Courtney Banghart Discusses UNC’s Young Team, Highlights Nyla Brooks

Opening Statement

• “It's good to see everybody. Thank you in advance for covering our team early stages, sure, through the middle, and to wherever it ends. It is early. You know, I found out in preparation that we are the eighth youngest team in college basketball, with an average of 19 years in age, and a team like the oldest team in college basketball, Syracuse, is an average of 23 years in age."

• "So I didn't know the statistics, but I do feel the youth after the natural progression of a program is losing a lot of really experienced kids, and so it's been a different vibe. It's been really fun. You know, I'm teaching a lot. We've really changed a lot of things, you know, because the strength of our team is different than it was last year."

• "And so that's been fun, and it's it feels early, because everything's new, and our people are learning new things, but we're excited to finally get start putting this to work against other people."

• "So happy to answer any questions you all might have. Glad you got a chance to meet, meet them. It's an eclectic, a different, a diverse, interesting and talented, a hungry group. So I hope you guys enjoyed them.”

On Preseason No. 11 Ranking

• “Yeah, I feel like what preseason rankings are is they are a testament to the strength of your program. Not so not so much this team. And so they haven't really done anything for that, quite honestly. I give a lot of appreciation for the program over the last five years to have assumptions."

• "There's assumptions that Carolina is going to be good at basketball. And it's our job to make those assumptions correct. And then, of course, the talent that we were able to bring in off the portal and in the freshman class, and then people respecting the pieces that we still have and the growth that they've made, but that's what preseason rankings are about."

• "And so shout out to the people that have played in this program and have made this program one that people have eyes on.”

On Showcase Games Away From Chapel Hill

• “Yeah, you look at the progression of a team.  And so you look at, for example, UCLA, they've got, I think seven seniors. It's kind of where we were last year. And so they'll lose a ton next year, and be in the same conversations about how much they lost and what they're rebuilding and what they're regrouping to."

• "And so what a great test early, we knew if we were only going to bring back 35% of our offense and defensive productivity, that we want to know what the standard is, so that by the time we get to ACC play, we have a better understanding of what the standard is. And so you schedule year to year."

• "And of course, there's some changes, because people's rosters change from what you were hoping for. But why you schedule those type of teams is, you know what they have coming back? Usually good players don't lead good programs too much, and it allows you to see the standard. That's what we need to do. We need to see what is the standard out there."

• "Our first year, we went to the Sweet 16, we scrimmaged South Carolina to start the year, and I think to see what that was was really helpful as we built and so the non-conference really challenged us."

• "It's not about how many wins Courtney can Banghart can stack, it's how good I can get my team to be when the ACC season comes. And I think the only way this particular team can do that is to really see the standard early.”

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