I love getting emails and texts from the subset of UVA fans who don’t follow women’s basketball, but still complain about it, because it fits their narrative about Carla Williams.
Look, I’ve been critical of Williams, for pushing Bronco Mendenhall out over his defensive coordinator, for not holding Tony Elliott to the same standard when it’s clear that his offensive coordinator isn’t getting the job done, for the resulting seas of empty seats in Scott Stadium on Fridays and Saturdays.
I’m not comfortable with being the apparent hero of the group of UVA fans who think Williams was a DEI hire, and use the struggles of the women’s hoops team as a political cudgel, because the coach of that team, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, is also a Black woman.
ICYMI
Yeah, this is a different sort of game story – Virginia lost last night at Miami, 77-74, to fall to 11-11 on the season, 3-7 in the ACC.
Latasha Lattimore had 25 points and seven boards; Kymora Johnson had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
UVA has been competitive of late – since the ugly 95-54 loss at #3 Notre Dame (NET: 6) on Dec. 29, the ‘Hoos have scored road wins at Clemson (NET: 64) and Virginia Tech (NET: 50), had tight losses to #10 Duke (NET: 8), #17 NC State (NET: 23) and #20 Georgia Tech (NET: 21), and now we have the three-point losses to Louisville (NET: 41) and Miami (NET: 87).
It sucks, that they’re losing tight games, but if you actually followed what Agugua-Hamilton, in her Year 3, is doing, you’d know that she’s building something.
Johnson, a sophomore, was a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, as was junior Paris Clark (seven points, seven assists in last night’s loss); sophomore Olivia McGhee was borderline five-star and a consensus Top 50 national prospect; freshman Breona Hurd (14 points, five boards last night) was a four-star and Top 100 recruit.
More: RyLee Grays, a sophomore, was a four-star; junior Yonta Vaughn, four-star; freshman Kamryn Kitchen, four-star.
Kitchen is redshirting this year, as is another freshman, Peyton Dunbar, who reclassified from 2025 to 2024, and I couldn’t find a rating for her, but she had offers from Virginia Tech, Michigan and Rutgers, which is an impressive list.
Yes, it’s translating now to 11-11, 3-7 in the ACC, but, look, the ACC is good – six teams in this week’s Top 25, 10 teams in the Top 50 in the NET.
ACC men’s basketball is down – two teams in the Top 25, six in the NET Top 50 – but ACC women’s basketball is in its heyday.
You can have a roster with nine Top 100 recruits, a couple of five-stars, and still struggle to get wins.
I like the direction that Coach Mox has the program going in, and I’m not alone there – Reddit co-founder and 2005 UVA alum Alexis Ohanian is investing literal millions into where she has things going.
ICYMI
One final note here: it’s funny to me that I didn’t hear from any of the Williams/Agugua-Hamilton critics back when Joanne Boyle was on her way to a 14-17 finish in her Year 3, ahead of going 17-14, 18-16, 20-13 and 19-14 before stepping away in 2018.
I don’t have to tell you that Joanne Boyle is White, do I?
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Chris Graham
