Alumni News

[3397char]

Petra back on team Czechia

Petra Holešínská on Instagram: "back in my fav jersey 🇨🇿"

786 likes, 34 comments - pholesinska on March 9, 2026: "back in my fav jersey 🇨🇿".

www.instagram.com

 

[3397char]

Maria back with South Sudan

 

[Mtns2Sea]

Petra back on team Czechia

Petra Holešínská on Instagram: "back in my fav jersey 🇨🇿"

786 likes, 34 comments - pholesinska on March 9, 2026: "back in my fav jersey 🇨🇿".

www.instagram.com

Appreciate you keeping us updated on the teams/locations of our overseas Heels, 3397char!

 

[3397char]

 

[Jriv23]

That was nice of her to do this video and to give us insights on how she is doing and adjusting.

 

[3397char]

Ustby scores 11 pts, 16 rbs to send Panthers Rosetto to the Italian Serie A semifinals. (the top league in Italy.)

 

[3397char]

 

[3397char]

Gandeng’s Hungarian A League team played Donarski’s Hungarian A League team in the league quarterfinals



the teams are now tied 1-1 in their series, one will advance, one will be eliminated in Tuesday’s deciding game.

Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnoksag I/A Basketball, News, Teams, Scores, Stats, Standings, Awards - eurobasket

www.eurobasket.com

Gakdeng averaging 14.2 pts on 68% shooting, 8.9 rebounds in 25.2 min for Szekszard. Her team is 21-10 and ranked the 50th best team in Eurobasket.

Tarr KSC Szekszard Basketball Stats

Tarr KSC Szekszard basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on eurobasket.com

basketball.eurobasket.com

Donarski averaging 12.8 pts, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assts for TFSE-MTK. Her team is 14-9 and ranked 81st team in Eurobasket.

TFSE-MTK Budapest Basketball Stats

TFSE-MTK Budapest basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on eurobasket.com

basketball.eurobasket.com

Ustby is averaging A team leading 19.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals for Panthers Roseto. They are not in the Eurobasket top 100 teams at 10-12 but have won the 1st round of the Italy Seríe A tourney (their first time ever making the tourney) and are headed to the semifinals.

Aran Cucine Panthers Roseto Basketball Stats

Aran Cucine Panthers Roseto basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on eurobasket.com

basketball.eurobasket.com

Grace Townsend is balling out in Sweden. She averaging 11.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 3.6 steals for KFUM Ostersund . Her assists and steals lead her conference. No Swedish teams are in the Eurobasket top 100 so I assume this is a 2nd tier league? Her team is 16-8, 4th place in their conference and can clinch the quarterfinal round win with another win today.

KFUM Ostersund Basket Basketball Stats

KFUM Ostersund Basket basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on eurobasket.com

basketball.eurobasket.com

Deja Kelly is playing in the Athletes Unlimited developmental league in Nashville where she is currently ranked the 33rd best player in their format.

Leaderboard | AU Pro Basketball

The Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball Leaderboard determines the Champion for each season through win, stat, and MVP points.

auprosports.com

Carlie Littlefield is averaging 11.1 pts and 3.6 assists for Elitzur Holon in Israel. She has only played 8 game, the last in Dec, so perhaps injured currently or left the team? Her team is top division but is only 9-13.

Carlie Littlefield, Basketball Player, News, Stats - Eurobasket

Get the latest news, stats and more about Carlie Littlefield on Eurobasket

basketball.eurobasket.com

Littlefield is likely to play FIBA 3x3 again this summer as well.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing and keeping us informed. Go Pro Heels!

 

[3397char]

Ustby's team loses the semifinals in Italy 0-2 in a best of 3 series.

Game 1: 75-78 loss, she scores game high 22, 10 Reb, 4 assts
Game 2: 63-64 loss she scores game high 24, 10 reb, 3 assts

It was the first year her 6 seeded team has made the Serie A1 playoffs, (they were not in A1 last season, just moved up) lost to the 2 seeded team after beating the 3 seeded team in the quarters.

 

[3397char]

Donarski's team did end up beating Gakdeng's team in the Hungarian league, but finished 4th.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing and for the updates.

 

[Mtns2Sea]

Thanks for sharing and for the updates.

Any updates on Grace Townsend's location? Is she still on an international team?

 

[3397char]

Maria back with South Sudan

 

[3397char]

Deja Kelly just signed with the Charlotte Crown in the newly minted Upshot League. For those of you who know CLT they will play in Bojangles Coliseum. (Our Dorton Arena, LOL)

Crown Announces Final Roster For 2026 UPSHOT League Season | Charlotte Crown

crownupshot.com

"The Crown begins the 2026 UPSHOT League season on the road in Jacksonville this Friday, May 15, before playing its inaugural home opener at Bojangles Coliseum on Thursday, May 21. Opening Night presented by Novant Health begins with Fan Fest in front of the Coliseum from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. followed by tip off at 7 p.m."

The full schedule here:

Schedule | Charlotte Crown

crownupshot.com

There are 4 teams in the league this inaugural season: Charlotte, Savannah, Jacksonville and Greensboro. they are adding Baltimore and Nashville this seasn. they bill themselves as a developmental league; not trying to compete directly with the W.

Upshot League | Women’s Basketball Uprising

Discover Upshot League, a women’s basketball league uplifting players, fans, and communities. Join the movement and be part of the UPrising.

upshotleague.com

The other 3 teams have not yet announced their roster, so there may still be other Tar Heels like Harris or the any of the three seniors last year? (Though I imagine for Gakdeng it would be an either/or for her South Sudan National Team play and this league.)

 

[tarboy]

Glad they have the league but have to wonder how they pay everyone and keep the lights on.

 

[3397char]

Glad they have the league but have to wonder how they pay everyone and keep the lights on.

Start up minor leagues or competing major leagues almost always fail in every sport. The NBDL is subsidized by the NBA and they are fine that it loses money. Other than that it is hard to think of anything other than minor league baseball and the that has worked in the last 40+ years.

 

[3397char]

Deja Kelly just signed with the Charlotte Crown in the newly minted Upshot League. For those of you who know CLT they will play in Bojangles Coliseum. (Our Dorton Arena, LOL)

Crown Announces Final Roster For 2026 UPSHOT League Season | Charlotte Crown

crownupshot.com

"The Crown begins the 2026 UPSHOT League season on the road in Jacksonville this Friday, May 15, before playing its inaugural home opener at Bojangles Coliseum on Thursday, May 21. Opening Night presented by Novant Health begins with Fan Fest in front of the Coliseum from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. followed by tip off at 7 p.m."

The full schedule here:

Schedule | Charlotte Crown

crownupshot.com

There are 4 teams in the league this inaugural season: Charlotte, Savannah, Jacksonville and Greensboro. they are adding Baltimore and Nashville this seasn. they bill themselves as a developmental league; not trying to compete directly with the W.

Upshot League | Women’s Basketball Uprising

Discover Upshot League, a women’s basketball league uplifting players, fans, and communities. Join the movement and be part of the UPrising.

upshotleague.com

The other 3 teams have not yet announced their roster, so there may still be other Tar Heels like Harris or the any of the three seniors last year? (Though I imagine for Gakdeng it would be an either/or for her South Sudan National Team play and this league.)

Well I guess I was very wrong because Maria Gakdeng signed with the Greensboro Groove!



Game 1 is at Home on Friday 5/15 at 7 PM, game 2 on Sat at 4pm

 

[JOB1937]

Talked to Alyssa at the baseball game Sunday. She said she will be playing in Italy again next season but in a higher level league.

 

[3397char]

Deja Kelly's stats in her first Charlotte Crown basketball game:

31 points
14 rebounds
8 assists

in a 103-95 victory

It’s becoming harder to understand why Deja Kelly remains without a WNBA shot

Kelly's debut performance in the inaugural Upshot League is another reminder of why she belongs in the WNBA.

keepingitheel.com

Inaugural home game in Charlotte is Wed:

Jacksonville Waves vs. Charlotte Crown | Charlotte Crown

crownupshot.com

It is frustratingly hard to find any stats in this league so I have not found Gadding's stats through two games; only that she starts.

 

[3397char]

I was pretty surprised that Kelly did not get even a training camp invite in the W. I assumed she was injured are semi-retired at first.

 

[Jriv23]

I am very surprised too. I do not understand it either.

 

[3397char]

 

[mddocisa]

 

[tarboy]

Someone refresh my memory. Leah was a real good 3pt shooter while at UNC. Correct?

 

[3397char]

Someone refresh my memory. Leah was a real good 3pt shooter while at UNC. Correct?

Three point shooting specialist. Career avg 4.0 ppg, 14.1 mpg. 39.3% 3pt%

she was a holdover from the end of Crawley's tenure, but transferred out after one year under Banghart. went to a D2 school.

 

[o_latane]

Wasn’t she the one who could make a shot from half court while facing the other way?

 

[Jriv23]

Yes, that is her. There were two areas that I saw that were weak for her game. These were: she could not defend on the perimeter because her defensive footwork was not that good, opposing guards were blow right by her. The second weakness was she could not create her own shot. CB saw this and she kind of told her she could leave if she wanted to, but she was not going to get that much playing time here. CB had other plans with the guard situation during Leah's time when she became the HC.

 

[Jriv23]

I am glad to see here in the coaching ranks. Congratulations, Coach Church.

 

[3397char]

Yes, that is her. There were two areas that I saw that were weak for her game. These were: she could not defend on the perimeter because her defensive footwork was not that good, opposing guards were blow right by her. The second weakness was she could not create her own shot. CB saw this and she kind of told her she could leave if she wanted to, but she was not going to get that much playing time here. CB had other plans with the guard situation during Leah's time when she became the HC.

she played behind Koenen as a junior.

If she stayed she likely would have been behind a freshman Deja Kelly and KTW, plus transfer Holesinka

so logically her PT may have diminished but I have no inside info on what conversations occurred. Church has since framed it as a decision rooted in her faith and has done some writing and speaking about it. to my knowledge CB has never spoken on it (rare for coaches to make clear why transfers leave), but this is just before I started following UNC WBB obsessively.

not at all interested in a religious discussion here, just reporting what she has stated publicly.

 

[Jriv23]

Yes, I do remember Leah saying that but if you watched her body language; especially when they did a zoom call when CB had it, Leah looked like she was kind of upset and she looked daze and out of it. Her tone towards loving UNC changed. Remember, SH recruited Leah and they had a good relationship. When SH was canned, Leah was not happy about that at all. She also met with CB and I think what CB told her did not bold well; therefore, she decided to leave. As you mentioned 3397, she was not going to get much playing time, because DK, KTW, and PH were just plain better than she was; therefore, she decided to leave. She did leave with grace and she did not bad mouth the program. I respected her for that.