Amaka Agugua-Hamilton certainly was familiar with the Virginia women’s basketball program, but she did not know if her coaching career would ever lead back to her home state. UVA certainly was familiar with Agugua-Hamilton too, but had to see how much interest there might be in the open head coaching position.
When the two sides got together, however, they saw the same thing in each other. Unlimited potential.
“It's endless. Honestly, there's no reason why we can't win here,” Agugua-Hamilton said Thursday during her introductory press conference at the John Paul Jones Arena. “This facility is by far one of the best that I've seen. And I've been at some schools with top-in-the-country facilities. But this is, if not the best I've seen. And I don't think you can compare it to - our locker room, from our locker room to the recovery area, the weight room, offices, to me it's the best in the country, honestly. And I'm not just saying that. After I took my tour yesterday, I called Carla [Williams] and told her that. We'll get recruits on campus. They will be wowed by that, which is great. But to me people make the place. And I think people here are just first-class people. I believe in my ability to recruit, my staff's ability to recruit, which is great, but to me, people make the place. And I think people here, interest [is there], I guess you could say, from recruits right now reaching out to us before we even reach out to them. So I just think that the potential is endless. We're going to get this thing going. And I'm just excited.”
“UVA women's basketball has an elite and storied history built by Coach [Debbie] Ryan and countless players, assistant coaches, team managers, athletic trainers, and many others. Anything great begins with the right people,” Virginia Director of Athletics Carla Williams said in her prepared statement. “An elite program requires selflessness by all involved, a team-first approach, a commitment to integrity, a relentless work ethic, a determined pursuit of excellence on and off the court, talented and coachable players a dedicated staff, and lastly a leader that can bring these people and these ideals together. A leader who can inspire others to believe. And Coach Mox is that person for us here at the University of Virginia.”
Realizing that potential will require meeting a significant rebuilding challenge.
The Cavaliers finished this season with a 5-22 record, which added to what ended as a 5-29 slide under former coach Tina Thompson. UVA has not qualified for any postseason games in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT since the 2017-2018 season when then coach Joanne Boyle led the Cavaliers to a first-round upset when No. 10 seed UVA topped No. 7 seed California. That was Boyle’s only NCAA trip, however, to go alongside four WNIT appearances. Prior to the 2018 NCAA Tournament bid and win, the Hoos’ last appearance in the field came in 2009-2010 and their last win in the event came in 2008-2009 under legendary coach Debbie Ryan.
Ryan, of course, built the storied history referenced by Williams. She guided the program to the 1991 National Championship Game where the Hoos fell to Tennessee, 70-67, in overtime. That came as part of three straight trips to the Final Four. UVA made four other Elite Eight appearances and five other Sweet 16 appearances. The Wahoos won 11 ACC Regular Season Championships and 3 ACC Tournament titles. Ryan remains the program’s all-time winningest coach with 739 victories in her tenure.
Agugua-Hamilton said she believes that Virginia can get back into the banner business.
That isn’t merely wishful thinking for the new coach, though. Prior to taking this job, she led Missouri State to 2 Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season titles and a Sweet 16 trip as part of back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. Overall, her teams compiled a 74-15 overall record. While she inherited a healthy program that had made five straight postseason appearances including a Sweet 16, Agugua-Hamilton still had to get the Bears to produce those results.
“When people look at my journey at Missouri State, they just think that I walked into something and it happened,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “There's a lot of hard work that went into that. And the culture I built there and how I developed those student-athletes, me and my staff, is just it's not an easy thing to do. So, if you dive in and really look at what we accomplished, you know that it can be accomplished here as well. When I got there, there was no players on any all-conference teams at all. There was nobody being recognized individually. And by the time I left, we had five players on first-team, three on the all-defensive team, two defensive players of the year, one player of the year. ... We had all kinds of accolades because we invested in them. We worked on their confidence. We worked on their game. We helped them off the court. And so I know, and I'm very confident, that I can develop players and my staff can develop players. I'm confident that I can put them in positions to be successful. So that's what we did there. And we broke a lot of records. Made histories. Etched our names in those history books. And that's what I want to do here. I want to inspire these kids, even the ones we're looking to bring in, and help them walk with that confidence on and off the court, and get them to believe in something bigger than themselves.”
Those results at Missouri State alone made her an interesting candidate. A vision for the program and ties to the state only added to the resume. She played high school basketball at Oakton High School, and spent early years in the college coaching ranks at both VCU and Old Dominion.
Williams worked with input from Coach Ryan, the current players on the team, and others within UVA circles. As she worked through what she called “some great candidates” and looked closely at what Agugua-Hamilton accomplished in her first head coaching position, it became evident to her that she could be a great choice.
The interview process sealed it for Williams as she saw someone that would fit into the department and the many successful programs already on Grounds. Virginia, of course, recently just added the 30th National Championship in school history when the women’s swimming and diving team repeated.
“We got a lot of input as we were vetting candidates and along the way, it just became crystal clear that Amaka was the best candidate for UVA,” Williams said, later adding that “everything that Coach Mox is, is what we have. And so I love our head coaches, I think it's a great group. She and I talked about our head coaches a lot, how they share with each other, how they support each other. And so making sure that we found the right fit, which she is a people person who is also a gym rat, so it's a perfect combination.”
To generate any sort of success and new history at Virginia will take more than being a good fit and having a good track record. Developing current players, recruiting new players, reviving fan interest in the program, and creating buy-in from the surrounding community all will factor into the program’s growth.
Agugua-Hamilton described the outline to accomplish the in-house tasks with three letters, F-A-B, short for family, academics, and basketball. That, to her, means being supportive of those around you in the program, holding each other accountable, and building relationships. That means staying on top of things in the classroom because of what that will mean when basketball is done. And, on the court, it means chasing the championship tradition for the program.
She outlined her priorities for building that culture here at Virginia.
“First and foremost, getting to know the players that are here, building relationships and getting to work on the court,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I take a lot of pride in player development. So that's the first thing we need to do. Second, recruiting. We already hit the ground running with that. I think - obviously I like to recruit the four-year kid, but the transfer portal has also changed some things [so] looking at some good transfers that are going to fit our culture, but also can be competitive on the floor. I'll be bringing my staff. So that will be an easy transition for me, and I'll be able to delegate and get organized pretty quickly. So that will help. But we've got to develop these kids and we've got to recruit. Those are the two things that need to happen here in the next couple of months.”
Outside of the program, it means a lot of outreach. Fan interest dwindled in recent years as losses mounted and the previous product failed to connect with the community. The official statistics report showed an average attendance of 1,643 fans at the JPJ. Winning will help with that, but relationships also will need to be repaired and created.
The 38-year old said she will be active in the community and that she likes to talk with people. She will expect her players to give back to the community as well. Those steps will be important in surrounding the program with support.
“And I think that the program is going to reflect the leader of the program,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “So I'm somebody that always carries myself with class and grace. I'm a genuine person. I'm a God-fearing woman. And I just have people's best intentions always at heart. So I'm just going to pour into our players. And I want them to understand the lessons that they can learn from this game, and it's not just about on the court. I want to make sure they're prepared for life. So we're going to do a lot of things to help them continue to grow and understand that things are bigger than basketball. I say it all the time - bigger than buckets. So I think that will reflect, from the way that we carry ourselves and the way that we compete on the court and the way we get out into the community and speak and get to know people.”
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