Adell Harris believes this year’s team can be the best in program history.

Entering her fifth season as head coach of UNC Wilmington women’s basketball, Harris fields a roster of 15 players. That is a significant number compared to what it was this past March — due to injuries, just six players were dressing out for games during the final weeks of the season.

Of those 15, nine will begin this season never having worn a UNCW uniform. Four freshmen and five transfer students who either sat out last season or previously played for a community college were added in the off-season.

10 of those 15 — two-thirds of the roster — are upperclassmen, seven of whom are juniors.

It is possibly one of the biggest turnovers for a roster in college athletics, and that is just how Harris likes it.

“We have a complete change from what we ended the season with six, seven months ago,” Harris said. “We’re suiting up nine kids who have never played for UNCW before, which is extremely exciting for me.”

The Seahawks are coming off an underwhelming 7-23 season. It came as a disappointment for the program after going 14-16 the season before in a year that had many hopeful for a large jump in competing with other Colonial Athletic Association schools.

Now, with an expanded roster and added experience, UNCW hopes to compete and win a CAA title — something the Seahawks have never accomplished.

They will look to their most experienced leaders to get them there. Jordan Henry, a red-shirt senior who has spent her last three seasons at UNCW, will be one of them.

Henry returns as one of the CAA’s leading rebounders and shot blockers. She finished in the top five in both categories, thanks in part to her 6-foot-3 stature, by averaging 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

“It’s kinda been like a natural thing that’s happened,” Henry said of taking on a leadership role. “We have 15 players — that’s a huge team. I know they [the younger players] will naturally look to me and the other seniors for leadership.”

Amber Reeves, who has started in 66 of 92 possible games in her UNCW career, will join Henry in the senior group. She averaged 6.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 16 starts last season.

Harris said the seniors are “fed up” with how past seasons have gone and that attitude could be a motivator moving forward.

“The mentality has definitely been different,” Reeves said. “I feel like we’re much closer. We do a lot of things together, whether it’s on-court stuff or off-court stuff, so it’s definitely been more of a family feel.”

One of UNCW’s biggest offensive additions could come from red-shirt junior Jenny DeGraaf. Not only will she suit up for her first game as a Seahawk when they host Norfolk State on Nov. 11, it will be the first time she has played in a game in 21 months.

Not a single fan of the Seahawks has seen DeGraaf on the court — unless they were to count her nearly beating Denzel Ingram in a 3-point shootout during last October’s edition of Midnite Madness — and her shooting ability may be a difference maker for her team at some point in the season.

“I’m very vocal — I talk a lot, and that’s something I pride myself in,” DeGraaf said. “I can shoot the ball, I’m looking to get more rebounds this year and help as much as I can on the defensive end.”

Harris said she knows her team has what it needs to be successful. Like knowing a car can be fixed when it breaks down, having a full roster adds a sense of comfort that has been lacking in recent years.

“It’s really that simple — it’s black and white,” coach Harris said. “We were in a situation last year where some things happened out of our control to where we were just stretched… I knew change was coming. I felt good about it. I knew.”