‘She Is So Committed’: Courtney Banghart on Developing Freshman

Taissa Queiroz has played on the Brazilian national team since 2021 during the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship. She averaged 12. points, 14 rebounds, plus 2.5 assists. Since then, she recorded an average of 13.5 points in 2022 during the South American U18 Women's Championship, 7.7 points in the FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship, and in 2023, 11.1 points per game in the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup, per FIBA.

While speaking to the media on Tuesday, July 29, Head Coach Courtney Banghart discussed in depth the kind of difference Queiroz has had enrolling early, along with playing on the Brazilian national team:

"The coming in January, I know football does it all the time, it makes such a difference. She was a totally different player in June when we started than she would have been ... it was huge. The other day she spinned, went under, and did this reverse, it was such as nice move. She stayed after practice and made about 20 of them. That's just Taissa, she is so committed and has learned so much. The kid taught herself English during COVID by changing her phone to English and watching movies, she finds a way.

She's going to play on that team that travels in August internationally ... when you go play overseas, you're playing against pros all the time. That's like Elina [Aarnisalo], she has played against pros for four years before coming to college. You tell her the lingo, and the decision making, you don't have to teach her, she's like, 'I got it.' The international experience has helped there, it has also helped with her confidence. She knows she can contribute ... she knows the language better, quite honestly, as well.

She's really versatile, she can help us at the wing or the forward spot, either one because of how physical she is. She kind of beats you down that way."

Oct 12, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, US; UNC coach Courtney Banghart during the ACC Women s Basketball Tip-Off in Charlotte, NC. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Queiroz is awaiting her first action in a North Carolina uniform, and when that happens, it will be beside fellow freshman Nyla Brooks and Taliyah Henderson, the other two players who make up the rest of the 2025 recruiting class for Coach Banghart.

"All three of them have been real bright spots ... I'm not sure we've had a as game ready freshman class in a while which is fun," Banghart said.

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