It was a big deal that Samantha Brunelle didn’t commit to UVA out of high school. It’s maybe a bigger deal that the former Greene County basketball star has come back home.
“It’s been truly awesome, especially coming back to Virginia and just being back in, like, my hometown. There’s definitely a different energy in Virginia for women’s basketball,” said Brunelle, who transferred to Virginia in the spring to play for new coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton after spending her first three college years at Notre Dame.
A high school All-American at William Monroe High School, Brunelle starred out of the gate in South Bend, earning Freshman All-ACC honors after averaging 13.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Irish.
Injuries slowed her down in her sophomore and junior seasons, leading Brunelle to seek a fresh start at UVA, where things seem to be on the upswing with the arrival of Agugua-Hamilton.
Brunelle, a 6’2” forward, was a ball girl at UVA women’s games as a youngster, and remembers thinking as a young girl, “I want to be them someday.”
“Being able to re-establish UVA Basketball and get it back to where it should be, it’s exciting. It’s great to walk around campus and hear how people are excited about games and be there for us,” said Brunelle, who has two years of athletics eligibility remaining.
Brunelle was recruited out of high school by legendary Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, who had led the Irish to a national title in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2019, winning 35 games in each of those two seasons.
The program slipped to a 13-18 finish in 2019-2020, Brunelle’s freshman season, and McGraw stepped down after that season, and was replaced by former Notre Dame and WNBA star Niele Ivey, who after a 10-10 season in the COVID year of 2020-2021, got Notre Dame back into the NCAA Tournament in 2021-2022, leading the team to a 24-9 record and a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
“I took a lot from my time at Notre Dame. I think one of the most important things that I took was accountability. That was something instilled by Coach McGraw my freshman year and still instilled by Coach Ivey after that,” Brunelle said.
“Honestly, when all of us really learned what accountability meant, whether that’s for yourself or for your teammates, we became more successful. My first two years there, obviously were not very successful team-wise. That third year, though, we made strides, and we got to where Notre Dame used to be.
“So, being able to bring that to Virginia and that knowledge is great, and being able to lead these girls, honestly, our team is full of leaders, and that’s really exciting to be surrounded by girls who want to work hard, who want to learn from each other, and take criticism well, because that’s going to help us be a very successful team,” Brunelle said.
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Chris Graham
