Indya Nivar

Indya Nivar

Nivar with North Carolina in 2024
No. 24–North Carolina Tar Heels
Position	Guard
League	Atlantic Coast Conference
Personal information
Born	(2004-01-16) January 16, 2004 (age 21) Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
High school	Apex Friendship (Apex, North Carolina)
College	Stanford (2022–2023) North Carolina (2023–present)
Medals Women's basketball Representing the   United States FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship 2022 Argentina Team

Indya Nivar (born January 16, 2004) is an American college basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). She previously played for the Stanford Cardinal.

Early life and high school career

Nivar was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Ebony Crooms-Nivar and Kenny Nivar, and has a younger sister. ^[1] She played multiple sports growing up, including gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, and track, competing in the latter three at Apex Friendship High School in Apex, North Carolina. ^[2] In her senior season, she averaged 18 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 steals per game and was named North Carolina Miss Basketball, the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year, and McDonald's All-American. She led Apex to the NCHSAA 4A state championship game, finishing runner-up but being named the tournament's MVP. ^[1] A five-star recruit ranked the 20th-best player in the 2022 class by ESPN, she committed to Stanford over offers from North Carolina and NC State. ^{[3] [4]}

College career

Stanford Cardinal

Freshman season (2022–23)

Nivar debuted for the Stanford Cardinal on November 7, 2022, scoring a season-high 13 points in the season-opening 86–48 win against San Diego State. She appeared in all 35 games (one start) as Stanford jointly won the Pac-12 Conference regular-season title. On March 17, 2023, she scored 11 points in a 92–49 win against Sacred Heart in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before Stanford lost in the second round. She finished her freshman season with averages of 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists, in 12.6 minutes per game. ^{[1] [5]} After the season, she chose to enter the NCAA transfer portal and returned to her home state with the North Carolina Tar Heels; according to head coach Courtney Banghart, Nivar "said she didn't know we'd get good so fast". ^[6]

North Carolina Tar Heels

Sophomore season (2023–24)

Nivar made her North Carolina debut on November 8, 2023, coming off the bench to score a game-high 17 points and get 11 rebounds in the season-opening 102–49 win against Gardner–Webb. She was the first North Carolina player to record a double-double on her debut since 2013. ^{[7] [8]} She appeared in all 33 games (6 starts) in her sophomore season, averaging 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. ^[7]

National team career

Nivar won gold with the United States at the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Women's Americas Championship, where she averaged 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in six games. ^[1]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2022–23	Stanford	35	1	12.5	39.6	23.8	65.6	2.0	1.0	0.5	0.1	1.0	3.2
2023–24	UNC	33	6	21.3	37.1	23.9	50.0	4.3	1.4	1.3	0.5	1.7	6.4
2024–25	UNC	34	34	24.0	36.8	21.5	55.9	4.5	2.0	2.0	0.4	2.3	8.3
Career		102	41	19.2	37.3	22.9	55.7	3.6	1.5	1.3	0.3	1.6	5.9
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference. [9]

References

1. "Jasmine Nivar". Stanford Cardinal . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
2. Bass, Alex (January 31, 2022). "Stanford commit and Apex Friendship star Indya Nivar takes setting an example seriously". The News & Observer . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
3. Morton, Kyle (November 17, 2021). "Apex Friendship 5-star guard Indya Nivar commits to Stanford". HighSchoolOT.com. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
4. Koh, Michael (April 30, 2023). "Stanford Transfer Indya Nivar Commits to UNC Women's Basketball". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
5. Holloway, Jeremiah (January 3, 2025). "UNC Women's Basketball Lands Stanford's Indya Nivar from Transfer Portal". 247Sports . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
6. Bynum, R.L. (November 1, 2023). "Nivar happily said yes to second chance to play for UNC after season at Stanford". Tar Heel Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
7. "Indya Nivar". North Carolina Tar Heels . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
8. Koh, Michael (November 8, 2023). "UNC Women's Basketball Throttles Gardner-Webb on Opening Night". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved January 3, 2025.
9. "Indya Nivar College Stats". Sports-Reference . Retrieved April 2, 2025.

External links

• UNC bio