Alumni News

[3397char]

 

[tarboy]

Hope Nyla can have a fast and 100% recovery. She is a real good player. She left a big hole
to be filled.

 

[Jriv23]

I love that 2024 reunion. I hope we can keep this going for years to come. I would like to see these women continue to a reunion like that one each year during the summertime. Next year, I would love to see the 2024 and 2025 graduates get together. This would be instrumental with recruiting to show the chemistry, the love, the connectivity, support, and the family environment our women players have for each other. They can do the same as the men where former players can come back during the summer and have pick up games with our current players; especially during the women's basketball camps that CB and staff will have during the summer. I hope someone who lives close by can run this idea by CB and Staff. Go Heels!

 

[3397char]

Kelly is 2nd in the conference in points at 17.3 PPG and high rebound and assist numbers as well. Her shooting efficiency could be higher though.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing. I hope she can make one of the new teams that will be coming into the W: Cleveland, Philadelphia, or Detroit. Go Heels!

 

[3397char]

Deja Kelly and the Charlotte Crown currently live on the CW

 

[3397char]

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing. I just hope and pray that all of our former players this past year and last year will be able to get another chance to try out for a WNBA team next year and the year after since they are expanding with new teams. Go Heels!

 

[3397char]

The list of Ustby;s Italian Serie A1 awards:

"Alyssa Ustby, 24-year old American swingman from the Roseto, was honored as the Player of the Year at the Serie A1. She graduated from the North Carolina last year. Ustby received multiple other awards, earned the Defensive Player of the Year, Import Player of the Year, Guard of the Year, Best Prospect of the Year, and was voted to the First Team, Imports Team, Defensive Team and Defensive Team {sic}."

Eurobasket.com All-Italian Serie A1 Awards 2026

www.eurobasket.com

Linked from RL Bynum's article reference by the tweet above:

Ustby earns Player of Year, many other awards, after averaging double-double in Italy -

Italian basketball fans found out what Carolina fans already knew — Alyssa Ustby is a talented and versatile player, and proved it by piling up the postseason awards. In her first professional season, the 6–1 Ustby earned Eurobasket.com Player of the Year honors in Serie A playing for Panthers...

tarheeltribune.com

Other tidbits in the Bynum article (great read):
"Ustby’s season ended last month, and she will play for Venezia for next season in two leagues: the EuroLeague on Wednesdays and Serie A on weekends. She is back in the Triangle and training in Chapel Hill. Training camp starts in September, and the season begins in October."

"Former UNC center Stephanie Mavunga played for Venezia last season and made the Serie A Second Team."

Note: I believe Mavunga playd for Venezia, so they may bnoth be on teh same team if she is still there next season?

Umana Reyer Venezia’s season will run Sep - April

article about Ustby’s signing from the team website:

Colpo Umana Reyer: firmata Alyssa Ustby - UMANA REYER VENEZIA

L’Umana Reyer Venezia è lieta di annunciare il raggiungimento dell’accordo con la giocatrice statunitense Alyssa Ustby per la stagione sportiva 2026/2027....Read More...

www.reyer.it

Translation:

Umana Reyer Venezia is pleased to announce the agreement with the US player Alyssa Ustby for the 2026/2027 sports season. Fresh from a great debut year in Italy, Ustby is a player with great athleticism and physicality and, with her 188 centimeters, is a very dynamic winger capable of covering multiple roles.

Born in Rochester (Minnesota) on March 18, 2002, Alyssa completed her university career at the prestigious University of North Carolina (UNC) from 2020 to 2025, becoming one of the most iconic and winning players in the recent history of the university.

In the Tar Heels jersey, [she] immediately showed an aptitude to fill all the scoreboard entries (toping the 10 points and 10 rebounds on average already in the junior and senior seasons). Together with her, UNC twice reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament (2022 and 2025). His collegiate record reads: All-ACC First Team for two seasons (2023 and 2025), Cheryl Miller Award finalist in 2024 (the award reserved for the nation's best small wing) and inclusion in the best defensive quintet (ACC All-Defensive Team) in 2025.

In the 2025/2026 season [she] faced his first professional adventure in Italy with the People Strategy Panthers Roseto tank top. His impact with Serie A1 was phenomenal:

Top scorer in the league with an average of 19.5 points per game;

Fourth best rebounder of the tournament with 10.3 rebounds per race;

[she] completed his season as an absolute leader with 3.4 assists and 1.5 recoverys with shoe lace, shooting with 55.4% from two points, with an average rating per game of 24.2!

In the Scudetto semi-final against Umana Reyer, Alyssa recorded 23 points, 10 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3 recoveries and 29.5 evaluations.

"It's an honor to be part of a company with such an important winning tradition. I can't wait to wear the Reyer jersey, to put my energy and competitiveness at the service of the team and to play in front of such an extraordinary group of fans."

"After my first season in Italy I realized that I wanted to continue playing in this championship. Reyer has an identity, a winning mentality and a culture that perfectly reflect the kind of player I am and want to continue to become. That's why I felt that Venice was the right choice for me."

"Fying at Taliercio as an opponent was really difficult: the fans transmit incredible energy and manage to affect the game. I am very happy that, from this season, they are on my side. I can't wait to meet them and join the Reyer family."

 

[3397char]

Nyla Harris will play with Royal Castors Braine this season in Belgium.

Royal Castors Braine basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details-eurobasket

Royal Castors Braine basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on eurobasket.com

basketball.eurobasket.com

this appears to be a top team in Belgium with 8 national titles in the last 13 seasons.

https://www.castorsbraine.be/

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for the updates and for sharing.

 

[nicheel]

Kelly, nice. Announcers,: "don't have a cow man", Bart Simpson.

 

[Jriv23]

Kelly, nice. Announcers,: "don't have a cow man", Bart Simpson.

I do not know why she is not in the WNBA right now. I thought at least one of the new teams would have brought her in for a tryout. Hopefully, with three more teams being added in Detroit, Philly, and Cleveland, I hope she can make one of these rosters.

 

[3397char]

The Upshot League will have their championship game in Jacksonville on Saturday at 7PM:
Charlotte Crown vs Jacksonville Waves

Deja Kelly has finished the year as likely the top scorer and passer in the league (4 teams) and should hold that title regardless of this one game due to a 1.8 PPG and 0.3 APG margin between #1 & #2

Kelly:
17.8 PPG
4.1 APG
4.2 RPG

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxhf2-3Z273ZDALwHYUCR7RMLhp4b_1iuo?si=mpHxZau3v-oUVQ_s

I believe the game will stream on YouTube?

2-3 players in the Upshot league were called up to the WNBA during the season.

 

[3397char]

Gakdeng did not finish the season on the Greensboro Groove roster; not sure what happened with that.

Gakdeng has signed to play overseas with the Spanish club Celta Zorka for the 2026–27 season. Their season starts in Oct. They appear to be a struggling team, trying to avoid relegation and establish a higher standard within Spain.

By comparison, Ustby's new team Reyer Venezia is 1-2 tiers higher competing at the top level of Euro ball.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing the upcoming alumni news. Go Heels!

 

[3397char]

It looks like Nivar will survive yet another round of roster shuffling on the Atlanta Dream. Here is what AI thinks:

The Dream signed veteran DeWanna Bonner to a rest-of-season contract. To make room on the main 12-player roster, they waived Aaliyah Nye. Concurrently, they released guard Jaylyn Sherrod from her player development contract, which freed up that specific developmental slot to retain Nye on the team. Because the team successfully completed this roster shuffle—using Sherrod's developmental contract space rather than Nivar's—Nivar's position on her player development contract remains secure and unaffected by these moves.

WNBA Player Movement & Transactions | WNBA

Get the latest on player movement across the WNBA. Trades, signings, waivers and more.

www.wnba.com

So basically it appears they decided to keep Nivar over Sherrod.

 

[Jriv23]

It looks like Nivar will survive yet another round of roster shuffling on the Atlanta Dream. Here is what AI thinks:

The Dream signed veteran DeWanna Bonner to a rest-of-season contract. To make room on the main 12-player roster, they waived Aaliyah Nye. Concurrently, they released guard Jaylyn Sherrod from her player development contract, which freed up that specific developmental slot to retain Nye on the team. Because the team successfully completed this roster shuffle—using Sherrod's developmental contract space rather than Nivar's—Nivar's position on her player development contract remains secure and unaffected by these moves.

WNBA Player Movement & Transactions | WNBA

Get the latest on player movement across the WNBA. Trades, signings, waivers and more.

www.wnba.com

So basically it appears they decided to keep Nivar over Sherrod.

This just does not make sense to me. Bonner made her bed and she should not be allowed to jump ship being so close to play off time. She just bumped another player off of a roster.

 

[3397char]

Kelly’s Charlotte Crown team won the league title; she got MVP

 

[tarboy]

I hope she can make a WNBA team next season.

 

[3397char]

Unfortunately for Deja, her best game is when she can play with the ball in her hands. She does not stand out on defense, or shooting spot-up threes. So as someone trying to secure the end of the bench on a WNBA team, she is not going to be put into games to run a Deja-based offense and thus most teams have passed. At least so far.

It looks like she has signed to play overseas for the first time: Panthers WBC Kavala in Greece. I expect she will dominate.

This team was recently promoted to the top level of basketball in Greece (A1 Ethniki) but they do not play in the FIBA Euroleague, which is the top Euro basketball (Ustby will play for Umana Rayer Venezia this year; one of the 12 teams in the FIBA Euroleague.)



Ustby will likely earn in the $60K-$80K range with a good bit of team perks like housing, car and travel. Kelly is more likely in the $30-40K range, also with housing included. Those are just guestimates for a low-to-mid-tier Euroleague player and a top tier Greek A1 player. Both can of course supplement this with sponsorships, camps, appearances, and off season play.

 

[Jriv23]

I hope she can make a WNBA team next season.

Me too.

 

[Jriv23]

3397Char, I do not think you listen to the interview that Deja had with CL recently. In that interview, she stated what the GM's told her what they would like to see her work on and that was partly why she did not make the WNBA. She stated that she was told that they would like to see her play the point guard position but be more of a distributor, but still be able to score when needed. This is the same role that Georgia Amoore is doing with Washington. With that being said, she knows exactly what she will need to work on before she tries out next year for the WNBA. DK has always been very smart, calculating, etc. That was smart of her to get feedback from the WNBA on what she will need to improve on in order to help her chances to make the WNBA. Deja will probably make the same as Utsby and maybe a little more than Utsby. Let us be honest here. DK almost made the WNBA. She made it to the final cut where Utsby did not. I do not like to compare players but your numbers are way off on the amount that DK is going to make. Trust me, she is not going over there to make a low salary. She has to make what the top players are making in that league, and we do not know what has been workout behind close doors. Remember, DK was a best player the four years she played at UNC. Utsby was second.

 

[3397char]

3397Char, I do not think you listen to the interview that Deja had with CL recently. In that interview, she stated what the GM's told her what they would like to see her work on and that was partly why she did not make the WNBA. She stated that she was told that they would like to see her play the point guard position but be more of a distributor, but still be able to score when needed. This is the same role that Georgia Amoore is doing with Washington. With that being said, she knows exactly what she will need to work on before she tries out next year for the WNBA. DK has always been very smart, calculating, etc. That was smart of her to get feedback from the WNBA on what she will need to improve on in order to help her chances to make the WNBA. Deja will probably make the same as Utsby and maybe a little more than Utsby. Let us be honest here. DK almost made the WNBA. She made it to the final cut where Utsby did not. I do not like to compare players but your numbers are way off on the amount that DK is going to make. Trust me, she is not going over there to make a low salary. She has to make what the top players are making in that league, and we do not know what has been workout behind close doors. Remember, DK was a best player the four years she played at UNC. Utsby was second.

She could also make the WNBA as a true PG, sure. But that also is not her game. She can pass, obviously, but she is not a pass first PG. Her game is a score first PG who can pass, as a second option. The issue is she cannot do that at an efficiency rate that the WNBA prefers.

It was a problem at UNC when she tried to play PG her Sr year. She could get off her shot against average teams, but she also dribbled into trouble quite a lot against top competition. Players she could not get a step on. Players who are now in the W. The WNBA does not want a 3rd string PG of below average efficiency who cant shoot spot-up 3's nor play lock-down defense.

You brought up Amoore as your example. She had a career 36% 3pt shooting. Kelly was career 30%. Not even in the same ballpark. Kelly: 3.0/2.3 Asst/TO ratio. Amoore: 5.5/2.9. Kelly got worse or stagnant in almost every stat her last 3 years; not better.

With that said, Kelly is a baller, but not the game that the NBA wants. She is good at everything but great at nothing. But her all-around game absolutely shined in the Upshot League. And I expect she will dominate in Greece as well. But in order for the WNBA to notice her efficiency needs to improve. 37.1/29.6/84.1 shooting splits in the Upshot League. That is a little better than her last 3 years in college, but she needs to continue to improve

I am not a fan of comparing players on our squad. But for the record, Ustby is in the exact same boat as a player. She is good at everything, but not clearly great at anything. They are both small for their position. Ustby would ball out if she could play as a true 3. Kelly would ball out if she could play a true 1.

I think Ustby has a slight edge to maybe get a look by the W some day, but only because her best attributes are defense and rebounding: skills most coaches like to see at the end of your bench. Because those are things that do not require the ball to go through you. But both are a longshot.

Ustby has already been killing it in Europe. I expect Kelly will as well. But their salaries are pretty set based on what level they play on. Ustby is at a higher level. She got there by earning it: dominating last year at the 2nd tier Deja will enter on this year. Kelly gets to pay her dues this year. Deja will not make more this year simply because of the salary range that Greek 1A pays.

If her agent could have signed her at the Euroleague level, I'm sure they would have. I suspect Kelly was hampered by focusing on the Upshot League, hoping for a call up. She is signing pretty late in Europe, so she probably had less options than those who signed earlier in the summer.