Tag: Deja Kelly

Deja Kelly named to All-ACC first team

North Carolina Tar Heel Deja Kelly has been named to the All-ACC first team for the second year.

North Carolina women’s basketball star [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] has earned a spot on the All-ACC first team for the second year.

The San Antonio, Texas, junior guard has become a household name nationwide, collecting accolades throughout the season. In October, Kelly was named the Phil Knight Invitational MVP. Kelly dominated the tournament. She delivered a memorable performance against Iowa State, finishing with 29 points and eight rebounds.

Kelly has been a great scoring option for UNC, often being the circled player on opposing team charts. Her best performance came in early February against Syracuse, where she had her season-high 32 points on an effective 52% from the field.

Kelly was posed to have a big year, which has shown as her field goal percentage improved and increased assists per game. In addition, Kelly leads UNC in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game.

The junior will be counted on in the postseason, with North Carolina heading into the tournament as a top 20 team in the nation.

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Deja Kelly named Phil Knight Invitational MVP

UNC Junior guard Deja Kelly was named MVP for the Phil Knight Invitational after leading the Heels to victory over No. Iowa State.

The North Carolina women’s basketball team earned their first trophy of the season, winning the Phil Knight Invitational, with [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] earning the tournament’s MVP honor. 

Kelly has been playing great basketball for the 6-0 UNC program but turned it up another notch during the Phil Knight Invitational. North Carolina qualified after beating No.18 Oregon, where Kelly poured it on, finishing with 17 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.  

The Junior guard stepped it up even more in the championship game in the Tar Heel comeback win over No. 5 Iowa State. Kelly finished with a season-high 29 points, adding eight rebounds and four assists to her dominating night. 

This award could be the first of many Kelly wins this season, as she is on the watch list for the Wooden Award, Naismith trophy, and the Nancy Lieberman Award. 

Kelly and the Tar Heels will be back in action on Thursday, December 1st, as they travel to take on No. 6 Indiana. 

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Deja Kelly named to Wooden Award preseason watch list

North Carolina women’s basketball guard Deja Kelly adds another award to her watch list as UNC hopes to compete for a National title.

The North Carolina women’s basketball season is already off to a strong start, and it just got much sweeter for junior guard [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] as it was announced she was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list.

Kelly is a focal point of North Carolina’s offense and pivotal to the national championship puzzle they are looking to create. The Wooden Award is a prestigious honor given to the male and female players of the year. The most recent winners are Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston.

This is one of many awards Kelly has been watched for. She is on the watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award and the Naismith Trophy. Kelly is averaging 9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.

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North Carolina leaps to 2-0 with a 75-48 win over TCU

The North Carolina women’s basketball team delivers statement win in their second game of the season.

The North Carolina women’s basketball team kicked off their second game of the season against TCU with a slow start and strong finish.

Both teams had a share of their own runs in the first quarter. After both teams traded buckets, UNC went on a seven-point run, leading TCU 13-6. The lead did not last long as the Frogs leaped back with an 11 to 2-point run to end the first quarter and take the lead 17-15.

The second quarter went to the Tar Heels, with guard Alyssa Ustby scoring six of her 14 points in that period. TCU was able to push the lead to 19-15, but shortly after that would soon vanish with North Carolina going on an 11-point run. UNC ended the second quarter on top 30-24.

The third quarter was all North Carolina, pushing the lead to double digits early. Deja Kelly scored nine of her 12 points in the quarter as UNC outscored TCU 27-6.

By the time the fourth quarter came, the game was well out of reach—an ideal statement game for the ball club, with contributions coming from everyone. Ustby and Kennedy Todd-Willams led UNC in points with 14 each. Kelly finished with 12, Anaya Poole with 10, and Destiny Adams off the bench with ten.

The team will return on Wednesday as they take South Carolina State.

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Deja Kelly named to Nancy Lieberman Award watch list

UNC’s Deja Kelly is one of twenty named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list for the top point guard in women’s collegiate basketball.

UNC women’s basketball guard [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] has become nationally recognized as one of the top players in the country and is on the receiving end of another honor.

Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Kelly was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list, as one of 20 point guards named to the list The award goes to the top point guard in collegiate women’s basketball. A prize first won by WNBA great Sue Bird.

The award last season went to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

Last season, North Carolina made significant strides with a large contribution from Kelly’s offensive attack. The junior averaged 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game, helping UNC dance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

 

Kelly and the Tar Heels are hoping to take the next step this year and make it past the Sweet 16. They were ranked as a preseason Top 15 team ahead of the year.

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UNC announces players who will represent programs at ACC Media Day

The UNC basketball program announces which men’s and women’s players will represent the programs at ACC Media Day next week.

ACC media day takes place on October 12 and both the UNC basketball men’s and women’s team will be represented.

For the women’s team, they will be up first among the UNC programs and will take the podium at 9 am ET.

For Media Day, UNC will be represented by head coach Courtney Banghart and players [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] and [autotag]Kennedy Todd-Williams[/autotag].

Kelly is a sophomore who turned in a standout freshman season for the Tar Heels. She averaged 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 36.1 percent from three. She had 23 points in an eight-point loss to South Carolina in the Sweet 16.

Todd-Williams, like Kelly, is returning after a very good freshman season. She averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game a year ago.

UNC looks to build off of a terrific season a year ago when advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to No. 1 seed South Carolina.

Head coach Courtney Banghart is going into her fourth season at North Carolina and has a current record of 54-32 in three years. The NCAA Tournament was cancelled in her first season but she has led the Tar Heels to back-to-back tournament berths.

The men will take the podium at 3:30 pm ET as one of the last teams of the day. The Tar Heels will be one of two programs on either the men’s of women’s side to have three student-athletes attend.

UNC will have [autotag]Armando Bacot[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] and [autotag]RJ Davis [/autotag] as its attendees alongside had coach Hubert Davis.

Heading into the season, all three players are expected on one of the preseason All-American teams — with Bacot leading the charge as a projected First Team All-American.

Bacot averaged 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game last season and became the first player in NCAA Tournament history with six double-doubles in one NCAA Tournament.

Love averaged 15.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game and was part of the NCAA All-Tournament team.

Lastly, for Davis, he averaged 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Head coach Hubert Davis enters his second season just one game shy of being the defending National Champions. The Tar Heels lost in the title game to Kansas by three.

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UNC WBB coach Courtney Banghart gives praise to two Tar Heels

UNC Women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart takes to Twitter to acknowledge the work ethic of two Tar Heels.

The UNC women’s basketball team has been hard at work looking to build on their 25-7 record last season.

[autotag]Courtney Banghart[/autotag] took to Twitter Sunday evening to shout out two Tar Heels on the team for staying locked in, even after the practice was over. The coach shouted out junior guards [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] and [autotag]Kennedy Todd-Williams[/autotag] for working out together with the team managers after practice was already over for nearly an hour.

This type of leadership from the two guards is big for the women’s basketball team’s aspirations of finishing higher than their sweet sixteen finish in hopes for an NCAA title.

Kelly was a focal point of the team’s offensive attack averaging 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Kelly had a dominating game in the 69-61 loss to the eventual NCAA champion Gamecocks, where she dropped 23 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Todd-Williams also had a consistent season with an uptick on the horizon, averaging 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. Todd-Williams’s best game of the season came against Arizona in the second round, where the junior ended up with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

This is an ideal look for a team with high expectations and pressure to succeed this season. UNC kicks off its season on November 9th against Jackson State University.

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Deja Kelly gifts teammates and coaches with NIL deal

UNC Basketball’s Deja Kelly uses Beats by Dre NIL deal and shares with her teammates and coaches.

As one of the most popular hoopers in college basketball, [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] has racked up plenty of NIL deals and has recently spread that love to her team.

Coach Courtney Banghart took to Instagram and posted a message, thanking  Kelly for gifting the team their own Beats headphones.

It was announced that Kelly inked the deal with headphone empire, Beats by Dre, back in March, adding to her impressive list of NIL endorsements. Last season, the sophomore helped lead the UNC women’s basketball team to the Sweet 16, where they fell just short, 61-69 to the eventual national champions, South Carolina.

Kelly broke out as a star for the Tar Heels as Banghart has really turned this program around and now expectations are high going into the coming season.

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Last season, Kelly averaged 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. Her best game of the season came against Clemson, where Kelly dropped 31 points, going 5 for 11 from three.

Going into next season, UNC is expected to tack on more success using the momentum from last season. Kelly is anticipated to have another break-out year. And if that happens, the Tar Heels should find themselves threatening to get past the Sweet 16.

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Villanova, North Carolina and the 4 best NCAA women’s tournament games to watch Monday

The second-leading scorer in the country is in action Monday night.

The remaining Second Round games of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament will be played Monday night. And after No. 2 Baylor and No. 2 Iowa were sent packing Sunday, all eyes will be on the top seeds to see if any more upsets are on the way.

No. 2 UConn is in action against No. 7 UCF and No. 4 Tennessee takes on No. 12 Belmont, just to name a couple of the matchups with lopsided point spreads. There’s also No. 1 NC State in action against No. 9 Kansas State, looking to make it a clean sweep for the top seeds in advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

At this stage, every game carries a little intrigue with it. Below are the games I’m most looking forward to with point spread information from Tipico Sportsbook.

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Five-star guard Deja Kelly commits to North Carolina women’s basketball

North Carolina got its second five-star player in the 2020 class: Deja Kelly.

Deja Kelly, a five-star guard at Duncanville (Texas) who has been nationally prominent in the girls basketball communities since the seventh grade, has made her commitment.

Kelly announced over Twitter on Monday that she has committed to North Carolina.

(Deena Byrd/Sportraits By Deena)

She plans to sign with the Tar Heels on Monday night, according to espnW.

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The 5-foot-8 guard, listed as the No. 17 player in the class of 2020, originally committed to Texas in seventh grade. But half a decade and a high school career passed, and Kelly decommitted in October.

She had interest in Texas A&M, Duke, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Oregon, according to ESPN.

Finally, in late July, the final school reached out to Kelly: North Carolina.

Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart convinced her Chapel Hill was the place she could contend and grow as a college athlete.

“She told me her plans for me, her vision to help build UNC into a national title team,” Kelly told ESPN.

Last season, Kelly averaged 15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals in 22.3 minutes per game, according to MaxPreps. She helped Duncanville go 31-6.

Kelly is joining a UNC class that includes five-star forward Anya Poole, four-star guard Kennedy Todd-Williams and a pair of three-star players.