Guard Lexi Donarski announced on social media Monday that she is transferring to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball team. She has two seasons of eligibility left.
Donarski was a three-year starter for the Iowa State Cyclones, and was part of their Big 12 tournament championship team this season, in which she averaged 12.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. The Cyclones, 22-10, fell in the NCAA tournament first round to the Toledo Rockets.
In the 2021-2022 season, Donarski helped Iowa State make the NCAA Sweet 16 and was named Big 12 defensive player of the year.
Donarski is one of two players in ESPN's top-10 women's basketball transfers, as ranked by ESPN's Charlie Creme, who have recently joined ACC teams.
Donarski, ranked No. 3, leaves the Big 12. Guard Shayeann Day-Wilson, ranked No. 9, is staying in the ACC as she transfers from Duke to the Miami Hurricanes. Miami, which advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time this season, announced the addition of Day-Wilson on Monday after she posted her decision on social media Sunday.
The 6-foot Donarski, who is from La Crosse, Wisconsin, committed to Iowa State before she began high school. Then she started all 95 games she played at Iowa State, averaging 13.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while making 196 3-pointers. She now joins a Tar Heels team that went 22-11 and fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Tar Heels lost second-leading scorer Kennedy Todd-Williams, a guard who transferred to the Ole Miss Rebels, and reserve wing Destiny Adams, who transferred to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. But now North Carolina has added Donarski along with forward/center Maria Gakdeng, who transferred from the Boston College Eagles.