UNC names Courtney Banghart new women’s basketball coach

The University of North Carolina announced on Tuesday that Courtney Banghart, former women’s basketball coach at Princeton University, would be taking over as the women’s coach in Chapel Hill. Banghart, who signed a five-year deal with Carolina, fills the vacancy left after Sylvia Hatchell resigned following an investigation into her coaching practices.

Banghart won the Naismith Coach of the Year award in 2015 after she led her Tigers to a perfect 30-0 season. With her at the helm, Princeton made it to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last ten seasons. The Tigers had never even made the NCAA Tournament before Banghart was named the coach in 2007

While the new coach doesn’t have those same barriers in front of her with the Tar Heels, Banghart will face some challenges ahead. The UNC women’s team was hit hard during the NCAA investigation, and seemed to just be getting back on the upswing in terms of recruiting and execution when the Hatchell allegations pushed the program back into the negative spotlight.

It has been a few seasons since the Carolina women really contended for a title, and everyone will be hoping that Banghart can bring a lot of the success she found at Princeton to Chapel Hill in order to get the lady Heels back in the conversation for a potential championship.