"Be great mamas" - RJ Davis bids farewell to fellow North Carolina star Deja Kelly after 4 'special years' as Tar Heel

Basketball stars RJ Davis and Deja Kelly

North Carolina guard, Deja Kelly, entered the transfer portal a few weeks ago after four years in Chapel Hill. Despite initially leaving her Tar Heels option open, she recently confirmed that she won’t be returning for the next season.

Kelly averaged 16.3 points on 34.6% shooting from the floor and 28.6% shooting from beyond the arc, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season and was a first-team All-ACC selection.

Her longtime boyfriend fifth-year guard RJ Davis who plays for the Tar Heels men’s team bade her farewell on his Instagram stories with the caption:

“Be great mamas,” Davis wrote.

Deja Kelly and RJ Davis have been in a relationship since 2022 and have shown off their romantic escapades including holidays together on various social media channels.

Deja Kelly departs Chapel Hill as a legend

Deja Kelly spent four years in North Carolina and was a starter from her freshman year. After graduating, she will use her last year of eligibility granted to student-athletes by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic elsewhere.

Kelly was named first-team All-ACC in three out of the four seasons as a Tar Heel and she led the team in scoring in all those years. She finished her North Carolina career with 1,851 points and is No. 8 on the all-time scoring list.

There was hope that she would return to Chapel Hill for her fifth year but she released a statement on X confirming her North Carolina departure.

“I am forever indebted to the University of North Carolina, the women’s basketball program, and greater Chapel Hill community for your hospitality and four years of amazing memories together,” Kelly wrote. “With that being said, all good things must come to an end. I believe it is time to move on, but please know Chapel Hill will always and forever be my home.

“Please rest assured that I gave you everything I had, while earning a degree along the way. As I write this letter, I feel confident that I am leaving UNC Women’s Basketball in a better place than I found it.”

She built up a huge following during her time in Chapel Hill with 1.2 million followers on TikTok and Instagram and became one of the most recognizable faces in women’s college basketball.

After losing guards Hailey Van Lith and Angelica Velez to the transfer portal, reports by “LSU Country” have stated that coach Kim Mulkey’s LSU Tigers are one of the teams eyeing Deja Kelly from the transfer portal.

Was this article helpful?