2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster
Kelly, Deja
Jersey Number 25
Deja Kelly
- Position:
- G
- Height:
- 5-8
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- San Antonio, Texas
- High School:
- Duncanville
Bio
Graduated in May 2024 with a degree in broadcast journalism ... Finished the 2023-24 season ranked eighth on UNC's career scoring list with 1,851 career points
2023-24: First-team All-ACC for the third year in a row ... Also named a WBCA All-America region finalist for the third year ... Served as a team captain for 2023-24 ... Named to the Watch Lists for the Nancy Lieberman Award (Nation's Top Point Guard), the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Award ... Named to the ESPN.com Top 25 Players List ... USBWA National Player of the Week (1 of 5), Jan. 23 ... Preseason All-ACC ... Led UNC in scoring with 16.3 points per game, marking the third year in a row that she had led the team and averaged 16+ points per game ... Averaged 17.8 ppg in ACC play ... Led UNC with 21 points in the Jumpman Invitational win over Oklahoma, playing 39 minutes despite battling a stomach bug throughout the game ... Scored a then-season-high 27 points in the homecourt win over Virginia on 1/14 Matched her season high with 27 at Georgia Tech ... Went 14-16 from the foul line, both career bests, and finished with 23 points in the win over No. 13 Louisville ... Eight assists and zero turnovers in the win over No. 6 NC State ... Season-high 29 at Virginia Tech, including a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end the first half ... At BC, passed the 1,800-career-points mark, becoming the 11th Tar Heel to reach that milestone
2022-23: As a junior, named WBCA All-America honorable mention for the second year in row ... All-ACC first team ... Started all 32 games in which she appeared, averaging a team-high 16.5 points and 35.4 minutes ... Averaged 15.9 ppg vs. AP Top-25 teams ... Ranked sixth in the ACC in scoring average, fifth in minutes, ninth in assist/turnover ratio, 11th in assists, 12th in field goal percentage and 13th in free throw percentage ... Nine games of 20 or more points, including a career-high 32 on Feb. 9 at Syracuse, for her second 30-point outing ... Naismith Trophy Midseason Team (Top 30) ... Midseason Top 25 Watch List for the Wooden Award ... Phil Knight Invitational MVP ... ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 28 after averaging 23 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists in wins over No. 18 Oregon and No. 5 Iowa State en route to the PKI Championship ... Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List (Point Guard of the Year) ... Preseason All-ACC ... Over the summer, won a silver medal as part of the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup team in Leon, Mexico,
2021-22: As a sophomore, earned WBCA Coaches’ All-America honorable mention ... Named to the All-ACC first team after averaging 16.5 points per game, fourth in the league ... Named to the Greensboro Regional All-Tournament Team after scoring a team-high 23 points in the Sweet 16 battle with South Carolina, hitting 9 of 18 field goals (1-2 from 3-point range) and all four free throws. Also had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block ... ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 21 after averaging 22 points in wins over No. 3 Louisville and at FSU ... Selected for the Goombay Splash All-Star Team following UNC’s games against VCU and Washington ... Scored a career-high 31 points at home against Clemson on Jan. 2, hitting a career-high five 3-pointers. She’s the first Tar Heel to score 30 points in a game since the 2019 season and the first during Courtney Banghart’s coaching tenure at Carolina ... Grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds along with 15 points against Virginia Tech on Jan. 9 for her first career double-double ... Scored 22 points at Notre Dame, including two 4-point plays, bringing her total to four for the season ... Had her fifth 4-point play of the season early in the win at Virginia ... After missing double digits three games in a row, she bounced back with 12 points (including 6-for-6 free throw shooting) at Wake Forest ... Scored a team-high 18 against Miami, including 4-9 shooting from three-point range. She hit all four on four consecutive possessions within a span of 112 seconds late in the second quarter ... Scored 28 points, her second-highest total of the season, in the NCAA Tournament first round win over Stephen F. Austin. She scored 20 of her points in the second half, the highest in a half by a UNC player during the season ... Hit career highs for free throws made (9) and attempted (10) in the win at Arizona
2020-21: As a freshman, played in all 24 games, starting 23 ... Named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and to the All-ACC Academic Team ... ACC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 22 after averaging 16.5 points in the previous two games (at Clemson, at NC State) ... ACC Freshman of the Week again on March 1 after averaging 22 points in wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech ... One of five freshmen named to the ACC's Newcomer Watch List ... Led the team in scoring with 19 points vs Radford in her college debut ... Also led the team with 16 points in the win over South Carolina State, hitting six of her seven shots from the field, including three of four from 3-point range, in 13 minutes of play ... At Miami, scored 16 points, with nine of them coming in the final 1:14 of the game ... Scored a season-high 22 against Syracuse, adding a season-high eight assists. She led the team in minutes in that game, playing 38, including the entirety of the first half ... Led UNC with 15 points, including 7-for-8 shooting from the foul line, against Virginia Tech on 1/14 ... Her 19-point game at Clemson including a 7-for-7 day from the foul line. She made five of those in the first quarter.Led UNC with 14 points in the loss at NC State ... Equaled her career high with 22 points vs. Georgia Tech. She was 2-for-2 from three-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line ... Matched that 22-point performance at Virginia Tech, playing all 40 minutes ... Scored 19 points and hit all seven free throw attempts in the ACC Tournament game vs. Wake Forest
Before UNC: Graduate of Duncanville High School ... 2020 McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand All-American ... 2019-20 Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year, recognizing not only outstanding athletic performance but academic achievement and outstanding character ... Also named Texas Player of the Year by MaxPreps and USA Today ... Scored a game-high 23 points as Duncanville topped previously-unbeaten Cypress Creek 63-47 to win the 2020 Texas 6A State Championship ... Playing in San Antonio, where she grew up, Kelly earned MVP honors in leading her school to its 11th state title ... Finished her prep career with 3,216 points, an average of 22.2 per game ... Ranked No. 10 nationally and fourth at her position by ESPNW ... WBCA High School Coaches' All-America honorable mention ... Jersey Mike's Naismith National High School All-America honorable mention ... As a sophomore, led the state of Texas and ranked in the top five nationally averaging 30 points per game ... Three-time all-state and four-time all-region selection
More on Kelly: Daughter of Theresa Nunn and Darren Kelly ... Her mother played basketball at Valley City State University and her father played at the University of Texas ... Has three siblings ... Favorite sport other than basketball is volleyball ... Athlete she admires most is Skylar Diggins-Smith ... After graduation, hopes to play in the WNBA ... Dream job is to be a broadcaster for ESPN ... During the spring of 2022, served as an anchor for the UNC student-run show "Sports Xtra"
2023-24: First-team All-ACC for the third year in a row ... Also named a WBCA All-America region finalist for the third year ... Served as a team captain for 2023-24 ... Named to the Watch Lists for the Nancy Lieberman Award (Nation's Top Point Guard), the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Award ... Named to the ESPN.com Top 25 Players List ... USBWA National Player of the Week (1 of 5), Jan. 23 ... Preseason All-ACC ... Led UNC in scoring with 16.3 points per game, marking the third year in a row that she had led the team and averaged 16+ points per game ... Averaged 17.8 ppg in ACC play ... Led UNC with 21 points in the Jumpman Invitational win over Oklahoma, playing 39 minutes despite battling a stomach bug throughout the game ... Scored a then-season-high 27 points in the homecourt win over Virginia on 1/14 Matched her season high with 27 at Georgia Tech ... Went 14-16 from the foul line, both career bests, and finished with 23 points in the win over No. 13 Louisville ... Eight assists and zero turnovers in the win over No. 6 NC State ... Season-high 29 at Virginia Tech, including a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end the first half ... At BC, passed the 1,800-career-points mark, becoming the 11th Tar Heel to reach that milestone
2022-23: As a junior, named WBCA All-America honorable mention for the second year in row ... All-ACC first team ... Started all 32 games in which she appeared, averaging a team-high 16.5 points and 35.4 minutes ... Averaged 15.9 ppg vs. AP Top-25 teams ... Ranked sixth in the ACC in scoring average, fifth in minutes, ninth in assist/turnover ratio, 11th in assists, 12th in field goal percentage and 13th in free throw percentage ... Nine games of 20 or more points, including a career-high 32 on Feb. 9 at Syracuse, for her second 30-point outing ... Naismith Trophy Midseason Team (Top 30) ... Midseason Top 25 Watch List for the Wooden Award ... Phil Knight Invitational MVP ... ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 28 after averaging 23 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists in wins over No. 18 Oregon and No. 5 Iowa State en route to the PKI Championship ... Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List (Point Guard of the Year) ... Preseason All-ACC ... Over the summer, won a silver medal as part of the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup team in Leon, Mexico,
2021-22: As a sophomore, earned WBCA Coaches’ All-America honorable mention ... Named to the All-ACC first team after averaging 16.5 points per game, fourth in the league ... Named to the Greensboro Regional All-Tournament Team after scoring a team-high 23 points in the Sweet 16 battle with South Carolina, hitting 9 of 18 field goals (1-2 from 3-point range) and all four free throws. Also had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block ... ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 21 after averaging 22 points in wins over No. 3 Louisville and at FSU ... Selected for the Goombay Splash All-Star Team following UNC’s games against VCU and Washington ... Scored a career-high 31 points at home against Clemson on Jan. 2, hitting a career-high five 3-pointers. She’s the first Tar Heel to score 30 points in a game since the 2019 season and the first during Courtney Banghart’s coaching tenure at Carolina ... Grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds along with 15 points against Virginia Tech on Jan. 9 for her first career double-double ... Scored 22 points at Notre Dame, including two 4-point plays, bringing her total to four for the season ... Had her fifth 4-point play of the season early in the win at Virginia ... After missing double digits three games in a row, she bounced back with 12 points (including 6-for-6 free throw shooting) at Wake Forest ... Scored a team-high 18 against Miami, including 4-9 shooting from three-point range. She hit all four on four consecutive possessions within a span of 112 seconds late in the second quarter ... Scored 28 points, her second-highest total of the season, in the NCAA Tournament first round win over Stephen F. Austin. She scored 20 of her points in the second half, the highest in a half by a UNC player during the season ... Hit career highs for free throws made (9) and attempted (10) in the win at Arizona
2020-21: As a freshman, played in all 24 games, starting 23 ... Named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and to the All-ACC Academic Team ... ACC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 22 after averaging 16.5 points in the previous two games (at Clemson, at NC State) ... ACC Freshman of the Week again on March 1 after averaging 22 points in wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech ... One of five freshmen named to the ACC's Newcomer Watch List ... Led the team in scoring with 19 points vs Radford in her college debut ... Also led the team with 16 points in the win over South Carolina State, hitting six of her seven shots from the field, including three of four from 3-point range, in 13 minutes of play ... At Miami, scored 16 points, with nine of them coming in the final 1:14 of the game ... Scored a season-high 22 against Syracuse, adding a season-high eight assists. She led the team in minutes in that game, playing 38, including the entirety of the first half ... Led UNC with 15 points, including 7-for-8 shooting from the foul line, against Virginia Tech on 1/14 ... Her 19-point game at Clemson including a 7-for-7 day from the foul line. She made five of those in the first quarter.Led UNC with 14 points in the loss at NC State ... Equaled her career high with 22 points vs. Georgia Tech. She was 2-for-2 from three-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line ... Matched that 22-point performance at Virginia Tech, playing all 40 minutes ... Scored 19 points and hit all seven free throw attempts in the ACC Tournament game vs. Wake Forest
Before UNC: Graduate of Duncanville High School ... 2020 McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand All-American ... 2019-20 Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year, recognizing not only outstanding athletic performance but academic achievement and outstanding character ... Also named Texas Player of the Year by MaxPreps and USA Today ... Scored a game-high 23 points as Duncanville topped previously-unbeaten Cypress Creek 63-47 to win the 2020 Texas 6A State Championship ... Playing in San Antonio, where she grew up, Kelly earned MVP honors in leading her school to its 11th state title ... Finished her prep career with 3,216 points, an average of 22.2 per game ... Ranked No. 10 nationally and fourth at her position by ESPNW ... WBCA High School Coaches' All-America honorable mention ... Jersey Mike's Naismith National High School All-America honorable mention ... As a sophomore, led the state of Texas and ranked in the top five nationally averaging 30 points per game ... Three-time all-state and four-time all-region selection
More on Kelly: Daughter of Theresa Nunn and Darren Kelly ... Her mother played basketball at Valley City State University and her father played at the University of Texas ... Has three siblings ... Favorite sport other than basketball is volleyball ... Athlete she admires most is Skylar Diggins-Smith ... After graduation, hopes to play in the WNBA ... Dream job is to be a broadcaster for ESPN ... During the spring of 2022, served as an anchor for the UNC student-run show "Sports Xtra"
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