Coach Mox: “There’s no reason why we can’t win here”

By Jerry Ratcliffe

New UVA women’s basketball coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton (Photo courtesy UVA Athletics)

When Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was growing up in Northern Virginia, playing for Fred Priester at Oakton High School, women’s basketball at the University of Virginia was impossible to ignore.

Debbie Ryan’s Cavaliers were the jewels of the sport on the East Coast, ruling the rugged ACC, going to Final Fours, putting up banners, developing stars including the incomparable Dawn Staley.

When Agugua-Hamilton — known simply as “Coach Mox” to those who struggle with her name — was introduced to the UVA community as its new women’s coach on Thursday morning at John Paul Jones Arena, those banners, those names, became even more real.

Real, but not intimidating. She opened her heart and vision to those attending her presser, sharing her “FAB” philosophy (family, academics, basketball, in that order), her playing style (up-tempo offense, strong defense, rebounding) and her goals.

“When I was in high school, [Virginia basketball] was a staple,” Coach Mox said. “There were championships here. We will get back to that.”

The 38-year-old coach with a winning track record at Missouri State and a strong resume has already won over her returning Cavalier team, which never experienced a winning season under former coach Tina Thompson. While Coach Mox faces a challenging uphill battle in rebuilding Virginia basketball, she has a plan, which includes getting out in the community, rebuilding bridges, welcoming program alums, learning from the men’s staff, things that have been missing from the program.

“She’s been on our radar for a while,” said UVA AD Carla Williams. “When [Missouri State] made it to the Sweet 16, that got a lot of people’s attention because that’s a big deal. It’s a great program, but you still have to work at it. You’ve got to recruit. You’ve got to develop players in order to win.”

Exactly what Coach Mox did at Missouri State, and plans to do here. She’s bringing her entire staff with her to make for a smoother transition. Having grown up in the state, she knows what UVA basketball was and should be.

“Being home, there’s no better feeling, to be honest,” Coach Mox said. “I didn’t really know if that was going to happen in my career, just because jobs take you everywhere in this business. I spent a lot of time in the Midwest.”

With lots of family in Northern Virginia, D.C. and Maryland, she’s already driven the sales of UVA women’s basketball season tickets. All of this takes her back to her days at Oakton where she became a Cavalier fan.

“Some of those Final Four runs,” Coach Mox said about those early memories. “But for me, Dawn Staley, she was kind of bigger than life when I was growing up. Wendy Palmer, Tammi Reese … those names, I just remember the passion they played with, the pride that they walked around with and spoke about UVA with. It’s just a very strong brand, and being from this state I understand that.

“I understand what having Virginia on your chest means and the pride that goes with that.”

Restoring that pride won’t be easy. Virginia basketball has been down on its luck for a while now, and hasn’t really been relevant in the ACC.

For 41 years, UVA basketball suffered only three losing seasons: two under Ryan (including her very first of 34) and one under Joanne Boyle (seven seasons). Now, the Cavaliers are coming off four consecutive losing campaigns under Thompson (30-64 overall record, 15-39 in the ACC) including two embarrassing forfeits this past season when the team went 5-23 and 2-16 in the ACC.

Williams mentioned that the returning players haven’t been able to wipe the smile off their faces since they learned about Coach Mox’s hiring. There’s a reason why.

Senior Carole Miller shared her thoughts on why the last four years have been such a struggle:

“There were several reasons on both sides,” Miller said. “We, as a group, didn’t often play together and reflect what we wanted to put out on the court. But also, it seemed sometimes that we were kind of given up on.”

Coach Mox told her players during Thursday’s press conference that she’s looking forward to the journey ahead.

“I look forward to building relationships, winning on the court, winning in the classroom and winning in the community,” Coach Mox said. “There will be some ups and downs, some good times and bad, but we’ll get through them together.

“There’s a lot of work to be done here, but there’s a lot of blessings ahead. There are banners to be hung. This community is hungry for more and so am I.”

Coach Mox said she and her staff are all about player development and relationship building. She plans to recruit hard, and while she wants to recruit first-years, she also has the benefit of the transfer portal, which can help rebuild teams quickly.

She knows that getting the community reinvigorated is one of the keys to success, and being a people-person, she plans to get involved and win back the fan base.

While it was difficult to comprehend what Thompson’s coaching philosophy was both on and off the court, Coach Mox made it perfectly clear how she intends to play.

“My style of play won’t change,” Coach Mox said. “It’s up-tempo. We’ll play fast, make or miss. We have an organized transition break, but we like to get up and down. I have a continuity offense that we flow into but also run a lot of quick hits. I like versatile players, post players that can shoot, guards, big guards that can post.

“Defensively, if you look at our track record, when I was at Missouri State, we were top 10 in scoring defense in the country. Rebounding, we were up there with our stats in the country, because that’s a staple. That’s who we are going to be. We have to defend at a high level, be physical, understand angles. I’m more of a gap defense coach than deny.”

If all that didn’t win over Wahoo fans, then her next statement certainly did. While the previous staff had little, if anything to do with Tony Bennett and his staff, that won’t be the case with the incoming regime.

“I have a lot of respect for Coach Bennett and what he’s done here,” Coach Mox said. “And he doesn’t even know this, but actually the continuity offense that we run is a mover-blocker, and we studied that a lot from him and his father.

“So I’m excited to pick [Tony Bennett’s] brain on that a little bit. I respect his style of play and what he does, but I have my own thing and my philosophy and I think the community is going to enjoy it.”

Coach Mox didn’t get a tour of JPJ until Wednesday, but was hit with the wow factor immediately. She believes the facility will help her recruit and help restore Virginia women’s basketball.

“It’s endless,” Coach Mox said about the potential for her program. “Honestly, there’s no reason why we can’t win here. This facility is by far one of the best that I’ve seen, if not the best I’ve seen. We’ll get recruits on campus and they will be wowed by that. But to me, people make this place.”

Coach Mox was right, and by becoming UVA’s coach, she just added one more reason why Virginia will win again.

Bennett to team: Commit, work hard, or we don’t want you here

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett (Photo by Dan Grogan)

Moments after a stinging, one-point home loss to St. Bonaventure in the NIT quarterfinals Tuesday night, Virginia coach Tony Bennett turned his attention to the future.

The Cavaliers had a distinct advantage over the visiting Bonnies, a team that was assigned three consecutive road trips and had an exhausted roster that was only six-deep. Four of its starters played the entire 40 minutes, but prevailed mostly because UVA was haunted by a familiar problem: stretches without scoring.

Virginia scored its last bucket with 3 minutes to play, leading 50-45 on an Armaan Franklin 3-pointer. The Cavaliers managed only one more point, a free throw by Franklin with 30 seconds to play. He missed the back end of his one-and-one, then Jayden Gardner missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18.8 seconds to play.

UVA lost, 52-51.

Last Sunday, Bennett’s team led 55-49 on another Franklin triple with 5:41 at North Texas, didn’t score another point in regulation and finally won 71-69 in overtime.

As much as Bennett would have loved to have gotten his team to next week’s NIT final four at Madison Square Garden, the Cavaliers played with fire by going stretches without scoring, something knowledgeable Wahoo fans expected coming into a season that ended with a 21-14 record.

Bennett addressed the future of his program during his post-game talk and directly challenged his players to make next season a much better one than this past campaign.

“This offseason is important,” Bennett said. “A lot of these young men are going to have to decide how committed, how hard they’ll work, how much they’ll improve their skills, how much tougher they can become and how much they love it. They have to take a step.”

His words grew stronger as his thoughts continued.

“We must improve every player that returns in this program,” Bennett said. “They better take a step in terms of commitment and their strength and their ability and to commit and work. If they don’t want to, then they shouldn’t be here.”

I don’t ever remember Bennett saying that after a season during his time here, at least publicly. While he added that he believed his players would put in the work, it made me wonder if he wasn’t satisfied with the work they had put in this past offseason.

“[The commitment and work] is the entry for this high level, so they’ve got to decide, and nothing’s guaranteed, playing time is not guaranteed. You work, you come together,” the coach added. “We were short-handed this year with a tight rotation so guys got invaluable experience.

“I hope there’ll be more competition next year for playing time, which is healthy. I want to be real with the new guys coming in. Everybody’s all excited about this new class. They’ll have their work to do.

“It’s hard coming in as a first-year. You’ve got to have patience and if they’re good enough, they’ll play. If they’re not ready, they’ll improve and they’ll get ready at some point. Certainly those guys that come back that played a lot, they should be better. The guys that didn’t play that much this year, eye-opening experience and I expect some good continuity.”

Presently, Bennett doesn’t know who’s returning and who’s not, something he hopes will be decided sooner rather than later. He plans to have meetings with all his players like he traditionally does at season’s end, after the dust settles.

Most everyone has eligibility remaining, some seniors have decisions to make, and then there’s the transfer portal to consider.

“Welcome to the new age of college basketball,” Bennett said somewhat sarcastically. “Some guys may have decisions made in their mind. We’ll sit down and be honest. I’ll share what I see. We’ll do that very soon.”

Virginia also has one of the top-rated recruiting classes in America coming in with four, 4-star players having already signed.

While Bennett was impressed with how this team improved from early-season struggles and losses to Navy, JMU and NC State, to wins over Duke and Miami toward the end, he wants to eliminate bad losses for the future.

“They’ve got to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go to work in the weight room, I’ve got to improve my shot,’” Bennet said.

That’s life in the pressure-cooker of being a member of the ACC, where most games are cliffhangers. The coach loved his team’s resiliency, bouncing back after losses, and he loved that he had a team of high character that truly pulled for one another, and was rejoiceful for teammates, reminding him of one of his mantras.

“You have to have young men you can lose with and a staff, and they were that,” Bennett said, but also reminded of the challenges ahead.

“There’s a lot of expectations and pressure on these young men, whether they put it on themselves or from outside,” Bennett said. “Where this program has been the last eight years, it has been at a level that’s second-to-none. So you come in and maybe you don’t have quite that kind of talent or experience … that’s a lot to live up to.”

He wants his team to improve its shooting, to get tougher and stronger.

A team trip to Italy for a series of games should help in various areas, blending the new talent with the existing team if nothing else. The real work, the real improvement will have to come before that, as the players put in the time and effort in the offseason.

The message is clear, though — grow your game or don’t expect much floor time come November. Bennett expects another long run of NCAA tournaments. Those invitations are earned in the offseason when no one is looking.

Podcast: A look back at the 2021-2022 Virginia basketball season

Tony Bennett had a lot to say after Virginia’s season ended with a 52-51 loss to St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night. Jerry Ratcliffe and Chris Graham break it all down, with an eye toward 2022-2023.

Virginia comes up short in closing seconds, falling 52-51 to Bonnies

By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia’s season came to an end in the NIT quarterfinals Tuesday, as visiting St. Bonaventure got a pair of Kyle Lofton free throws to take the lead in the closing seconds and escape with a 52-51 win. Kihei Clark’s would-be game winner was swatted out of bounds, along with UVA’s hopes of making one last road trip to New York City for the tournament semifinals.

Instead of heading to Madison Square Garden next week, the Cavaliers will look to next season, finishing the 2021-22 campaign with a record of 21-14.

Armaan Franklin made 5 of 11 from 3-point range, including a pair on consecutive trips — one with 3:38 on the clock, the other with 2:59 — that turned a one-point deficit into a five-point lead, 50-45, capping an 8-0 Cavalier run with a key Kadin Shedrick takeaway sandwiched in between.

But the Bonnies (23-9) kept chipping away and stole their third-straight road win over a Power-Five opponent to punch their ticket to the Big Apple.

After a poor-shooting first half, the Wahoos connected on six of their first nine field-goal attempts of the second half. Shedrick electrified the home crowd with an alley-oop finish, and then Jayden Gardner tied the game at 25-all with his second bucket of the half after UVA trailed by four at halftime.

Franklin’s third 3-ball of the game gave Virginia a one-point edge, its first lead since it was 13-12, and Gardner sank another from just a few inches beyond the free-throw line, and the Hoos led by three, 30-27, with 15:50 to play.

Shedrick, who scored 8 points in the opening eight-plus minutes of the second half after going scoreless in the first, flushed home another powerful, two-hand dunk to the delight of the JPJ crowd, as the Cavaliers held a 36-31 advantage with 11:36 remaining.

Jalen Adaway cut Virginia’s lead to three with a reverse layup as the clock went under eight minutes, and then Dominick Welch knocked down the Bonnies’ first triple of the night after missing their first 10 attempts, and the score was knotted at 40-all with 7:05 remaining.

Tied at 42-apiece, Adaway barely beat the shot clock with his contested 3-pointer with 4:35 to go. Reece Beekman scored to cut it to one, and then Franklin’s back-to-back 3-point daggers gave Virginia a fairly comfortable late cushion, but the Hoos went on to miss their last two field-goal tries in the final 2:59 — along with two crucially important free-throw attempts in the final 30 seconds.

A pair of Jaren Holmes free throws pulled the Bonnies within three, 50-47, with 1:51 left in the contest, and an offensive foul by Osun Osunniyi 30 seconds later wiped off a made 3-pointer by his teammate.

The Bonnies got it back after a Gardner miss with 52 seconds left and quickly called a timeout to draw up a play, but Holmes couldn’t get his ensuing shot to drop, Shedrick secured the rebound, and Franklin split a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining, putting the Hoos up by four.

Welch buried a 3 with 20.8 ticks on the clock to make it 51-50, and Gardner missed the front end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for one last crack at it for the Bonnies.

Lofton was fouled by Franklin on a drive to the hole and tied the game with 5.3 seconds left with his first of two free throws, and Tony Bennett called for a timeout before his second attempt. Lofton made the second, setting up Clark’s layup attempt that was blocked by Osunniyi as the final horn sounded.

Franklin led all scorers with 17 points to go with his 6 rebounds, while Gardner added 14 points (7 for 15 FG) and five boards in what could be his last game as a Wahoo, although he’s expected to return for a “super-senior” season next year.

Shedrick finished with 8 points, a team-best 9 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Beekman fouled out late in the contest, posting 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists (no steals) in 36 minutes.

Virginia shot 20 for 53 (38 percent) from the field and 26 percent from long distance (5 for 19), with Franklin being the only Hoo to make a 3-pointer. UVA edged the Bonnies on the boards, 35-34.

Welch, Holmes and Osunniyi each scored 10 points to lead St. Bonaventure, with Lofton and Adaway adding 9 apiece.

FIRST HALF

The Cavaliers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole when Franklin picked up where he left off Sunday, knocking down an open 3-pointer. Moments later, Beekman found Franklin in the corner for another triple, and this time he was fouled, completing a four-point play and giving UVA an 11-8 edge a little over five minutes in.

The Bonnies missed six-straight shots and went nearly four minutes without scoring, but trimmed it to one by the under-12 media timeout on an Abdoul Karim Coulibaly jumper.

St. Bonaventure grabbed the lead back on a Holmes basket with 9:30 on the clock, as the Hoos were in the midst of their own scoreless drought of over seven minutes, missing six attempts in a row until Beekman scored off the glass and Virginia led, 13-12, with 6:56 until halftime.

The two teams combined for just six points and missed 17 of 19 shots in a span of over eight minutes, as the Bonnies went another four-plus minutes without scoring until Osunniyi put them back in front by one with 4:49 remaining.

Lofton’s three-point play stretched the visitors’ lead to 17-13 just over a minute later, then he gave the Bonnies their largest lead with his jumper with 1:48 left.

Francisco Caffaro dunked one down with 43 ticks showing, but the Hoos headed to the locker room with a four-point deficit.

UVA shot 28 percent overall (7 for 25) across the opening 20 minutes, including 18 percent (2 of 11) from 3-point land, but held the Bonnies — who misfired on all seven attempts from beyond the arc — to 30-percent shooting (10 for 30).

The Cavaliers scored just six points over the final 14 minutes, gave up 6 offensive rebounds and were outscored 18-4 in the paint in the first half.

St. Bonaventure comes to Charlottesville with a chip on its shoulder

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo courtesy Atlantic Coast Conference

St. Bonaventure will be a very angry bunch of Bonnies when they arrive at John Paul Jones Arena tonight for an NIT quarterfinals battle with Virginia. A trip to the tournament’s final four at New York’s Madison Square Garden will be on the line.

The Bonnies felt that they should host after they knocked off their bracket’s No. 1 seed, Oklahoma, on the road Sunday night. However, Virginia, which beat North Texas on the road, also Sunday, was awarded tonight’s (7 p.m., ESPN) game. For a statistical breakdown and complete NIT bracket, see the end of this story, and you can also check out our in-depth podcast previewing the game here.

“The NIT didn’t do us any favors,” said longtime St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt. “Going 1,400 miles to Colorado and playing at 5,400-foot altitude, and then us going back to Olean for a couple of days and coming back out [to Oklahoma], it hasn’t been easy. But we dealt with adversity, we have veteran guys that understand life’s not always fair. But you go to work and you keep on at it and good things will happen.”

St. Bonaventure was the only team in the NIT field that did not receive a regional first-round matchup and is the only team in the event’s final eight that did not host at least one game in the 32-team tournament.

The NCAA’s Will Hopkins told SBU-TV Sports that “seeds 17-32 were not put into the bracket based on seed only, but geography also played a role where we could get some bus trips. On the committee’s overall seed list of 1-32, Virginia was higher than St. Bonaventure and given the option to host the quarterfinal round game as the higher seed.”

Virginia owned a No. 83 NET ranking as opposed to St. Bonnie’s 85.

“I need answers now,” said SBU senior guard Dominick Welsh on his Twitter account. “So why we not playing at the crib?”

Click to enlarge

Debbie Ryan, Dawn Staley give their blessings to UVA’s new women’s coach

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton (Photo: UVA Athletics)

Virginia’s new women’s basketball coach has gained the approval of the woman who built the program into a national power.

Debbie Ryan, who coached UVA’s women from 1977 until 2011 and compiled a 739-324 record, liked the new hire of Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton, who was announced as the Cavaliers’ new coach on Monday.

“Amaka was an excellent choice to lead the University of Virginia’s women’s basketball program,” Ryan said. “She is a proven college coach who has built a great legacy in the game already and is known for producing outstanding teams at every stop along the way.”

Coach Mox compiled a 74-15 record over three seasons at Missouri State prior to accepting UVA athletic director Carla Williams’ offer to coach the Cavaliers. Mox also was on strong staffs at Michigan State, VCU and Old Dominion during her career.

“She demands excellence from her players on the court, in the classroom and around the community,” said Ryan, who coached Virginia to three Final Fours during her career. “Her teams are always well-prepared, play extremely hard and are very intelligent. The game is fun for the players because she creates a family atmosphere on the team.

“Amaka will bring an immediate level of excitement to UVA women’s basketball that will ignite our fans, our players and future student-athletes. Our players will work hard and compete on every play as we strive to win championships.”

Ryan, who is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, wasn’t the only former Wahoo to give the nod of approval to Coach Mox’s hiring. Former Virginia All-American Dawn Staley, now considered at the top of her profession as South Carolina’s head coach, also liked Williams’ selection.

“Amaka is an elite coach and proven winner who understands the expectations and traditions of the University of Virginia,” Staley said. “She brings a culture of success and attracts student-athletes who exemplify the character and athleticism that it takes to win championships.”

Michigan State head women’s coach Suzy Merchant, who hired Agugua-Hamilton on her staff, was proud to see her former assistant land the Virginia job.

“Virginia got a good one in Coach Mox,” Merchant said. “She is committed to integrity, character and competitive excellence both on and off the court. She has been a tremendous leader of young women in our profession, and there is no question she will make an immediate impact in the storied UVA women’s program. Can’t wait to watch that program soar.”

Podcast: Virginia-St. Bonaventure, Williams hires Coach Mox

“The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” previews the Virginia-St. Bonaventure matchup in the NIT quarterfinals, and breaks down the hire of new women’s basketball coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton.

NIT Quarterfinal Preview: Virginia vs. St. Bonaventure

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (21-13) will host St. Bonaventure (22-9) in an NIT quarterfinal contest on Tuesday. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

For Openers

• UVA meets St. Bonaventure for the first time.
• UVA is making its 14th NIT appearance and seeks its first NIT semifinal appearance since winning the title in 1992.
• UVA’s Jayden Gardner needs 15 points for 2,000 career points.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-St. Bonaventure game will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be available on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coach

• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 316-116 (.731) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 385-149 (.721) career mark in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett won his 300th game at Virginia with the 61-43 victory against Lehigh on Nov. 26, 2021.
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided UVA to its 10th ACC regular-season championship in 2020-21.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and a school-record 35 wins.
• Bennett has led UVA to 10 consecutive postseason appearances (2012-22) and guided the Hoos to seven consecutive NCAA tournaments (2014-21).
• UVA is 161-70 (.700) in ACC play (90-25 at home & 71-45 away), 178-36 (.832) at home and 155-46 (.771) in non-conference action (87-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks fifth all-time in winning percentage (.700) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

UVA All-Time in the NIT

• The Cavaliers are 19-11 all-time in 14 NIT appearances, including a pair of championships in 1980 and 1992.
• UVA is 2-4 all-time in the NIT quarterfinals.
• The Cavaliers are 11-4 at home in the NIT.
• Virginia associate head coach Jason Williford was a member of the 1992 NIT champion Cavaliers.
• The Cavaliers are 17-8 in NCAA/NIT postseason play under Bennett, including a 4-1 mark in the NIT.
• Bennett is 4-2 all-time in the NIT, including a 68-57 loss at St. Mary’s as head coach at Washington State in 2009.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• The Cavaliers play defense, take good shots, share and take care of the basketball, rebound, and play more defense.
• UVA is led by its backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.2 ppg & 4.3 apg) and Reece Beekman (8.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.8 rpg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.4 ppg & 6.4 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.0 ppg).
• The Cavaliers added transfers Gardner (East Carolina) and Franklin (Indiana) to fill the void left by standouts Sam Hauser (16 ppg), Jay Huff (13 ppg) and Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg).
• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21.
• Francisco Caffaro (4.3 ppg & 4.6 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (6.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg & 1.9 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick has started 18 contests, while Caffaro has started 16.
• Kody Stattmann (35.7% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

Last Time Out

• Armaan Franklin scored nine of his 17 points in overtime to lead Virginia to a 71-69 win at North Texas (25-7) in NIT second-round action on March 20.
• Franklin matched a career high with five 3-pointers as UVA shot 52.9 percent from beyond the arc.
• Jayden Gardner added 17 points and Reece Beekman tallied 13 points, nine assists and three steals.
• Kihei Clark added 11 points and Kody Stattmann chipped in a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench for the Cavaliers (21-13).
• Mardrez McBride had a game-high 21 points for North Texas.
• UVA shot 48.1 percent and committed just six turnovers.

On The Horizon

• The winner of the Virginia/St. Bonaventure NIT quarterfinal advances to the semifinals vs. No. 2 seed Xavier or No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Tuesday, March 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tipoff and television designation is TBD.

Amaka Agugua-Hamilton named head women’s basketball coach

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Virginia athletics director Carla Williams announced Monday Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton as head coach of the Cavaliers’ women’s basketball program. Agugua-Hamilton (Uh-mah-kuh Uh-goo-gwa) comes to Virginia after serving as the head coach at Missouri State the past three seasons. She is a native of Herndon, Va., where she attended Oakton High School.

During Agugua-Hamilton’s three years heading up the Lady Bears program, Missouri State went 74-15 including a 46-6 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. Her teams won two MVC regular-season titles (2020, 2021) and have played in the past two NCAA Tournaments (2021, 2022), including a Sweet 16 trip in 2020-21. In her inaugural season, Missouri State appeared headed to the NCAA Tournament with a 26-4 record when the postseason was canceled due to the pandemic.

“We are thrilled and very fortunate to have recruited Coach Mox to UVA,” Williams said. “She is a gifted teacher, a skilled tactician of the game and a person who cares deeply about her players and vice versa. Her teams play with tremendous tenacity and confidence. Coach Mox has a reputation for recruiting and developing talent. While these qualities are necessary to build a competitive program, we have been most impressed with Coach Mox as a person. Her integrity, work ethic, passion for education and determination to build something special here at UVA is inspiring.”

Agugua-Hamilton has twice won MVC Coach of the Year honors, was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Spalding Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year in 2020, and was one of 10 finalists for WBCA National Coach of the Year in 2021. This season, Agugua-Hamilton became just the fourth head coach in Division I history to reach 60 victories in less than 70 games to begin their career at the Division I level.

This year’s Missouri State team went 25-8 and was a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Championships. The Lady Bears defeated Florida State 61-50 in the tournament’s inaugural First Four before bowing out against No. 6 Ohio State in the first round of the tournament.

The victory against the Seminoles was one of nine she had against Power Five opponents during her three seasons at MSU. That list includes wins versus USC, Virginia Tech, Missouri (three), Maryland, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

Agugua-Hamilton has two previous coaching stops in the Commonwealth. She was an assistant coach at VCU for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons when the Rams went 52-15. She was on the staff at Old Dominion in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

“I am overjoyed and thankful for this tremendous opportunity to lead this group of young women at one of the best academic and athletic institutions in the country,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I was immediately drawn in by Carla Williams’ vision for the women’s basketball program and the athletic department as a whole. I am certain I will thrive under her leadership. As a Virginia native, UVA is a dream come true for me. I could not be more excited to be HOME!”

The Lady Bears went 26-4 overall in Agugua-Hamilton’s first season (2019-20), setting a school record for regular-season victories and making Coach Mox one of 33 rookie head coaches in Division I history with at least 26 victories. She was the second first-year head coach in MVC history to be named Missouri Valley Coach of the Year, and the first to win an outright regular-season title in their debut season.

Missouri State ended the shortened 2019-20 season ranked 19th in the Coaches Poll, 23rd by the AP, and eighth in the NCAA RPI, the highest finish ever for an MVC team in that metric. The Lady Bears spent nine weeks rated fourth or better in the RPI throughout the season, ascending to the No. 1 spot for seven consecutive days in January, and went 15-0 at JQH Arena for the school’s first perfect home season since 2003-04.

The Lady Bears built on that immense success in 2020-21, finishing with a 23-3 record and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. MSU extended its ranking streak in the Coaches Poll to 35 consecutive appearances and finished 14th, its highest ranking since 2001. Missouri State matched the program’s best-ever NCAA Tournament seed with a No. 5, defeating UC Davis and Wright State in the postseason before falling to No. 1 overall seed Stanford in the Sweet 16 to end a 19-game win streak. Missouri State also posted the first perfect conference (16-0) and road (11-0) records in school history.

At Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton developed players that won multiple conference honors including player of the year, defensive player of the year (twice), all-newcomer team (twice), all-defensive team (three times) and the Lady Bears had five first-team all-MVC selections.

Agugua-Hamilton’s MSU teams were extremely tough to beat at home. The Lady Bears rolled up a 36-2 record in Springfield. They were also among the nation’s top teams in terms of defense and rebounding.

This season Missouri State ranks 11th nationally in scoring defense (53.9 ppg.), 16th in total rebounds (42.21 per game), 19th in field goal defense (35.7 pct.) and 20th in rebounding margin (+7.5). Missouri State set a school record for rebound margin in 2020-21 at plus-10.8 and ranked second nationally with a .794 defensive rebound margin after leading the country at .773 in 2019-20. Agugua-Hamilton’s first MSU team ranked in the top 22 nationally in scoring offense, 3-point percentage, rebound margin, free throws, free throw percentage and won-lost percentage.

The first African-American female head coach for any sport at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton is a 20-year veteran of Division I women’s basketball, including five seasons as a player at Hofstra and four coaching stops. Prior to taking over the Missouri State program, she was on the staff at Michigan State from 2013-19, the last four years as associate head coach.

During her six-year stint at Michigan State, Agugua-Hamilton helped the Spartans to four seasons with at least 21 wins, four NCAA Tournaments, one WNIT bid, and the 2014 Big Ten regular-season title. She was integral in signing four consecutive top-35 recruiting classes, including her last class of Spartans that was the seventh-ranked group in the nation. She recruited and coached 26 all-conference players and a pair of top-10 WNBA draft choices in Lansing. She also earned four victories as interim head coach in 2017 and aided the Spartans to an overall 125-72 record and 58-44 Big Ten mark in six years.

Prior to Michigan State, Agugua-Hamilton was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Old Dominion for two seasons, helping the Monarchs to an eight-win improvement and WNIT berth her second year in 2012-13. She recruited and coached eight All-CAA selections and one WNBA draft pick while at ODU.

Before her time at ODU, Agugua-Hamilton worked at Indiana for two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, and at Virginia Commonwealth for three years, as a graduate assistant (2006-07) and assistant coach (2007-09). Coach Mox helped VCU to a pair of 26-win seasons and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance during her two years as a full-time assistant.

Agugua-Hamilton is a 2005 graduate of Hofstra University, where she averaged 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds over a 95-game career. She is the Pride’s career field goal percentage leader at .551 and graduated with the top three single-season field goal percentage marks in school history. A four-year team captain, she was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association pick in 2004, and helped Hofstra to a WNIT berth in 2006, the school’s first-ever postseason appearance.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from Hofstra in 2005 and received her master’s degree in sports leadership and administration from VCU in 2007.

Agugua-Hamilton married Billy Hamilton in 2017. The couple has a son, Eze, born in April 2018.

All Franklin needed was a little nudge toward 3-point greatness in NIT win

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Armaan Franklin and Tony Bennett (Photo by Dan Grogan)

It was halftime in North Texas’ “Super Pit” arena and Virginia was sweating out another narrow lead, a 26-24 advantage over a hungry mid-major hoping to knock off a vaunted program from the ACC.

Most of the Cavaliers were contributing on offense — what offense there existed in a game between the two slowest-paced teams in the entire nation — except for one guy. Armaan Franklin had not scored.

Being shut out was not what UVA’s coaches had counted on after Franklin had made two big 3’s in a win earlier in the week over Mississippi State in the opening round of the NIT. The coaches had hoped it would boost Franklin’s confidence, but it wasn’t showing.

Perhaps what Franklin needed was a little nudge.

Did someone say Jason Williford?

Williford, Virginia’s associate head coach, isn’t known for holding back his feelings and isn’t shy about delivering wake-up calls to players. Halftime provided the coach a perfect opening to pour some cold water onto Franklin’s psyche.

“Coach Williford was like, ‘We need you … these guys need you. You’re a better player than you showed in that first half,’” Tony Bennett shared with media in his postgame presser. “And boy, did [Franklin] ever respond.”

Not only had Franklin not scored, but he wasn’t playing his usual game, as if he just wasn’t ready to play. The junior guard snapped out of his funk in the second half, even though he didn’t make a single shot until there was only nine-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation.

When Franklin finally made a shot at the 9:30 mark, he turned the “Pit” into his personal shooting gallery, making 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc (three in a row in overtime) to finish as Virginia’s leading scorer (17 points) and propel the Cavaliers to a 71-69 win over North Texas.

UVA, now 21-13 advances to the NIT quarterfinals against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena at 7 p.m. (see related game story, updated brackets, notes, box score, and related story on how to buy tickets on this site).

“That says something when you challenge someone and they respond,” Bennett said. “That was good to see. We needed those shots and he played some good defense, so I was so happy for him.”

Franklin, who transferred from Indiana, had been in a terrible shooting slump down the homestretch of the regular season.

In his last nine games prior to the NIT, Franklin had made only 8 of 34 shots from the 3-point arc (and three of those makes came in one game). He hit two big ones against Mississippi State, and Bennett had expressed that perhaps those shots would build his struggling guard’s confidence.

Once Franklin connected against the favored Mean Green, he could hardly miss.

His first bucket of the night gave UVA a 50-41 cushion. He added two free throws shortly after, then hit another 3 from the left wing with 5:41 to play for a 55-49 lead after UNT had cut it to three.

Franklin rattled off 17 consecutive points, including the aforementioned eight, which were the last points Virginia scored in regulation (5 minutes, 41 seconds without a point) as North Texas fought back to send it into overtime (the Mean Green didn’t score the final two-and-a-half minutes).

In overtime, Franklin didn’t cool. In fact, he drilled in three triples in a row to start the extra period as UVA held on for the win.

“I started out pretty poorly and that stood out because I wasn’t producing on the floor,” Franklin said. “So I had a choice to make. Either sit down and pout about it or when I go back into the game, make the most out of it, take the open shots. When you see a couple go in, that just enhances every shot as a shooter.”

In the two-game postseason, Franklin has made 7 of 12 attempts from downtown. That’s what he was accustomed to during his sophomore year at Indiana, and what Virginia had hoped he could bring to this team, which is desperate for perimeter shooting.

Franklin never gave up on his shot, which is a shooter’s mentality. The next one is always going in. His teammates had his back, which didn’t hurt either.

“We always tell our teammates to just keep shooting the ball,” said forward Kody Stattmann, who posted a career-high 10 rebounds. “We know he can shoot, so when he caught on fire like that, it’s always good to see him shoot like that.”

Was it just confidence, Williford’s prodding, something else that sparked Franklin’s fire?

Bennett said the coaches spotted something while scouring through film, something mechanical in Franklin’s shot that they addressed, although the coach said he didn’t know if that made a difference.

“Just a little tiny mechanical thing,” Bennett said. “He’s been working at that and I’ve noticed he’s been more consistent. Sometimes you fall into little patterns and you’re trying to self-correct, and there’s one little thing.

“I want him to take good rhythm shots. I almost get mad at him when he doesn’t.”

Franklin said he couldn’t remember exactly when the coaches addressed the hitch, that it was only minor, but that it helped and he feels more comfortable.

If the adjustment can help make Franklin the outside threat he has been in the postseason, the Cavaliers could end the season at Madison Square Garden in the NIT’s Final Four, a place where a few teams in Virginia history used as a springboard to future greatness.

And, if the tiny mechanical adjustment isn’t enough, Coach Willy is also there as a constant reminder.

Virginia will host St. Bonaventure in NIT quarterfinals Tuesday night

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Armaan Franklin (Photo: UVA Athletics)

Virginia (21-13) will host St. Bonaventure (22-9) in an NIT quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, March 22. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Ticket Information

Tickets go on sale at UVATIX.com on Monday, March 21 at 9 a.m. Tickets are priced at $14 for lower-level reserved seating and $12 for upper-level general admission seating.

Parking will be available at the JPJ West lot as well as the attached garage for $10 prepaid online and $15 on the day of the game. Prepaid parking can be purchased online at UVATIX.com.

See the full updated NIT bracket below.

Click to enlarge