Courtney Banghart and the UNC women’s basketball team are finally on the board!
After hosting a couple of transfer portal prospects on Friday, one has already chosen to make Chapel Hill her next home.
Achol Akot commits to North Carolina.
NEWS: Oklahoma State transfer Achol Akot has committed to North Carolina.
This season, the 6-1 junior averaged 12. 4 points and 7. 2 rebounds each game.
The Tar Heels made a significant addition to their 2026-2027 roster, obtaining a commitment from former UCF and Oklahoma State transfer Achol Akot.
Akot, a 6-foot-1 forward from Ottawa, Ontario, started her collegiate career at Central Florida, where she played for two seasons. Akot was a dependable contributor to the Knights’ frontcourt, mostly as a starter, but she never made the required step in her game.
She opted to join the transfer gate after the 2024-2025 season and found a new home at Oklahoma State. This switch was extremely advantageous for Akot, who had a career year for the Cowgirls.
Akot appeared in all 34 games, averaging 12. 4 points and 7. 2 rebounds. She had five double-double performances, including her finest overall performance on February 25, when she scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win against Iowa State.
Banghart and her team realized as the season approached that they needed to fill the vacuum left by Nyla Harris’ graduation. Harris was a fantastic one-year addition to the Tar Heels, maybe the team’s greatest overall player near the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.
While no one expects Akot to duplicate Nyla Harris’ senior year stats, it would be great if she could do so!
The Tar Heels have a lot of work to do on the transfer portal recruiting trail, and bringing in Akot is a great beginning to that process. One of the team’s greatest requirements has now been met, since Akot adds seasoned leadership and experience to a Tar Heels group that will look somewhat different than it did last season.
Now, we wait to see if Sophie Burrows, who also visited Chapel Hill on Friday, will be the next to declare North Carolina as her new home.
