Indya Nivar hopes to help the UNC women's basketball program go far this season
An Apex, North Carolina native, Indya Nivar didn't take the traditional route to make her way to Chapel Hill.
The former top-20 prospect, who earned North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball, McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American honors during her senior season of high school, elected to begin her collegiate career at Stanford.
After one season there, Nivar entered the transfer portal and decided to return back to her home state.
Now, Nivar is ready to begin her second season as a Tar Heel and aims to make a huge impact for this year's squad.
2023-2024 Season In Review
In her first season as a Tar Heel, Nivar played in all 33 games, making six starts. She averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Her best outing came on opening day, as she became the first UNC women's basketball player since 2013 to record a double-double in her Tar Heel debut. She finished her first career game at North Carolina with a 17-point, 11-rebound outing in the victory over Gardner Webb.
Nivar showed that she can impact the game in a variety of ways, including scoring the basketball. She scored in double-figures on nine separate occasions, proving her ability to put the ball in the basket.
What to Expect in 2024-2025
I expect Nivar's role to be similar to what we saw a year ago.
Nivar will be called upon to play a good amount of minutes as she's a player who provides versatility for the Tar Heels. Averaging just under 22 minutes per-game a season ago, it wouldn't be a surprise to see that number go up a bit this year, especially if injuries once again impact the UNC women's basketball program.
Bold Prediction
One area that Nivar struggled with a season ago was three-point shooting. She connected on just 18 of her 79 attempts from beyond-the-arc (22.8%), which is very disappointing given that she has earned the reputation of being a good scorer.
This year, Nivar will benefit from more space to work with, as the UNC women's basketball program should be able to provide more open looks for their shooters. Nivar is one of them, as I'm predicting she'll raise her three-point shooting percentage to at least 30%.