What Deja Kelly entering the transfer portal means for UNC Tar Heels women’s basketball

North Carolina’s women’s basketball team could look a bit different next season.

On Monday afternoon, four-year starter Deja Kelly entered the transfer portal, multiple sources confirmed to the News & Observer. Kelly is the sixth Tar Heel to enter the portal since UNC’s season ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national champion South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

Kelly joins forwards RyLee Grays, Alexandra Zelaya, Teonni Key and Anya Poole in the portal. Sophomore guard Paulina Paris was also in the portal, but announced her commitment to Arizona last week.

The potential departure of Kelly could mark the end of an era for UNC women’s basketball. Kelly – a 5-foot-8 guard from San Antonio, Texas – was the highest ranked player in coach Courtney Banghart’s first recruiting class, tabbed as the 10th-best player in the country by ESPN in 2020.

Since her arrival in Chapel Hill, Kelly has been a leader for the Tar Heels, starting in 120 of the 121 games she played in. With Kelly’s emergence came success and a rise back to the top of women’s college basketball for the Tar Heels.

In each of Kelly’s four seasons, UNC made the NCAA Tournament – including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2022 when she was a sophomore. In each of the past three seasons, UNC was ranked in the AP Top 25 poll at some point in the season, rising to as high as sixth in the 2022-23 campaign.

Before the arrival of Kelly, Ustby and the 2020 recruiting class, UNC had missed four of the past five NCAA tournaments.

“I don’t think there’s a good amount of words that can describe what we’ve done for this program and how we’ve built it up to where it is now. I can just say I’m really grateful to have been a part of it in these past four years and whatever the future holds,” Kelly said after the loss to South Carolina on March 24. “For us to go through all those ups and downs and all the adversity together and to still build the North Carolina brand and North Carolina program back up, I think it took a lot of toughness. It took a lot of heart.”

Expectations were high for the Tar Heels this season as they began the year ranked No. 16 in the preseason poll, but injuries piled up and derailed UNC from reaching its potential. Freshmen Cierra Toomey and Laila Hull were ruled out for the year before the season started, Key battled a lower body injury in November, and eventually guards Kayla McPherson, Reniya Kelly and Paris all suffered season-ending injuries.

With their guard depth depleted, Kelly played 35 minutes or more in each of UNC’s final 17 games. Kelly led the team in scoring this season with 16.3 points per game on 34.6% shooting. She was named to the all-ACC first team for the third season in a row.

“Honestly, this was one of the most mentally draining years, for me personally, which can mean a lot of different things,” Kelly said after UNC lost to South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “We’re not asking anyone to feel sorry for us, but it was a lot of ups and downs.”

Despite the injuries, UNC still notched a handful of impressive, signature wins, beating Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Louisville, N.C. State, Duke and Michigan State.

Kelly balanced basketball and schoolwork with her career off the court as an influencer and burgeoning media star. Kelly has NIL endorsement deals and partnerships with Tommy Hilfiger, Keurig, Beats By Dre, TurboTax, DoorDash, Wingstop, Jansport and more. She also hosted a YouTube show called “NILosphy.”

If Kelly decides to not return to UNC, she will leave the program as its eighth all-time leading scorer with 1,858 points. The skills Kelly showed off most often on the court was a smooth mid-range jumper and the ability to draw fouls in bunches. She was fifth in the nation in free throw attempts this season with 7.1 per game.

UNC is still set to return McPherson, Reniya Kelly, Lexi Donarski and Sydney Barker at the guard position next season, while also welcoming in top 100 recruits in Jordan Zubich and Lanie Grant.