UVA building off promising year one under Coach Mox
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) -- At times last season Virginia women's basketball coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was down to only six players, now some might need name tags at a UVA women's basketball workout, some.
"Name tags, I don't need any name tags," sophomore guard Yonta Vaughn joked, "I kind of pick up quick on names. I know everybody. It's pretty cool."
Along with eight returners from year one, the Cavaliers bring in six new players from experienced transfers like Arizona guard Paris Clark, Northwestern guard Jillian Brown and Kansas State center Taylor Lauterbach to highly-rated freshman like local top-50 players Kymora Johnson and Olivia McGhee, as well as Swedish forward Edessa Noyan.
"Right now we have 12 of the 14, and it's crazy especially the way that we ended last season with really having 6, 7 players," Coach Mox said, "Just to see so many faces in there, voices, and to have options and to be able to do more things has been great."
Virginia is also healthy with Sam Brunelle back on the court after foot surgery and second-leading scorer Mir McLean trending that way in her rehab after a season-ending knee injury.
"I know with 14 talented players playing time's gonna change some things when people wanna play more and they don't, but I think we can be very deep," Agugua-Hamilton said, "I think that's what I wanted. Coming into next year, I wanted depth without losing skill. And so, I like what we got."
In year one under Coach Mox, UVA started 12-0, the best start for the program since 1991, before facing injuries and a tough ACC slate down the stretch.
"I came to most of the games even when they were losing players, I was like they still got this," freshman guard Kymora Johnson said, "To do what they did last year with what they had numbers wise is just insane. I'm really excited to see what we can do this year."
The group of 14 players have a group text titled "W2", which means "work to do", a phrase guiding the Cavaliers through summer workouts.
"We got work to do," Vaughn said, "We got goals to meet. We want to win championships, so that's the goal. We got work to do. All we do is work here, and that's what we're gonna continue to do."
Virginia also finished with a .500 record for the first time in five years and ten of the 14 players on next year's roster were recruited by Coach Mox, showing a shift in the program from a culture standpoint.
"I was proud of how the majority of the team bought into the culture and everybody now that's here now is bought into that culture and is all in with that," Coach Mox said, "It's not like a flip of the switch or something like that. It's kind of like an evolution. It's an evolving thing. Our family atmosphere is an evolving thing."
Outside of a typical tough ACC, Virginia will also take part in the inaugural Cayman Islands Classic with a loaded field like UConn, Virginia Tech and defending NCAA champs LSU. Despite a tougher schedule on the horizon, Coach Mox feels UVA is in a position to take the next step.
"I do think that we are going to be a really good team. I'm very optimistic about what we have and what we can do, and I think it's time to start pursuing championships," Coach Mox said, "You just take steps in the right direction and continue to do that."
What seemed like lofty goals a year ago are within reach for the Cavaliers.
"We'll be in the tournament this year. I think we'll definitely do that, we'll be playing in March," Vaughn said, "We're capable, we can do it, we have the talent to do it, so it's just doing it at this point."