In the 2024-25 season, Harris averaged 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, proving herself to be an integral part of a Cardinal group that was pretty good, but by no means great — Louisville went 13-5 in the ACC that year and finished in sixth place.
But Harris wanted something different. She wanted to do more. And, in the age of the transfer portal, she had that opportunity. Harris announced her intention to explore other options on March 27, 2025.
Meanwhile, just a few states away, North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart found herself in a bit of a pickle. Her Tar Heels were coming off a strong season that ended in a slugfest loss to local rival Duke in the Sweet 16.
Now, she needed to rebuild a frontcourt that had just lost its two most prolific members — forward Alyssa Ustby and center Maria Gakdeng, both stars who had run out of eligibility after playing key roles in elevating North Carolina under Banghart.
The Tar Heels needed a few things: They needed experience, since they were returning almost no upperclassmen, and they needed a post presence — someone who could grab boards and cause problems in the paint. Banghart found what she was looking for in Harris, who committed to join North Carolina just eight days after hitting the portal.
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“We brought [Harris] here for a reason, and she came for a reason. And it doesn’t always work out that way, where the two match up, right?” Banghart said after Thursday’s win over Clemson. “She wanted more of an opportunity to do more things on offense, and to really try with her last year to grow her game offensively, to be developed … and I needed someone who I knew would play really hard and would bring her ACC experience.”
In that game against the Tigers, Harris’ true value shined. Clemson is a punchy ACC squad sitting on the edge of the NCAA Tournament bubble, willing to fight tooth and nail for every extra ounce of security it can garner. The game between the two squads was a grind, coming down to the last few minutes and ultimately resulting in a 53-44 final score.
Despite the brutality of the basketball being played, Harris was a shining star. She scored 17 points in 31 minutes on the floor, tacking on 10 rebounds for a double-double.
She also showed up on defense, where her versatility has been a key for a Tar Heel squad that, like its rivals in Durham, prides itself on switching on screens and rarely double-teaming opponents. Harris’ defensive capabilities kept a Clemson group that likes to move the ball around and drive from the perimeter from scoring when it mattered, allowing just a single made field goal in the final quarter.
“I think our advantage on defense was the ability for us to switch one through five,” Harris said postgame. “I think with me being able to be a five and being able to guard a guard, it really rustled them a little bit. It was like, ‘Oh, I can never get downhill.’ Because every time a screen [is] set, you’re trying to get downhill.”
Make no mistake, Harris isn’t the only reason the Tar Heels are playing well enough to claw back to No. 21 in the AP Poll this week. Guards Lanie Grant and Indya Nivar are also having excellent seasons, each averaging 10 or more points per game. Nivar has also totalled 68 steals and 14 blocks, while Grant has been shooting 41.8% from beyond the arc. Both have been key pieces for North Carolina and will likely continue to be so down the stretch.
But in games like Thursday’s against Clemson, when points are hard to come by and the defense is stout, the Tar Heels will have moments where they just need a bucket. As of late, it has looked like Harris is the one most capable of getting one.
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Injury news in Durham
Just a few miles down the road from the Tar Heels, head coach Kara Lawson’s No. 11 Duke team officially announced that freshman guard Emilee Skinner and junior forward Jadyn Donovan would both be out for the remainder of the season with lower-body injuries.
Donovan exited a December game against South Dakota State after appearing to sustain a head injury on a hard fall, leaving plenty of unanswered questions about what happened to her lower body and whether she plans on returning to Duke for her senior season.
She had been a key starter for the Blue Devils in her freshman and sophomore years, but a move to a guard-like role hampered Donovan’s output in the current campaign. She went on a five-game scoreless streak before sustaining the injury that took her out against the Jackrabbits.
Skinner played in just three games of her first season with the Blue Devils and will likely look to pick up a medical redshirt to save eligibility for the coming years. Her last game was Dec. 7 against Virginia Tech, where she scored seven points in 13 minutes.
A hyped-up prospect coming into the season, she’ll likely find herself playing an instrumental role next season, with starting guards Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair graduating at the end of this year.
The loss of Skinner also leaves a gaping hole in the Duke’s current rotation, as the Blue Devils will now be operating with an awfully thin backcourt. Look for freshman Anna Wikstrom to continue picking up some minutes when she’s needed, although she hasn’t been stellar for Lawson’s group so far. She has struggled with ball security and probably hasn’t played the sort of defense requisite to be a regular contributor in the Duke system.
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For Pittsburgh, a bad year gets worse
Pittsburgh head coach Tory Verdi answers questions from the media at ACC Tipoff on Oct. 7, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C.
(Photo credit: William Howard | Imagn Images)
Duke’s problems are nothing compared to the news out of Pittsburgh, though. Six former players filed lawsuits against current Panther head coach Tory Verdi, alleging a variety of unsavory comments, actions, and Title IX violations.
Favor Ayodele, Raeven Boswell, MaKayla Elmore, Brooklynn Miles, Bella Perkins and Jasmine Timmerson each filed individual suits against Verdi and the university, all represented by attorney Keenan Holmes.
The lawsuits claim that Verdi was verbally abusive to his players, body-shaming them, creating a hostile environment and retaliating against anyone who spoke up against his offenses.
In one instance, he allegedly told an international player to “go back home because ICE is coming.” In another, he reportedly claimed, “Every night I lay in bed, I want to kill myself because of you,” in reference to his team’s performance.
The suits also allege that Verdi sowed racial division between the team’s Black and white players and that university administrators ignored repeated complaints about his behavior.
Verdi reportedly signed a six-year contract worth about $800,000 per year in April 2023, meaning that unless the Panthers are able to fire him for cause, they would likely have to buy him out if they wanted to be rid of him anytime soon — an expensive proposition.
The cases were only filed Feb. 6, so more details will likely come out in the coming weeks and months. For a squad that was already struggling, though, this is certainly not a good sign. From Pittsburgh’s end, a spokesperson said the allegations “are without merit and will be vigorously defended.”