Just a number: Lanie Grant contributes to UNC success as one of NCAA’s youngest players

With an additional year of eligibility from COVID-19, medical waivers, traditional redshirts and new transfer rules, it feels like NCAA athletes are getting … older.

In women’s basketball, Syracuse center Izabel Varejão was 25 for the entire ACC conference season. Miami’s Hanna and Haley Cavinder turned 24 in January. The ACC trio was part of the 2019 class. Alabama’s Zaay Green was part of the 2018 class and turns 25 next week. Sedona Prince, from TCU, was also in the 2018 class. She will be 25 in May.

The NCAA does not place age limits on prospective athletes, but they traditionally are between 18 and 23 years old.

When the North Carolina women’s basketball team takes the court this weekend in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels will have their share of older, experienced players, for sure.

But they’ll also have one of the youngest. At 17, UNC’s Lanie Grant is one of the youngest players in college basketball, bucking historical and current norms.

“Lanie is my buddy,” 23-year-old graduate student Alyssa Ustby said. “Her and I are just paired up on the team. It’s been amazing to watch her growth. I remember when she was in eighth grade at our elite camp. I was on the college team, so it’s been a long time coming. I’ve been blessed to be able to watch her grow.”

Early arrival

Grant, from Midlothian, Virginia, reclassified from the 2025 recruiting class and joined the Tar Heels last summer. Over the course of the year, Grant has developed into a reliable contributor on both ends of the floor.

Ustby described Grant’s ability to mold her individual skills to the speed and physicality of the collegiate level as an “impressive thing to watch.” The fifth-year senior also credited Grant for her ability to step up in big moments, especially in the Tar Heels’ most recent games.

The rookie has appeared in 31 contests for UNC, starting in two, with both starts taking place at the end of the regular season when Ustby and Reniya Kelly were out with injuries.

Grant scored in double figures 10 times this season — eight times against ACC opponents. She recorded a career-high 19 points against Louisville and made key shots in the comeback road win, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 71 with 2:30 remaining. In UNC’s one-point win over N.C. State at Carmichael Arena, Grant pulled down a career-high six rebounds and scored four fourth-quarter points.

The freshman’s impressive season included national Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 23 and a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team. Grant averaged 7.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. She averaged 8.3 points per game in ACC play.

“Special, special kid. I got in early this morning, and she and I worked on her shot a little bit already,” UNC head coach Courtney Banghart said Monday. “The kid is really programmed — she wouldn’t have left her senior year of high school if she was going to just mess around with this experience. She’s very purposeful. Texted her mom this morning and thanked her again for letting me have her a year early. She’s wired really, really well.”

‘I trust her’

Grant’s success isn’t entirely unexpected. She was a five-star recruit, ranked in the national top 75, and the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024. She was also a three-time All-State first team selection, Metro Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year. She ended her prep career at James River High School as the Virginia High School League career record holder for free throw percentage (87.4) and averaged 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists during her junior season.

The guard also participated on the 2023 U.S. U16 team and helped the team win a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship. She averaged 11.2 points per game and led the team in threes and 3-point shooting percentage.

Banghart said Grant possesses “elite” intangible qualities. She is committed to the team’s goals, individual improvement and accepts coaching. Since the beginning of January, Grant has played at least 20 minutes in 14 games. She played at least 30 minutes in four of the last five regular-season outings.

“I really am not looking at a 17-year-old,” Banghart said. “I’m looking at a critical part of our team that has to play well for us to win. And I can count on her. I trust her because of the work she puts in.”

Grant committed to UNC at 14; before she ever played a high school game. She comes from a family of Tar Heel fans and dreamed of playing in Chapel Hill. Getting to put on a Carolina blue jersey a year early was an easy decision.

Last spring, Grant told the Richmond-Times Dispatch she already had strong relationships with the coaches and players, and she’d “stacked a bunch of credits early,” which made the early departure easy.

Grant, nearly a year later, remains grateful to not only represent UNC basketball, but also to contribute to its success.

The Tar Heels (27-7) will host NCAA women’s basketball tournament games this week, the first time the team has earned hosting privileges in 10 years, after earning a No. 3 seed on its quadrant of the bracket. Grant can take pride in knowing she helped the team achieve that goal and hopes to continue its season.

“As a freshman, to come in and be able to play on that type of stage and in that environment, it’s everything you dream of, and it’s everything that you work for,” Grant said. “It’s just a testament to the hard work that I’ve put in to be able to be here, the trust that I have in my teammates and the trust that they have in me.”

UNC plays No. 14 seed Oregon State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU.

This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Just a number: Lanie Grant contributes to UNC success as one of NCAA’s youngest players."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer