Year 2 of the Coach Mox era of Virginia women’s basketball officially tips off on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena, as the Cavaliers play host to Maryland Eastern Shore to begin the regular season.
Head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton has 14 players on this year’s roster after playing some games with as few as six healthy options. Several of those returning players are entering their final year of eligibility, and hope to leave their collective stamp on the program while building off of last year’s turnaround campaign.
The Wahoos (15-15, 4-14 ACC) got off to an insanely hot start, rattling off victories in their first 12 games to start the season, but the injury bug reared its head and the team fizzled down the stretch in the loaded ACC as a result, finishing 13th in the standings and not qualifying for the postseason.
Virginia will face a few tough non-conference opponents, most notably defending champion LSU at the Cayman Islands Classic later this month, while the conference is once again packed with stars and talent.
The Hoos, recently picked by the media to finish 10th in the ACC this season, return a host of veterans, including fifth-year forward Camryn Taylor (last year’s leading scorer with 13.9 points per game), along with graduate forward Sam Brunelle (11.0 ppg), senior forward Mir McLean (12.2 ppg, team-high 9.6 rpg), graduate forward London Clarkson (6.9 ppg) and senior guards Alexia Smith (5.6 ppg) and Kaydan Lawson (5.6 ppg), as well as sophomore guards Yonta Vaughn (3.4 ppg) and Cady Pauley (3.5 ppg) from last year’s roster.
Although a few key players — namely Brunelle and McLean — are still recovering from lingering injury issues, Agugua-Hamilton is confident in this group’s depth to pick up the slack in their stead heading into the season.
“We’ve got some stuff that’s kind of residual from last year, and we’re trying to get some of those kids back, and they’ll be back,” Coach Mox said of the injuries. “Like I say, progress is the process. We’ve just got to stick to that process and understand that… I think, hopefully by the end of this month, we’ll have just about everybody back, but I don’t know. We’ve got to see how the doctors and trainers tell us how that process is going.
“But like I say, I said it last year, I said, ‘It’s our team, next-woman-up mentality.’ So, somebody goes down, fortunately, we have more bodies this year than we did last year, so people have got to step up. I’m just happy that none of them are season-ending injuries at this point. So just weather the storm ‘til you get the full 14 back, but I do like our depth and I think we have a lot of talent where people can step up.”
The newcomers
Coach Mox made good use of the transfer portal, bringing in three new players — sophomore guard Paris Clark (3.8 ppg last season at Arizona), junior guard Jillian Brown (6.6 ppg at Northwestern) and 6-foot-7 graduate center Taylor Lauterbach (1.3 ppg at Kansas State), who has two years of eligibility remaining and will provide some much-needed size down low.
“Some of our transfers are playing with a chip on their shoulder because they didn’t feel like they showcased their best game at their last school,” said Coach Mox. “So I just, I think overall, the team is playing with a chip on our shoulders, which is what you want.”
Cavalier fans are also excited about this year’s freshman class, which includes a pair of local standouts in Kymora “Mo” Johnson, who played for Phil Stinnie at St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville and Olivia “O” McGhee, who hails from Louisa. Edessa Noyan, who has competed on the Swedish National Team, rounds out the talented incoming class.
Johnson and McGhee, the tandem that has already been dubbed as “The Mo & O Show,” heard a lot about each other growing up in Central Virginia, but never faced off against each other in a high-school contest.
The two are now not only teammates, but also roommates, and “really just now starting to get to really know each other,” according to McGhee. Wahoo fans should have fun over the next few years watching these two grow together and gel on and off the court.
“They understand what it means to put that Virginia on your chest,” Coach Mox said. “I say that a lot, but there’s some power to that, and they know where this program has been. They understand where we’re trying to get it to go and where we are currently going, and they take a lot of pride in that.”
Johnson, a five-star recruit (No. 24 nationally in the espnW HoopGurlz rankings) was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and went on to compete in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago, winning the 3-point shootout in the process. She averaged 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds 6.7 assists and 4.5 steals per game as a senior at STAB.
She grew up in the backyard of the UVA program, knows its history, and wants to be a part of returning it to similar glory.
“I think that was one of the main reasons why I came here was to put it back on the map,” Johnson said, “and I think my teammates are all bought into that.”
McGhee (No. 45), a four-star, had a standout career locally at Louisa County but decided to transfer to IMG Academy in sunny Florida for her senior year last season. She said she was “pushed past limits” that she didn’t know she had while playing for IMG coach Shell Dailey, a former college and WNBA assistant, and believes her time there was the perfect bridge to the college level and UVA.
“I know even when I think I have nothing left, I still have more left in the tank because I went there,” McGhee said of her year at IMG. “It was a great experience. I loved it.”
She suffered an injury in the Blue-White Scrimmage and missed a few weeks of practice, but said she is “feeling great” and ready to go for her Wednesday-night college debut.
“We were the top two recruits in Virginia,” Johnson explained of the budding relationship. “Everyone knew about us and we didn’t really know each other, but when she committed here I was like, ‘This could be special,’ and I thought that like, we being hometown kids, we could do it. We could contribute to the success of this program.”
Both Johnson and McGhee idolized Brunelle when she was tearing up the competition and gaining national attention during her years at William Monroe High School. At one point, McGhee said she was blown away when Brunelle attended one of her summer-league games, while Johnson used to train with Brunelle and admitted that she has always looked up to her.
Now it’s all come full-circle, at least for one season, when all three will be teammates and will be representing UVA and the area.
“Just being able to play with her is gonna be so cool,” said Johnson. “I’ve been waiting for this for a while. I never thought we’d play together, but I’m really excited.”
Additional notes
In their exhibition contest this past Thursday against Pitt-Johnstown, the Cavaliers were without four players dealing with injuries — Brunelle, McLean, Lawson and Clark — but still went over the century mark in a 102-51 win. Taylor, Pauley (who sank four shots from 3-point land) and Vaughn led the way with 18 points apiece, while Johnson and McGhee had solid performances as well.
McLean said she’s progressing well after suffering a season-ending injury against NC State last season, but likely won’t be in uniform against UMES.
“Rehab-wise, it’s been going really well,” said McLean, who posted five double-doubles last season. “Just pushing every day, being able to come back as soon as possible, but in terms of [getting back on the court], it’ll come when it needs to come. I’m just doing everything I need to do to be back in time.”
For now, it’s onto the regular season, one that Coach Mox and her team hopes will be full of lasting memories and another stepping stone for the future of the program and the community.
“People are kind of getting behind what we’re trying to do,” she said. “They understand the culture that we, myself and my staff, have instilled here. They’re getting behind our young ladies, they see how hard they’re working. They are all great high-character kids who carry themselves well. We’ve been given back a lot in the community, so if you follow us on social media, you see that. You see us in the classrooms or children’s hospitals or whatever it is, because we do want to make sure that community is a part of what we do, and we do our part, use our platform to give back.
“So I think all of that kind of just mixing in together has really created some excitement here in Charlottesville, and also like beyond Charlottesville, so I’m just really blessed to have that much support.”