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UNC women's basketball's Reniya Kelly back home for NCAA Sweet 16 game vs Duke
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- UNC women's basketball's Reniya Kelly back home for NCAA Sweet 16 game vs Duke
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — North Carolina women's basketball 's Reniya Kelly is playing at home Friday in the NCAA Tournament when the Tar Heels face in-state rival Duke in the Sweet 16 opener.
The crown jewel of Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala., and sophomore guard for UNC has played multiple times at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, but never in Carolina blue. She said she's 4-1 all-time since her eighth-grade year, that loss coming when she was a freshman.
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"This is like a full cycle for me," Kelly said Thursday. "I'm really excited to be here, especially because my family and friends can come out and see me. It's really a blessing to be back home and be close, like only 20 minutes away from my house."
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Kelly was praying UNC would end up in the Birmingham regional.
"I did not want to go to Washington (state)," she laughed. "I just love this place so much, because I have so much experience and the atmosphere has always been here."
Kelly was a four-time state champion at Hoover, holding the school's career scoring record with 2,272 points in five years. She was a three-time AHSAA state finals MVP and named both Miss Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year for Alabama in 2023. During her time, which began in eighth grade, the Buccaneers went 168-10, and her No. 10 jersey, which she's continued to wear at UNC, was retired at Hoover during the 2023 winter holiday break.
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Her favorite moment on the court at BJCC had to be during her senior year. With 50 seconds left, she subbed out for the very last time as a Buccaneer. The crowd was going wild.
"I was crying, and I don't usually cry," she said.
Watch North Carolina vs. Duke in Women's March Madness on FUBO
North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart remembers when she got Kelly. She started her the very first game of her rookie year, the first true freshman to start the season opener since Deja Kelly and Kennedy Todd-Williams in 2020-21.
"Then she got injured and missed a lot last year," Banghart said. "But she's exactly on the trajectory and progression that I would have wanted and hoped for. And it's been earned. I've been to Hoover High School many times in order to get Reniya in Carolina blue, and I thought she was the most improved player in the ACC (this year)."
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Kelly is averaging 9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a sophomore, up from 4.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists as a freshman before she went out in February 2024.
North Carolina and Duke will tip off Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The winner advances to play the winner of South Carolina/Maryland in the Elite Eight. This is the third meeting between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils this season, each having won once, and their first March Madness meeting ever.
( This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC women's basketball's Reniya Kelly home for Birmingham Regional vs Duke
