Amaka Agugua-Hamilton – “Coach Mox,” to her players, and UVA Basketball fans – is taking over a program that has won five games total the past two seasons.
Which is to say, she knows it won’t be an easy job,
But she’s exactly where she wants to be.
“Being a part of ACC is like a dream come true,” Agugua-Hamilton told reporters at this week’s ACC Basketball Tipoff event in Charlotte. “I grew up in Northern Virginia, ACC country, so for me, to be able to be a part of a program like UVA, to me it’s one of the best athletic and academic institutions in the country, and icing on the cake is, I’m home.”
Agugua-Hamilton was 74-15 in three seasons as the head coach at Missouri State, leading the Missouri Valley Conference program to a Sweet Sixteen and a Top 25 finish in 2020.
“We were fortunate to have a lot of success there, and then I was fortunate to have a lot of opportunities, which I don’t take for granted,” said Agugua-Hamilton, who succeeded Kellie Harper, now at Tennessee, at Missouri State, which is becoming quite the mid-major cradle of Power 5 women’s hoops coaches of late.
The decision to take the UVA job was a “no-brainer,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
“When I was growing up, it was in the forefront of the country. It was Final Fours, it was Elite Eights, Dawn Staley, Wendy Palmer, all those great names, and many more. So, that was my idea of UVA women’s basketball,” she said. “And just to talk to Carla Williams, who I think is one of the best ever, and her vision, and what she wanted to see the program do, and the athletic department lined up with mine, it just was a no-brainer.”
Agugua-Hamilton has hit the ground running in terms of building her program, landing former five-star recruit Samantha Brunelle, a native of nearby Greene County, as a transfer from Notre Dame, another five-star transfer, Alexia Smith (Minnesota), and getting commitments from Class of 2023 four-stars Olivia McGhee (Mineral, Va./IMG Academy) and Kymora Johnson (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield).
The additions for the coming season of Brunelle and Smith, along with another former five-star recruit, Mir McLean, a transfer from Connecticut, give Agugua-Hamilton a lot to build from in her inaugural season.
“We have all the resources we need,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “We have great players. There’s talent there. There’s going to be more talent coming. I’m just excited. I’m excited to bridge the gap with the alums again, bring them back.”
The building blocks for 2022-2023 include 6’2” senior forward Camryn Taylor (12.8 ppg, 6.1 rebs/g, 40.3% FG, 18.2% 3FG), McLean (11.4 ppg, 8.3 rebs/g, 43.7% FG, 14.3% 3FG), a 5’11” junior guard , and 5’7” senior guard Taylor Valladay (9.5 ppg, 3.7 assists/g, 37.0% FG, 25.7% 3FG).
Other key rotation pieces that can return are 6’2” senior forward London Clarkson (5.2 ppg, 3.9 rebs/g, 46.3% FG), 6’0” senior guard Carole Miller (5.1 ppg, 31.5% FG, 30.8% 3FG), and 6’0” junior guard Kaydan Lawson (4.3 ppg, 4.4 rebs/g, 28.1% FG, 15.3% 3FG).
It helps that Agugua-Hamilton brought her staff with her from Missouri State, so the assistants already know how she runs things and know each other.
The big help there is that the familiarity of the people in charge has allowed Agugua-Hamilton and her staff to instill the culture and set clear expectations for the student-athletes.
“We’ve already started doing that, just to make them proud and get this program back to where it needs to be,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “There is a lot of toughness to it and just being competitive. That’s one thing we talk about in practice a lot, just being competitive, playing through mistakes, and playing together.
“The culture that I’ve instilled already, the players that I’ve bought into, it carries over on the court and off the court, and it’s just about togetherness and genuinely respecting each other and building a foundation of respect, loyalty, trust, a safe place for people, no-judgment zone.
“When you have that on the court, you have that camaraderie and that synergy, that alone can win you more games. From the tactical side, we’re going to play fast. We have athletes. We have shooters. We have a lot of the tools we need. And we want to play with a lot of tempo and be very disruptive on the defensive end.
“So going into the ACC, I think the conference is an athletic conference. I think it’s a physical conference. And the way that we play translates into the teams we’re going to play.
“We just have to be able to buy in and stay together, especially when we hit adversity and get over the hump. I just think I was blessed in this situation to have the players and the talent I need that translates into my system and what I’m trying to instill.
“So, it’s been a great transition. I’m really proud of where they’re at,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
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Chris Graham
