Three-time ACC point guard Deja Kelly will transfer to Oregon State from North Carolina State, she announced on social media Monday.
Kelly, a 5-foot-8 Texan, averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game during her career at Chapel Hill, where she started all four years and led the Tar Heels in scoring the past three.
She has a fifth and final year of eligibility, as the NCAA granted student-athletes a free season during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly was also eligible to leave for the 2024 WNBA Draft.
The new throne. 👑🦆#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/hBL6sPaJWU
– Deja Kelly (@dejakelly25) May 6, 2024
Kelly, who did not rule out a return to Chapel Hill when she entered the portal in early April, finished her UNC career as the eighth-leading scorer, helping the program reach the Sweet 16 in 2022. The Tar Heels fell to the eventual national champion South Carolina is in the second round this season.
Kelly is also a fixture in the NIL world, boasting deals with Tommy Hilfiger, Crocs, Beats by Dre, and more.
She will look to help the Ducks, who went to the Final Four in 2019, bounce back after an 11-21 campaign this year and return to the NCAA Tournament after missing the past two seasons. Oregon State, which lost both Chance Gray (Ohio State) and Grace VanSlooten (Michigan State) to the portal, will join the Big Ten next season alongside fellow former Pac-12 schools Washington, USC and USC.
Kelly is the seventh new coach Kelly Graves has brought in this offseason, an incoming group that also includes Texas’ Amina Muhammad, Arizona’s Salimatu Koroma, Washington’s Ari Long, Brigham Young University’s Nanni Valatia, UC Santa Barbara’s Alexis Whitfield, and Elissa Mephius of Siena.
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”