Coming from a 29-win season and a sweet 16 performance, North Carolina Ladies Basketball Coach Courtney Banghart was left with some holes to fill in her rotation this season.
A cornerstone of her program and the leading rebounder of the Tar Heels, Alyssa Ustby, had finally exhausted her suitability, just like fellow starters Lexi Donarski, Maria Gakkdeng and spare guard Grace Townsend. Banghart filled a part of that void with pick -ups of the transfer portal, which brought Louisville’s Nyla Harris and Ucla’s Elina Aarnisalo, but she has trust in the first -year students who also arrived in Chapel Hill.
This incoming Rookie class is another strong for Banghart because it contains three players arranged in ESPN’s Top 100 recruits for 2025. The headliner, and perhaps the player that Banghart is the most enthusiastic about, is Nyla Brooks.
“You know, I have not had a McDonald’s All-American here since (Deja Kelly) and Nyla Brooks is moving just like one,” Banghart said this week. “Every day Nyla Brooks walks in the gym, hugs me and says,” Coach, I have two goals: to get better and to learn. ” And she does both … she is just as good as an all-American of McDonald should be, and she uses this process even better than most of them, because she is patient.
The All-American Stat of the McDonald’s All-American Stat is not entirely true: Destiny Adams, Teonni Key and Kayla McPherson were chosen to play in the game in 2021, but it was canceled because of the Covid-19 Pandemie. Indya Nivar, who started her career at Stanford before switching to UNC in 2023, was also a McDonald’s All-American.
Yet Banghart thought it was worth pointing to the singularity of Brooks and called her in the same sense as Deja Kelly is remarkable. The way Banghart – now about to start her seventh season in Chapel Hill – spoke about Brooks, could be an indicator that she will immediately become an impactful contribution and perhaps a transforming player for a program that would like to take the next step.
“She is gifted. She is able to get to her place. She is cool. I mean – I try to be patient, so I not only give all the things that I like about her, but she is just such a bright spot,” Banghart said. “So, she has large length, great athletics, elite defensive, and can really reach her place. She also shoots out. So she adds a lot to our team.”
Brooks is a 6-foot-1 guard from Waldorf, Maryland and was arranged 13th in ESPN’s Top 100 recruits for 2025. She is a product of bishop Ireton High School and led it to a state championship as a senior, while on average 18.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists.
In addition to being called a McDonald’s All-American, she was also selected for the Jordan Brand Classic and she was named Gatorade Virginia Girls Basketball Player of the Year. In the game of McDonald, Brooks finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals in just 15 minutes of action. Play closer to home in the Jordan game, Brooks was even betterThe penetration of a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds, often acting baskets with Aaliyah Chavez from Oklahoma.
Brooks was committed to North Carolina in August 2024. Before she signed with the Tar Heels, she mentioned Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia as her other finalists. She had initially committed herself to Tennessee, but reopened hair recruitment When the volunteers fired former coach Kellie Harper. Brooks also kept offers from Arizona, Mississippi State, Virginia, West Virginia, Pitt, Wake Bos and Georgetown.
The other two incoming first -year students of UNC are Taliyah Henderson and Taissa Queiroz. Henderson is ranked as the 27th best recruit in this class by ESPN and is a fellow female star perspective, while Queiroz can be seen on the Brazilian national team. Queiroz has also registered early with UNC and has been practicing the Tar Heels since last winter.
(Henderson) has picked up a late UConn Offer because the child is so athletic. I mean, she sometimes makes (Alyssa ustby) out slow, “said Banghart.” She is incredibly dynamic, very resilient … She is a pretty good basketball player. Can really shoot it, really recovers from her area. “
The obstacle for Banghart is now this: she has two nyles in the team in Brooks and Harris.
Who is in charge of making nicknames to distinguish them two?
“It’s funny, because I asked the team a bit to take care of it. And then it is like:” Well, let’s call them Brooks and Harris. ” The problem is that none of them answers Brooks or Harris, so I do that.
If Brooks fulfills the hype and when Harris makes the leap to become a full ACC height, people will hear the name Nyla quite often in Carmichael Arena this season.
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