Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Majoring in your Minors
July 11, 2019 | Women's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
When schools came calling in March and April with hopes of luring her away from Princeton, Courtney Banghart set her sights on just one job, the head coaching position at North Carolina.
UNC's rich tradition of athletic and academic excellence certainly appealed to her. So, too, did the opportunity to recruit to the campus community. But despite everything she knew about the University and what it has to offer, she still experienced some of the uncertainty that inherently comes with any significant change in one's life.
That, however, has subsided over the first two months of her tenure, which has been just as much of a transition for her as it has been for her players.
"Knowing what I knew of Carolina as an outsider, at some point you take a risk and say, 'I hope it's going to be like that when I get there,'" Banghart said. "I've been really pleased with the people, the quality of people and support.
"People love their tradition here, they love Carolina basketball, they love Carolina Athletics. And that's not just sticker shock; I'm feeling it now."
Back on May 1, her first day on the job, Banghart said she'd already learned what it means to be a part of the Carolina family. But she's since gained a greater understanding of that.
There's been dinner with Mack and Sally Brown as well as Jenny Levy. The latter played tennis with Banghart the next day. The men's basketball staff, she said, has been "amazing" in sharing its love for UNC and how to promote it. Roy Williams even met with one recruit, and Anson Dorrance visited with one of Banghart's assistant-coaching candidates.
Several other coaches and administrators have attended practices or shown their support in other ways. That hasn't gone unnoticed by Banghart as she's spent a majority of the last two months away from her spouse and three young children, who will join her in Chapel Hill in August.
"You want to be somewhere where your time investment matters," Banghart said. "And it matters here. People care who I am and what I'm doing. They just don't care what I'm doing. And they just don't care who I am. They care about both. … People so see women's basketball as a part of who they are that it's been inspiring when you need it. It's been awesome."
Just as impressive, she said, has been how open the players have been to the coaching change.
Forming relationships with each of them was among Banghart's top priorities after she accepted the job. But because she arrived at the end of the academic year, most of her initial interactions with them came over the phone. Over time, though, she was able to meet with each of them and discuss their goals, share her vision for the program and get to know them personally.
Then in early June, they hit the court for the first time.
Only seven players were on campus during Summer Session I, which partly prompted Banghart and the rest of the coaching staff to concentrate on skill work during practices. But that hasn't changed since full-squad practices began on June 24.
"There's going to be a limit, a ceiling to your success, if it's all system," Banghart said. "The game comes down to your skill level. People are in the NBA not because their college coach ran the right system for them. They were the most skilled. They were the best players.
"So I'm trying to use the summer as a way to get our players so they are the best versions skill-wise so then we can be the best team skill-wise."
Rising junior Leah Church said she and her teammates are already seeing results from "majoring on what you'd say are minors."
"Off-hand dribbling has been a big emphasis, passing with your off-hand, passing with the correct hand, all the little minor details I feel like have made a huge impact in just a couple of weeks in my game," Church said. "So over time, it's going to make a huge impact for the team."
The Tar Heels also hope to benefit from a revamped strength and conditioning program coordinated by Jason Beaulieu, the lone holdover from the previous staff and who rising senior Taylor Koenen said has been "the rock" throughout the coaching transition.
Banghart said she's given Beaulieu "the freedom to utilize accountability measures differently than he has been able to in the past." She's encouraged him to log each player's times during conditioning drills and share them with her. If a player's times aren't improving, then they determine if any adjustments need to be made to the conditioning program or if the player is just not giving their best effort. The same applies to weight training.
"I'm not sure he had the freedom to hold people accountable the way I want him to," said Banghart of Beaulieu. "He's a part of our coaching staff. It's a part of the game. He's really taken that and been appreciative of that, and him taking pride in his space is really important to me."
So is the use of film.
Banghart calls film "a critical part of how I teach because I think seeing yourself do something takes away any of what you think you're doing." She said Carolina will soon have access to an app that will allow her to break down film after a practice or a game and easily share it with each player. In the past, Church said UNC didn't use "technology quite as much."
"In Summer Session I, we would go up to the media room and for about 15 minutes (Banghart) would just break down just specific things we as individuals can work on to eventually help our team out," Church said. "So being able to see what you did wrong, but she also shows positives. She encourages you with the positives, but also has teaching points."
Banghart said people often ask her if she's a hard coach or an easy coach. She doesn't define herself as either. Instead, she calls herself "a real coach," placing a premium on honesty.
So far, she said she's been appreciative of how her players have allowed her to be straightforward with them. They know she's coming from a place of love for them and the community she's now a part of.
"She really does know how to engage you and almost challenge you to be better and take yourself to the next level," Koenen said. "For me personally, she's also really helped with confidence. … She wants you to know she believes in you and I think that's been super cool just to have a coach who believes in you. So when you go out and produce, you have just as much as much confidence in yourself as she does."
Banghart knows there will be hard days ahead because "there is always a gap between what you want to do and what you're willing to do." Every player on the Tar Heels' roster wants to return to the NCAA Tournament and to win the ACC Tournament. But every other team does, too, and Banghart constantly reminds her group of that.
The challenge for Banghart and her coaching staff, she said, will be to gradually get each player to do more than they're willing to do. And so far, they're buying into that.
"We're going to ask them to push a certain way, we're going to ask them to be open to changes in a certain way, we're going to run things a little bit differently, we're going to prioritize different things," Banghart said. "We're naturally different people than the people before us as a staff. And they've been so eager.
"They've been open, they've been willing, they kind of are operating out of an element of trust already, which I appreciate. As I told them the first day, they're going to get my very best, and I think they're seeing what that looks like."
Stay up to date with Carolina Women's Basketball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
When schools came calling in March and April with hopes of luring her away from Princeton, Courtney Banghart set her sights on just one job, the head coaching position at North Carolina.
UNC's rich tradition of athletic and academic excellence certainly appealed to her. So, too, did the opportunity to recruit to the campus community. But despite everything she knew about the University and what it has to offer, she still experienced some of the uncertainty that inherently comes with any significant change in one's life.
That, however, has subsided over the first two months of her tenure, which has been just as much of a transition for her as it has been for her players.
"Knowing what I knew of Carolina as an outsider, at some point you take a risk and say, 'I hope it's going to be like that when I get there,'" Banghart said. "I've been really pleased with the people, the quality of people and support.
"People love their tradition here, they love Carolina basketball, they love Carolina Athletics. And that's not just sticker shock; I'm feeling it now."
Back on May 1, her first day on the job, Banghart said she'd already learned what it means to be a part of the Carolina family. But she's since gained a greater understanding of that.
There's been dinner with Mack and Sally Brown as well as Jenny Levy. The latter played tennis with Banghart the next day. The men's basketball staff, she said, has been "amazing" in sharing its love for UNC and how to promote it. Roy Williams even met with one recruit, and Anson Dorrance visited with one of Banghart's assistant-coaching candidates.
Several other coaches and administrators have attended practices or shown their support in other ways. That hasn't gone unnoticed by Banghart as she's spent a majority of the last two months away from her spouse and three young children, who will join her in Chapel Hill in August.
"You want to be somewhere where your time investment matters," Banghart said. "And it matters here. People care who I am and what I'm doing. They just don't care what I'm doing. And they just don't care who I am. They care about both. … People so see women's basketball as a part of who they are that it's been inspiring when you need it. It's been awesome."
Just as impressive, she said, has been how open the players have been to the coaching change.
Forming relationships with each of them was among Banghart's top priorities after she accepted the job. But because she arrived at the end of the academic year, most of her initial interactions with them came over the phone. Over time, though, she was able to meet with each of them and discuss their goals, share her vision for the program and get to know them personally.
Then in early June, they hit the court for the first time.
Only seven players were on campus during Summer Session I, which partly prompted Banghart and the rest of the coaching staff to concentrate on skill work during practices. But that hasn't changed since full-squad practices began on June 24.
"There's going to be a limit, a ceiling to your success, if it's all system," Banghart said. "The game comes down to your skill level. People are in the NBA not because their college coach ran the right system for them. They were the most skilled. They were the best players.
"So I'm trying to use the summer as a way to get our players so they are the best versions skill-wise so then we can be the best team skill-wise."
Rising junior Leah Church said she and her teammates are already seeing results from "majoring on what you'd say are minors."
"Off-hand dribbling has been a big emphasis, passing with your off-hand, passing with the correct hand, all the little minor details I feel like have made a huge impact in just a couple of weeks in my game," Church said. "So over time, it's going to make a huge impact for the team."
The Tar Heels also hope to benefit from a revamped strength and conditioning program coordinated by Jason Beaulieu, the lone holdover from the previous staff and who rising senior Taylor Koenen said has been "the rock" throughout the coaching transition.
Banghart said she's given Beaulieu "the freedom to utilize accountability measures differently than he has been able to in the past." She's encouraged him to log each player's times during conditioning drills and share them with her. If a player's times aren't improving, then they determine if any adjustments need to be made to the conditioning program or if the player is just not giving their best effort. The same applies to weight training.
"I'm not sure he had the freedom to hold people accountable the way I want him to," said Banghart of Beaulieu. "He's a part of our coaching staff. It's a part of the game. He's really taken that and been appreciative of that, and him taking pride in his space is really important to me."
So is the use of film.
Banghart calls film "a critical part of how I teach because I think seeing yourself do something takes away any of what you think you're doing." She said Carolina will soon have access to an app that will allow her to break down film after a practice or a game and easily share it with each player. In the past, Church said UNC didn't use "technology quite as much."
"In Summer Session I, we would go up to the media room and for about 15 minutes (Banghart) would just break down just specific things we as individuals can work on to eventually help our team out," Church said. "So being able to see what you did wrong, but she also shows positives. She encourages you with the positives, but also has teaching points."
Banghart said people often ask her if she's a hard coach or an easy coach. She doesn't define herself as either. Instead, she calls herself "a real coach," placing a premium on honesty.
So far, she said she's been appreciative of how her players have allowed her to be straightforward with them. They know she's coming from a place of love for them and the community she's now a part of.
"She really does know how to engage you and almost challenge you to be better and take yourself to the next level," Koenen said. "For me personally, she's also really helped with confidence. … She wants you to know she believes in you and I think that's been super cool just to have a coach who believes in you. So when you go out and produce, you have just as much as much confidence in yourself as she does."
Banghart knows there will be hard days ahead because "there is always a gap between what you want to do and what you're willing to do." Every player on the Tar Heels' roster wants to return to the NCAA Tournament and to win the ACC Tournament. But every other team does, too, and Banghart constantly reminds her group of that.
The challenge for Banghart and her coaching staff, she said, will be to gradually get each player to do more than they're willing to do. And so far, they're buying into that.
"We're going to ask them to push a certain way, we're going to ask them to be open to changes in a certain way, we're going to run things a little bit differently, we're going to prioritize different things," Banghart said. "We're naturally different people than the people before us as a staff. And they've been so eager.
"They've been open, they've been willing, they kind of are operating out of an element of trust already, which I appreciate. As I told them the first day, they're going to get my very best, and I think they're seeing what that looks like."
Stay up to date with Carolina Women's Basketball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
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