Standout guard Lanie Grant has committed to play basketball for North Carolina, UNC women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart said on
Five-star recruit Grant, who won Virginia’s Gatorade Player of the Year award as a junior in 2024, has made the decision to reclassify and graduate early in order to attend UNC this summer and compete in 2024–2025.
“We are ecstatic to have Lanie join our Tar Heel pursuit a year ahead of schedule,” Banghart remarked. “She is extremely driven and fiercely competitive, which will offer so much to us.She is a two-way player with a scoring attitude and the tenacity to help as a ballhandling guard. Her and her family are very welcome to join us here. The countdown has started.
Grant has been voted Metro Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year twice, and he has been selected to the first team of the state three times in addition to receiving the Gatorade award. She is a 5-9 player from Midlothian, Virginia, and has been recognized as an All-Metro and All-Region player three times. Her career free throw percentage of 87.4 is the record set by the Virginia High School League. She averaged 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in 2023–2024.
As a part of the 2023 U.S. U16 Team, Grant led her team in three-pointers made and three-point percentage while averaging 11.2 points per game and winning a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
She was chosen to be a member of the Jr. NBA/WNBA Court of Leaders this spring.
“I am deeply honored to become a Tar Heel player,” Grant stated. “Carmichael Arena is sacred ground, and UNC basketball has a rich history.” I’m eager to work with Coach Banghart and the group, offering my support as much as I can as they strive for victory.”
Grant is a member of UNC’s incoming freshman class, along with Jordan Zubich and Blanca Thomas, who signed in November.
Grant attended the same high school as Grace Townsend, who just announced her decision to transfer from the University of Richmond to UNC for the 2024–2025 season. Grant and Townsend will be teammates for the first time when they don Tar Heels uniforms, having graduated from high school five years apart.
