Former UNC Star Heads to Big Ten In Transfer Portal

There’s been a lot of attention on the transfer portal in men’s college basketball this offseason. 

However, the transfer portal in women’s college hoops has been making some noise too as we saw Kiki Iriafen leave Stanford to go to USC, Hailey Van Lith go from LSU to TCU, Lucy Olson leave Villanova to play at Iowa, and Talia von Oelhoffen going from Oregon State to USC.

While those moves have been impactful and will shake up women’s college hoops next season, we saw another major move on Monday that will hurt the ACC but help the Big Ten 10.

UNC Tar Heels News: All-ACC standout Deja Kelly Transfers to Oregon

The 5-foot-8 guard could’ve declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft but decided to use her fifth year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic to play for the Ducks. The three-time All-ACC guard recently penned a letter to Tar Heels fans announcing that she would not return to Chapel Hill for the 2024-25 season.

Kelly entered the transfer portal in April after wrapping up her fourth season at UNC. The Texas native averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. Kelly ended her Tar Heel career ranked eighth all-time in scoring (1,851 points), and led the Tar Heels to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

With Kelly on her way to Oregon, the Tar Heels have officially lost six players to the transfer portal this offseason.

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