ESPN NEWS REPORT: NBA JUST SUSPENDED A STAR PLAYER FROM TAR HEELS DUE TO THE…….. READ MORE
Kelly has entered the transfer portal, a source confirmed to Inside Carolina on Monday. She will have one more season of eligibility remaining. Kelly’s name did not appear on the WNBA’s official list of draft opt-ins, which was released last week.
Kelly averaged a team-high 16.3 points (34.6% FG, 28.6% 3PT, 69.4% FT), 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Tar Heels last season.
The UNC guard scored a season-high 29 points in a loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Kelly scored 20 or more points 11 times this season, which brought her to 32 career 20-point games.
Kelly’s career-high 32 points came in her junior year against Syracuse, which was her second time scoring 30 points in a game at UNC.
UNC suffered an 88-41 defeat to South Carolina in the Round of 32, ending the Tar Heels season with a 20-13 record.
When asked to characterize the season, Kelly, with the loss still fresh after the game, described the 2023-24 campaign as “one of the most mentally draining years” she’s had. North Carolina was struck with injuries at the guard spot, which made Kelly play more on-ball like she did in her first three seasons. She played a career-high 36.1 minutes per game.
“Obviously, the injuries hit us pretty hard… It’s not anything new,” Kelly said in the locker room of Colonial Life Arena. “I feel like they’ve hit us hard every year. But again, it happens to everyone else, too.
“I think just draining in the sense that it just took a lot of mental energy just to get through each game, each practice, just because of how much pick-me-up was required for me, for my teammates.”
(Photo: Jim Hawkins/Inside Carolina, 247Sports)
Courtney Banghart added: “Where she might want three minutes every quarter to rest, where she used to have that, she doesn’t have that right now… There’s a little more focus on you and you’re fatigued.
“That was a really unique challenge for this group this year. I think that’s what made it hard for her because she was the only (guard) left, and she’s best when she can be a combo. She can play the two, the one, and we can hide her in various spots. And that wasn’t a possibility this year as the year went on.”
Kelly arrived at North Carolina as the No. 10 player in ESPN’s class of 2020. She was one of the five players to sign to Banghart’s first recruiting class. She joined Alyssa Ustby, Anya Poole, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alexandra Zelaya.
Through four years, Kelly posted averages of 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals.
Kelly moved into eighth on UNC’s all-time scoring list this season with 1,858 career points.
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Javion Butts UNC Commitment Q&A: ‘That’s All I Needed’
The Peach State safety breaks down his Tar Heel commitment.
Don Callahan
DON CALLAHAN
9 hrs
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Peach State safety Javion Butts abruptly ended his recruitment with a commitment to North Carolina over the weekend.
Butts, a 6-foot, 180-pounder from Gray (Ga.) Jones County High, committed on Sunday, a day after his fourth visit to Chapel Hill.
Following his public announcement, Butts spoke with Inside Carolina…
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College basketball transfer portal: UNC, Michigan State headline best fits for No. 1 prospect Oumar Ballo
These teams could be in play for the five-star transfer.
Carter Bahns
CARTER BAHNS
47 mins
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Veteran big man Oumar Ballo, who flourished at Arizona after opening his career at Gonzaga, is on the move again after he entered the transfer portal for the second time. As an established force with difference-making ability on both ends of the floor, Ballo garnered top billing in the 2024 transfer rankings, entering the portal as the cycle’s first five-star prospect.
Ballo averaged a double-double for the Wildcats last season and crossed the 1,000 career point and 800 career rebound thresholds en route to his second career All-Pac-12 First Team selection. The Mali native at 7-foot center has one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer.
Given his multiple years of outstanding production and status as the top available transfer, Ballo figures to have a healthy selection of suitors during this portal cycle. Teams in need of frontcourt help will be at the front of the line for one of college basketball’s premier two-way bigs, though some are better fits for him than others.
Get the latest football and basketball transfer portal news from 247Sports.
Here are 12 possible landing spots for Ballo:
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
(Photo: Junfu Han, USA TODAY Sports)
Malik Hall was essentially Michigan State’s only reliable frontcourt presence on the offensive end of the floor last season as the Spartans’ lone forward or center to score more than 3.7 points per game. Interior defense was also a struggle. Hall is gone, Mady Sissoko is in the transfer portal and there is a glaring need at the post spot. Enter Ballo, who would instantly elevate the Spartans’ paint presence both offensively and defensively. From a pure need standpoint, nobody should work harder in Ballo’s recruitment than Tom Izzo.
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
(Photo: Jim Hawkins/Inside Carolina)
Five years of Armando Bacot manning the middle of the floor for UNC came to an end with the Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament exit, signaling a shift in the frontcourt for one of college basketball’s most prominent programs. Bacot and Ballo logged almost identical production last season, so the transition from the former to the latter would be seamless for UNC. The majority of Hubert Davis’ lineup could be different in 2024-25, so having some certainty at the big-man spot would raise the floor a bit for a team seeking another step forward.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
John Calipari used the transfer portal sparingly over the last two cycles at Kentucky, relying instead on his tremendous high school recruiting efforts. While that model made the new Arkansas coach a future NBA talent guru, it also created for young rosters that often fell out of the Big Dance prematurely. Calipari may not have the luxury of building a full recruiting class ahead of his first season with the Razorbacks anyway, so pulling talent from the portal will be even more paramount in building his debut roster. As a two-way standout at the center position, Ballo is the prototypical Calipari big man and would be a big get to start a new era at Arkansas.
AUBURN TIGERS
(Photo: Eakin Howard, Getty)
Auburn’s biggest contributions last season came from its prolific frontcourt duo of Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome, but the former exhausted his eligibility and the latter could be off to the NBA. Regardless of Broome’s decision, the Tigers should be in the market for a big man, and the need only grows larger if their leading scorer, rebounder and interior defender declares for the draft. Ballo’s presence would ease some of the pressure on returning guard Chad Baker-Mazara to step into more of a leading role.
UCONN HUSKIES
Dan Hurley
Dan Hurley (Photo: Icon Sportswire, Getty)
Donovan Clingan bolsters his NBA Draft status with each passing round of the NCAA Tournament, and with one of college basketball’s premier bigs almost certainly leaving after the national championship game, there exists a hole in UConn’s lineup for next season. Ballo has the same kind of length and explosiveness that makes Clingan such a force on both offense and defense and feels like a natural fit in a scheme that utilizes the center position to near perfection. Dan Hurley has plenty to sell, too, as a perennial national championship contender.
IOWA STATE CYCLONES
(Photo: © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)
Iowa State desperately needs help in the frontcourt for the 2024-25 campaign, and that aid needs to come from the transfer portal in the form of instant-impact contributors. There is literally no better option for the Cyclones than Ballo in that regard. Three of Iowa State’s top five rebounders are out of eligibility — leaving little frontcourt depth — and that trio also headlined the team’s top interior defenders. If T.J. Otzelberger is to reload with another elite defense after ranking No. 1 on that end of the floor this past season, Ballo should be a key transfer target.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
Matt Painter
(Photo: Michael Reaves, Getty)
Purdue has a couple of options on its roster already to which it could turn in replacing Zach Edey next season, but neither is a proven weapon as 7-foot-2 freshman Will Berg and 6-foot-10 junior Caleb Furst combine for just 13 minutes per game in backup roles. Handing the keys to the center position to a known commodity in Ballo could ease the transition into a post-Edey world for a team that revolved around a go-to big man over the last few years. Ballo will not deliver nearly as much offense as Edey, but that may not be necessary if the guards continue to develop.
MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES
Shaka Smart (Photo: Shotgun Spratling | USCfootball.com, 247Sports)
Veteran big Oso Ighodaro developed into a cornerstone of Marquette’s offense and defense for the last two years and leaves a big hole in the Golden Eagles’ starting lineup this offseason. Shaka Smart could use a reliable scorer and rebounder in the paint as he seeks to keep his program in perennial Big East title contention, and Ballo provides both of those elements in addition to great defense. Returning 6-foot-11 forward Ben Gold can stretch the defense while Ballo holds things down on the block, giving Marquette a dangerous two-big lineup.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
(Photo: Eakin Howard, Getty)
Tennessee boasts college basketball’s No. 3 defense in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom, for the 2023-24 season, and that is the Volunteers’ identity under coach Rick Barnes. Ballo is a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team member who averaged 1.3 blocks and just under a steal per game last season while only committing 2.1 fouls per contest. That production would fit perfectly into the middle of the Vols’ vaunted defense, and with only one player at 6-foot-10 or taller (Jonas Aidoo) in their rotation, they could use Ballo’s post presence.
KANSAS JAYHAWKS
(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
Hunter Dickinson has yet to announce his decision regarding his extra year of eligibility, but assuming he departs from Kansas, there will be a high-profile opening at the center position in Lawrence. Replacing Dickinson’s double-double per game is no easy feat, but Ballo figures to bring that kind of production to his destination school. Pairing Ballo with returning forward K.J. Adams Jr. would make for one of college basketball’s premier frontcourts, but again, Bill Self may be in a holding pattern until Dickinson makes up his mind.
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
(Photo: Getty)
Ballo has no outside game. Across four years of college basketball, the post has yet to attempt a 3-point shot. But that should not deter Nate Oats from rostering Ballo, who would be an intriguing complement to Alabama’s high-octane exterior shooting attack. Whether or not Grant Nelson returns for a fifth year of college basketball determines the Crimson Tide’s level of need in the frontcourt, and if he stays, Ballo might be an awkward fit in Oats’ system. College basketball’s best teams this year proved, though, that pairing an elite 3-point attack with a reliable big man is a championship formula.
PROVIDENCE FRIARS
(Photo: Getty)
6-foot-9 senior forward Josh Oduro was perhaps the most important player on the floor for Providence last season but exhausted his eligibility in the process. Ballo would be a plug-and-play replacement with similar numbers (slightly fewer points per game, slightly more rebounds) and experience. Coach Kim English missed the NCAA Tournament despite an impressive first season with the Friars, and his program has a track record as a Big East contender that could draw the attention of a prospect as highly regarded as Ballo. There will be bigger-name programs in the mix, but Providence has plenty to offer.
