UNC Women's Basketball cracks On3's post-spring Top 25 rankings
We haven't even hit the summer months yet, but it's never too early to take a look at potential women's college basketball rankings for the upcoming 2024-2025 season!
Talia Goodman of On3, who has been on top of essentially everything in women's college basketball since the offseason began, released her post-spring top-25 rankings. Goodman tabs the UNC women's basketball program as the No. 18 ranked team in the country, as she provided the below explanation:
"North Carolina returns Lexi Donarski and Alyssa Ustby for their fifth seasons, but Deja Kelly entered the transfer portal and recently committed to Oregon. There are a decent amount of unknowns in how newcomers Grace Townsend, a transfer from Richmond, and a group of highly-ranked freshmen will slot into this squad. Donarski and Ustby will hold a lot of responsibility heading into this season, and the Tar Heels can afford to take some time to mesh before ACC play starts up."
Although Deja Kelly has departed, the roster features some key returners. Alyssa Ustby and Lexi Donarski look to lead the way for this year's squad, while the likes of Maria Gakdeng, Indya Nivar and Reniya Kelly look to make even more of an impact in their second seasons in Chapel Hill.
Not only do the Tar Heels have a good amount of returning talent, but have added some key reinforcements via the transfer portal and the incoming freshman class. With the re-classification of Lanie Grant, Courtney Banghart's team has three talented incoming freshman joining this year's squad, while two veteran transfers, Grace Townsend and Trayanna Crisp, look to use their experience to their advantage as they start their respective Tar Heel careers.
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The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to once again be one of the most competitive conferences in the country, but expect the UNC women's basketball program to be right in the thick of things once the season begins.