Three decades have passed since the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team won a national championship, and it hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2007. Then, in 2019, Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell resigned amid a scandal. To replace her, UNC lured Courtney Banghart away from Princeton to rebuild the program and restore its national prominence. The 2023–2024 season was the story of a team at a crossroads: Would Banghart’s ambitions fizzle? Or would the Tar Heels get a taste of their former glory?

To document the moment, Coach Banghart allowed sports reporter Mitchell Northam unfettered access to the Tar Heels for an entire season. He spent countless hours with the fifteen players, the six coaches, the staff members, and others in practices at Carmichael Arena, in the weight room, on the road, in hotel lobbies, and more. Embrace the Hard tells the story of a talented team hungry for glory and a coach determined to get them there, grappling with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.

Mitchell Northam covers sports at USA Today and is the author of High School Basketball on Maryland’s Eastern Shore: A Shore Hoops History.