensively versatile. Makes plays in transition. Plays up-tempo.

In her third year at the wheel, head coach Courtney Banghart is molding a team that, if nothing else, will be a joy to watch and a nightmare to play against.

Perhaps there’s no better prototype for the way Banghart wants to play than first-year forward Teonni Key, the No. 9 prospect in the nation. The Cary native is comfortable playing small forward and power forward, which is where her potential gets devastating.

The 6-foot-3 forward promises to be an elite scorer off the dribble. That will be key when she matches up against slower power forwards, where she can beat them to the basket or create separation for a jumper.

Key’s versatility doesn’t stop on offense. The five-star recruit’s length and athleticism allow her to be a potential problem for guards and bigs alike on defense. Add in great transition playmaking and rebounding, and you have an all-around pest.

First-year wing Destiny Adams is eerily similar to Key. Six-foot-three, a great attacker on the fast break, a rebounder, can attack off the dribble, gets to the rim and free throw line and is defensively versatile. 

Hailing from Whiting, N.J., Adams wasn’t shy defending all five positions in high school. Should they develop properly, Key and Adams should be a tough puzzle for opposing coaches to solve.

The guards aren’t any less exciting, though. First-year guards Morasha Wiggins and Kayla McPherson both fit the Banghart bill: explosive athletes who deliver on the fast break and create shots for themselves, even in traffic. Between the two, Wiggins is the more promising rebounder, while McPherson is the lead distributor of the future.

But enough about the on-court potential. Junior forward Malu Tshitenge is impressed with the first-years’ application in practice.

“They’re just so open-minded,” Tshitenge said. “Not only do they listen to the coaching staff, but they listen to us veterans. They take in everything. They want to learn. They want to grow."

Tshitenge has taken notice of the team building, declaring that UNC women’s basketball is no longer in transition — it is Banghart’s program.

“We’re so versatile,” she said. "We have guards who can post up, guards who can handle the ball and we also have (bigs) who can post up, we have (bigs) who can handle the ball. And that’s Coach’s style of play: that versatility, that fast pace.”

Sophomore guard Deja Kelly already feels the team is playing faster than it did last year. She explained how versatility helps on the defensive end, as well.

“Defensively, we have some 4s, even 5s, that can guard on the perimeter, which, I think, helps a lot with switches or having to play ball screens,” said Kelly.

It’s not often a sophomore is expected to show leadership, but on a team with nine first-years and sophomores, Kelly, as told by Banghart, has no choice. Kelly has seized the opportunity, teaching lessons she learned from an up-and-down first year.

“I was like, ‘Listen, things aren’t always gonna be easy, but we’re here to help you learn throughout these couple of months before the season starts,’” Kelly said. “And I think they really embraced that. They learned so quickly. They adapted really well to classes, to practice, to the pace of college basketball.”

There’s a lot of gelling together to do, but Kelly isn’t alone. She highlighted the experience of the team captains — graduate transfers Eva Hodgson and Carlie Littlefield and graduate student Jaelynn Murray — to help steady the ship.

And it’s not always cold, serious business, especially with the new recruits as comic relief, according to Kelly.

“They are a very goofy group,” Kelly said. “Y’all would have to see it in person just to see how goofy they are. But they’re all coming from a great place. It’s hard to get mad at them or think they’re doing anything wrong because they’re naturally goofy.”  

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