UNC women's basketball uses TikTok to grow team chemistry, personal brands

The UNC women's basketball players have found a new way to have fun, and they're doing it on one of the most popular apps: TikTok. 

Between their various accounts, the Tar Heels have amassed millions of likes and hundreds of thousands of followers, with viral videos ranging from graduate forward Alyssa Ustby’s "training with a fellow UNC athlete" series to players picking hypothetical picnic baskets. 

For a team constantly in the spotlight, TikTok fame might seem unimportant, but for the team, it both builds chemistry and serves as an outlet to express their personalities to the people watching. 

Since current TCU player Sedona Prince’s viral TikTok that exposed the severe inequity between the men's and women's NCAA tournaments in 2021, players have come to know the power of the platform. Ustby started posting content her sophomore year in 2022, and has become an influencer herself, boasting more than 122,000 followers.

“It's cool to post and show vulnerability through what your days look like as a college athlete,” Ustby said.

Graduating UNC with a degree in advertising and PR, growing a following is something Alyssa has studied, and her storytelling skills have impressed brands like Uber. Whether it's training with the Swim & Dive team or dancing around campus, Ustby said social media helps remind people that she's more than just a basketball player. 

For redshirt first-year forward Ciera Toomey, TikTok is a way to have fun with her teammates and show fans what life is like as a college athlete.

Toomey and a couple of other players created an account in September named "blueballers1." The account is shared by Toomey and her roommates — junior Indya Nivar, redshirt first-year Laila Hull and sophomore Sydney Barker — along with her friends, first-years Jordan Zubich and Blanca Thomas. 

Food reviews, dancing videos and the aforementioned picnic baskets have together amassed over two million views. The inspiration behind the account?

“We feel like we were funny on our own, so let’s all do it together,” Toomey said. 

For Nivar, the account provides a way to show off a side that fans don't see on the court. Most importantly, the group can show off their humor to the world. 

The account has quickly turned into a source of entertainment for the group. But having a big presence comes with some fear at first. 

"We were nervous to be an influencer kinda vibe," Thomas said, before later adding, "But we’ve found such a joy in it.”

As North Carolina heads into the season, the Tar Heels are planning on posting more behind the scenes content and food reviews.

Toomey wants to make videos while traveling, on away trips or to showcase what a game day looks like. 

Senior forward Maria Gakdeng, using an iPad to record, has started making vlogs on TikTok every chance she gets. Gakdeng started recording and posting for a specific reason: to preserve memories, especially as she approaches graduation.  

With her “day in the life” series, UNC gear hauls and countless dancing videos, Gakdeng has racked up over 337,000 likes. 

She is one of the more prolific posters on the team, with a new video hitting her TikTok nearly every day.

They form a digital diary, showing Gakdeng around campus with her teammates, attending one of Vice President's Kamala Harris’ rallies and documenting her ever-changing hairstyles. 

The “insane” team chemistry, as sophomore guard Kayla McPherson described it, is one of the biggest reasons why the energy around the program is so high.

Creating content together is a factor behind that chemistry, and in a media climate increasingly dominated by short-form content, TikTok provides a unique opportunity to reach fans where they are.

On the heels of the most-watched women's basketball NCAA championship in history between Iowa-South Carolina, every like, view and comment grows the women's game to unprecedented heights.

And the Tar Heels are now a part of that. 

@marvinmlee_

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com