Lucas: Ustby Aims To Complete Carolina Experience

By Adam Lucas

Alyssa Ustby's resume already has almost everything.

She's earned individual honors, including All-ACC first team as a junior. Last season, playing as a senior, she recorded the first triple-double in Carolina women's basketball history, going for 16 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists against Syracuse. That game also made her the first D1 player ever to reach 15/15/10 against a ranked team.

She's excelled academically, becoming a multiple-time selection to the Academic All-ACC team. She's a Carolina graduate, having earned a degree in media and journalism.

She's become part of the fabric of Carolina's campus, as a regular at other Tar Heel sporting events and generally being one of the most recognizable faces anywhere in Chapel Hill.

"Alyssa," says head coach Courtney Banghart, "is about the truest example of what Carolina stands for as anyone out there…Carolina prides itself on being a true collegiate experience in totality, and a pre-professional experience in any chosen endeavor. Alyssa is deeply immersed in all things Carolina, as evidenced by the fact that she can't walk 10 feet on this campus without someone saying hello and Carmichael is full of people in #1 jerseys."

So she has it all. She has done it all. We love having her around, but, uh, why is she still here?

Ustby doesn't need any time to think about the question.

"Because," she says, "I want to be remembered here as a winner."

That quest could take a major step forward today with a win against No. 2 Connecticut in Greensboro (tipoff is at 6 p.m.). The Huskies are one of the gold standards of the sports and have won six straight against the Tar Heels. The last time Carolina beat a Geno Auriemma-coached team, Ustby was four years old.

She's been part of some huge wins in Chapel Hill; she played all 40 minutes in Carolina's victory over No. 4 Notre Dame in January 2023 and had a double-double in last year's win over No. 6 NC State. But this one will be different, with a national audience and the prestige of a UConn team that returns three starters from last year's Final Four squad.

And this is why she's been working all summer. Form shot after form shot. Drill after drill. Repetition after endless repetition. Already skilled around the basket and on the glass, Ustby remade her shot this offseason. She didn't have to. She could have been the exact same double-double machine she was for four highly successful seasons and everyone would have been thrilled.

She wanted more.

"Everyone has strengths and weaknesses," she says. "I wanted to make sure I didn't have anything that was limiting me. I had to develop a shooting range that was respected so I could get better looks where my bread and butter is, which is attacking from the mid or high post. Ultimately, improving an area where I'm not as strong helps strengthen even more the areas where I'm better."

Spoken with exactly the cerebral tone you'd expect. Ask her about what she's been reading lately, and she mentions "The Sum of Us," an in-depth look at the current state of American society that is not a beach read. She simply doesn't know how to take it easy. If she's not playing her sport, she's trying one of the other sports on campus (on a lark, she won a Punt, Pass and Kick contest at Kenan Stadium in 2022), attending some other Tar Heel contest, or showing off the knack for business that has made her one of the most sought-after athlete endorsers on campus.

And if she's not in Carmichael or the classroom, she's probably in one of the various community activities she loves—GiGi's Playhouse is a personal favorite.

Though she'll catch some occasional grief from her teammates this year about her age (current freshman teammate Lanie Grant was in middle school when Ustby enrolled at Carolina), she's quick to point out that maturity hasn't come easily.

"The experience of being a college athlete has forced me to grow up in a lot of ways," says Ustby, a Minnesota native. "I'm far from home. I lived on my own for the first time. I had to learn how to cook a healthy meal, do my own car maintenance, check the oil in the car. I've grown into my own person here. Figuring that out along the way has been really challenging. I've learned on sports psychology at Carolina to talk through those thoughts. So you're juggling that personal side along with the mental side of being a college athlete."

Today, it's about basketball, and the opportunity to force the national landscape to include North Carolina. It's what she wants to do, and it's why she's here.

"Alyssa is a winner and a leader," Banghart says. "Even more so when no one is watching. She trains as hard as she plays, she is committed to adding layers to her game every season, and she brings enthusiasm to her entire Carolina experience…Alyssa cares and her relentless pursuit of winning has set the standard for those around her."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Lanie Grant

Alyssa Ustby

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