Inside Carolina was informed on Monday by a source that Kelly has accessed the transfer portal. She will still be eligible for one more season. Kelly’s name was not on the official draft opt-in list issued by the WNBA last week.

For the Tar Heels the previous season, Kelly averaged a team-high 16.3 points (34.6% FG, 28.6% 3PT, 69.4% FT), 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.

The guard for UNC scored a career-high 29 points in the team’s Blacksburg defeat to Virginia Tech. Kelly has reached 32 career 20-point games after scoring 20 points or more 11 times this season.

Kelly’s career-high 32 points came in her junior year against Syracuse, which was her second time scoring 30 points in a game at UNC.

UNC suffered an 88-41 defeat to South Carolina in the Round of 32, ending the Tar Heels season with a 20-13 record.

When asked to characterize the season, Kelly, with the loss still fresh after the game, described the 2023-24 campaign as “one of the most mentally draining years” she’s had. North Carolina was struck with injuries at the guard spot, which made Kelly play more on-ball like she did in her first three seasons. She played a career-high 36.1 minutes per game.

“Clearly, the wounds had a significant impact on us… Kelly remarked in the Colonial Life Arena locker room, “It’s nothing new. “Every year, it seems like they strike us really hard. However, this also occurs to everyone else.

“I think just draining in the sense that it just took a lot of mental energy just to get through each game, each practice, just because of how much pick-me-up was required for me, for my teammates.”

Courtney Banghart added: “Where she might want three minutes every quarter to rest, where she used to have that, she doesn’t have that right now… There’s a little more focus on you and you’re fatigued.

This year’s task was incredibly different for this bunch. She was the only (guard) remaining, and I believe that’s what made it difficult for her—she works best as a duo. We can hide her in different places, and she can play the one and the two. And as the year progressed, that became less and less likely.”

Kelly was ranked No. 10 in ESPN’s 2020 class when he arrived at North Carolina. She signed with Banghart’s initial recruiting class along with five other athletes. She joined Kennedy Todd-Williams, Alexandra Zelaya, Anya Poole, and Alyssa Ustby.

Kelly averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.2 steals over the course of four years.

Kelly moved into eighth on UNC’s all-time scoring list this season with 1,858 career points.