UVA alum Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder and former executive chairman of the social media site Reddit, has committed a multi-year gift to the UVA Women’s Basketball program that is said to be the second largest gift to women’s athletics in UVA history.
We don’t have the amount, so we’ll have to take their word for it on it being “transformational,” as was noted in a press release sent out on Thursday.
Exciting news here: another big-money donor has come forward, and this one is willing to attach his name to his money.
“It’s probably the question I get the most often these days, when are you going to make moves in women’s basketball?” said Ohanian, who graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce in 2005, and, you might have also heard, is the husband of tennis superstar Serena Williams.
“I am proud to support the women’s program at my alma mater with this donation. It’s time to bring the nation’s best hoops talent to Charlottesville and win some championships in the next four years,” Ohanian said.
No pressure there for third-year coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, whose team is off to a meh 6-5 start this season, despite solid recruiting over the past couple of years, headed by the sophomore point guard, Kymora Johnson, a five-star recruit and former McDonald’s All-American.
Money is an obvious issue for women’s athletics. The UVA Women’s Basketball program brought in $1.2 million in operating revenues in 2022-2023, according to data from Sportico, which resulted in an operating deficit of more than $3.5 million, and that was actually a slight improvement over past years’ performances – over the previous five years, the program lost an average of $3.6 million per year.
“Alexis’ commitment to women’s sports is unparalleled,” said UVA Director of Athletics Carla Williams. “He sees the value and he is willing to invest. His support will help attract championship talent to the University of Virginia and specifically, to UVA Women’s Basketball. I am extremely grateful for his foresight and commitment to the future of women’s athletics at the University of Virginia.”
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Chris Graham
