Coming off a 29-win season and a Candy 16 look, North Carolina girls’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart was left with some holes to fill in her rotation this offseason.
A cornerstone of her program and the Tar Heels’ all-time main rebounder, Alyssa Ustby, had lastly exhausted her eligibility, as did fellow starters Lexi Donarski, Maria Gakdeng, and reserve guard Grace Townsend. Banghart crammed a few of that void with pickups from the switch portal, bringing in Louisville’s Nyla Harris and UCLA’s Elina Aarnisalo, however she’s assured within the group of freshmen which have arrived in Chapel Hill too.
This incoming rookie class is one other sturdy one for Banghart because it options three gamers ranked in ESPN’s prime 100 recruits for 2025. The headliner, and maybe the participant that Banghart is most enthusiastic about, is Nyla Brooks.
“You realize, I haven’t had a McDonald’s All-American right here since (Deja Kelly), and Nyla Brooks is transferring each bit like one,” Banghart stated this week. “Every single day, Nyla Brooks walks within the health club, hugs me and says, ‘Coach, I received two objectives: To get higher and to be taught.’ And she or he’s doing each… She’s each bit pretty much as good as a McDonald’s All-American must be, and she or he’s dealing with this course of even higher than most do, as a result of she’s affected person. She understands her job proper now could be to be taught. She doesn’t take that course of too severely.”
The McDonald’s All-American stat isn’t completely true: Future Adams, Teonni Key and Kayla McPherson had been chosen to play within the recreation in 2021, however it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indya Nivar, who started her profession at Stanford earlier than transferring into UNC in 2023, was a McDonald’s All-American too.
Nonetheless, that Banghart thought it was price stating Brooks’ singularity and talked about her in the identical sentence as Deja Kelly is noteworthy. The way in which that Banghart — now about to start her seventh season in Chapel Hill — talked about Brooks might be an indicator that she’s going to be an impactful contributor instantly and maybe a transformative participant for a program desirous to take the subsequent step.
“She’s gifted. She’s capable of get to her spot. She’s robust. I imply — I’m attempting to be affected person so I don’t simply give away all of the issues I really like about her, however she is simply such a vibrant spot,” Banghart stated. “So, she’s received nice size, nice athleticism, elite defensively, and might actually get to her spot. She’s taking pictures the heck out of it too. So she provides so much to our group.”
Brooks is a 6-foot-1 guard from Waldorf, Maryland and was ranked thirteenth in ESPN’s prime 100 recruits for 2025. She’s a product of Bishop Ireton Excessive College and led it to a state championship as a senior whereas averaging 18.3 factors, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per recreation.
Along with being named a McDonald’s All-American, she was additionally chosen for the Jordan Model Basic and was named Gatorade Virginia Women Basketball Participant of the Yr. Within the McDonald’s recreation, Brooks completed with 11 factors, 4 rebounds and two steals in simply quarter-hour of motion. Enjoying nearer to dwelling within the Jordan recreation, Brooks was even higher, pouring in a game-high 28 factors and 10 rebounds, typically buying and selling baskets with Oklahoma’s Aaliyah Chavez.
Brooks dedicated to North Carolina again in August 2024. Earlier than signing with the Tar Heels, she listed Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia as her different finalists. She had initially dedicated to Tennessee, however reopened her recruitment when the Volunteers fired former coach Kellie Harper. Brooks additionally held presents from Arizona, Mississippi State, Virginia, West Virginia, Pitt, Wake Forest and Georgetown.
UNC’s different two incoming freshmen are Taliyah Henderson and Taissa Queiroz. Henderson is ranked because the twenty seventh greatest recruit on this class by ESPN and is a fellow five-star prospect, whereas Queiroz has featured for the Brazilian nationwide group. Queiroz additionally enrolled early at UNC and has been practising with the Tar Heels since final winter.
“(Henderson) picked up a late UConn supply as a result of the child is so athletic. I imply, she makes (Alyssa Ustby) look, at occasions, sluggish,” Banghart stated. “She’s extremely dynamic, very bouncy… She’s a reasonably darn good basketball participant. Can actually shoot it, rebounds out of her space rather well.”
The hurdle for Banghart is now this: She has two Nylas on the group in Brooks and Harris.
Who’s in control of creating nicknames to distinguish the 2 of them?
“It’s humorous, as a result of I type of requested the group to deal with it. After which it’s like, ‘Effectively, let’s name them Brooks and Harris.’ The issue is, neither of them reply to Brooks or Harris, proper? So I’m doing that. I’m doing what I used to be advised,” Banghart stated with amusing. “No, nothing has caught but… We’re going to depend on each of them, in order that they’re going to should determine it out.”
If Brooks lives as much as the hype and if Harris makes the leap to changing into an All-ACC standout, people are going to listen to the identify Nyla very often in Carmichael Enviornment this season.
