As the 2021-202 campaign year comes to an end, Virginia CavalierStreaking the Lawn runs a series of program states of numerous exercise programs that are part of the university.
At the beginning of this week, I Men’s Lacrosse Program By assessing confidence levels in four key categories: success over the last five years, coaching staff, current roster composition, and future roster / recruitment. The four confidence levels are, in descending order, extreme, decent, mild, and low.
Today, I’m moving on to the women’s basketball program, which has been hit by a lot of turmoil in recent years, but it seems that new blood is flowing and it is on the rise.
Confidence in performance over the last 5 years: low
But before we dive into the excitement of this program right now, we need to look back over the last five years to assess what the team is trying to build.
Five years ago, Joanne Boyle was scheduled to be her final year as head coach. That season, Wahoos went 19-14 overall, 10-6 on the ACC, to the second round of the NCAA tournament, and then lost to South Carolina in the 32nd round.
When Virginia was 129-99 overall and 53-61 on the ACC, it ended its seven-year run under Boyle. Virginia, under the command of Boyle, never finished above 6th place in the ACC, but finished below .500 overall only once in her seven seasons.
Her retirement from coaching that year meant that UVA had hit the coaching market in an attempt to make a splash.Virginia hired USC after rumored top target failed WNBA Great Tina Thompson after she spent three seasons as an assistant coach in Texas.
Unfortunately, Thompson’s success as a player on the court was not a translation as a coach. Her first two seasons were half-baked, with UVA finishing 12-19 and 13-17, 12th and 9th on the ACC.
In the fall of 2020, the wheels fell off the wagon. Virginia played only five games before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. This is because the program couldn’t put in place a system to keep players healthy and on the court. Frankly, it’s hard not to think of it as Thompson’s indictment as a leader who has never been in favor of coaching in Virginia.
The 2021-202 season lasted longer, but with minimal success than the canceled season of the previous year. UVA finished 5-22 and 2-16 at ACC and was defeated in the first round of the conference tournament. Wake Forest It will put an end to the Thompson era.
Overall, winning the NCAA Tournament in 2018 is truly the only positive thing for a women’s basketball program in the last five years. And even then, I was with a coach who left the program a few months later. Other than that, Wahoo has been on a downhill trend, culminating in a Thompson fire earlier this spring.
Confidence in coaching staff: decent
Despite the terrible results these days, there is actually quite a bit of hype around UVA Women’s Basketball right now. It’s all due to the adoption of one Amaka “Mox” Aggua Hamilton as the program’s new head coach. Agugua-Hamilton, who previously spent three seasons at Missouri State University HC, spent her college career at Hofstra from 2001 to 2006.
Since then, she has steadily increased her college coaching rank, starting as a VCU graduate assistant in 2006 and coaching as an assistant from 2007 to 2009.A pair of seasons, and then spent the next 6 years Michigan The last four spent as associate head coaches.
Then, in 2019, coach Mox took over Missouri State University and began to move steadily. In her first year, Bears went 26-4, 16-2 in conference play and won the regular season title at the Missouri Valley Conference before COVID-19 shut down post-season play. The following year, the Bears achieved a stunning 16-0 MVC of 23-3, regaining the crown of the regular season and winning five seeds in the NCAA tournament. In March, Aggua Hamilton led the Bears to the Sweet Sixteen, but was beaten by one seed and final champion Stanford.
The 2021-202 campaign was somewhat unsuccessful for coach Mox and the Bears. Their overall record ended at 24-8 at 14-4 meetings when they finished their second year at the meeting. Ugg Hamilton and Missouri still won large bids and 11 seeds.Bears beat Florida In play-in before losing to Ohio By 7 o’clock in the first round.
Since taking over the UVA program this spring, coach “Mox” has given her a great deal of energy and excitement. She’s been talking about playing fast-paced styles, and she’s already begun to pick up her players and create her roster.
Confidence in the current list: decent
Speaking of that roster, despite the struggles of last season, some Huths that will be important to coach “Mox” in her first year are back. Most notably, the team’s top scorer, Forward Camry Taylor (12.8 PPG), returns with only 12 games during the season after taking a personal vacation from the team last January. It’s a schedule. Hopefully Taylor can deal with everything he needs at the time and have a breakout senior campaign.
Mid-season transfer Mia McLean, along with Taylor, is back after scoring 11.4 points per contest in 11 games against Wahoo last season. The 5’11 “Wing has boosted UVA this past season and aims to build on it this year. Backcourt teammates and players who led and assisted the team from 2021 to 2022, Taylor Varadey is back as well as Key Rotation Guard Cadan Lawson.
Most exciting is the return of state star and University of Notre Dame transferee Sam Brunel to play for coach Mox in the 2022-2023 season. With ESPN ranked 6th in the 2019 class, Brunel has been injured since the 2020 season just by changing coaching at the University of Notre Dame.
Now, a 6’2 inch forward and a native of Ruckersville, Virginia, wants to wear orange and blue and put Wahoo back in the right direction. She has a lot of talent as a versatile offensive player and is a big addition to Aggua-Hamilton’s first roster.
Of course, after spending two years quietly in Minnesota, former five-star guard Alexia Smith came to UVA and Brunel wasn’t the only one to join the program. Aggua Hamilton also took Caddy Pauly, a former Missouri State University class in 2022, with her to Charlottesville.
It’s hard to accurately predict the success of this roster next season, but the combination of different parts should make the team better than last year. Some notable starting points, especially Amandine Toi’s starting point, have been hurt. However, there are many possibilities for the 2022-2023 group.
Confidence in future roster / recruitment: decent
No one can predict how Agugua Hamilton will be a recruiter in the long run, but the work she did in just a few months was amazing. Bringing Brunel home is more than a blockbuster of the time she spends in Charlottesville. This shows that coach “Mox” has already established itself as a recruiter, especially in the state.
Coach “Mox” is like someone who quickly finds the type of player she likes and raids accordingly. She has designed a roster of her players to play her style and should benefit from her suspicions, especially given her success in Missouri.
Overall, women’s basketball programs seem to be heading in the right direction. At least, it’s a lot better than when Thompson was the head coach. Coach Aggua Hamilton has already left her credit, and Wahoo fans will be back this season, even if it takes years for Mox to create and personalize the program. You should expect.
