Virginia women’s basketball lands former 5-star PG transfer from Minnesota

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton continued to rebuild Virginia women’s basketball this week as she added former 5-star point guard Alexia Smith to the Cavaliers’ roster.

Smith, who just finished up her sophomore season at Minnesota, comes to UVA out of the transfer portal. The 5-foot-8 guard was rated a 5-star prospect by ESPN in its Class of 2020.

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Smith appeared in 33 games and started one for the Golden Gophers in 2021-22. As a freshman in 2020-21, she started 12 of 19 games.

Last season, she provided spark off the Minnesota bench, averaged 3.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while scoring in double figures three times, including a career-high 14 points against USTA with five field goals. She also scored her Big Ten career high against Michigan.

As a senior at Columbus Africenteric Early College, Smith was ranked the 46th player overall in the recruiting class nationally and the 15th-ranked guard in the country. She led her school to two state titles and a spot in the state semifinals her senior season before the tournament was halted by Covid-19.