CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Deja Kelly has opted to remain in college for one more year, but potentially at another school.
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.”
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.
