Accomplished playerProven winnerInspirational leaderWelcome to Hokie Nation @CoachMeganDuffy๐๏ธ ยป https://t.co/kSGK7jONCu pic.twitter.com/i4JgoGPcN1โ Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) April 3, 2024
Was the head coach at Marquette previously. Guided Marquette University to the NCAA tournament back-to-back years (2023, 2024), spent five years in Milwaukee where she accumulated a 110-46 record that included a 64-30 mark in BIG EAST play.
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Lets go!
HOKIES!
Looks like a legit hire. Proud of Whit for not offering it to Kenny's videographer
I know nothing about her but LET'S GO!!!!
Sounds like VT will be a great stepping stone for her career.
/ducks
In all likelihood, if she is successful here and ND pens up, she'll be going there.
Can't you let us have something nice for at least a little while????
Megan Duffy to TAMU confirmed. *ducks*
For real though, seems like a good hire. Good record across the board, two straight NCAA appearances at a smaller school. Like it.
Now to go check instagram and see whoch players repost the news
Can someone do this for me? I don't insta.
Seems like a solid replacement with the options at hand. Hope she can put together a staff that retains some of the pieces that are left right now. Still feels like an uphill battle to be competitive any time soon
Absolutely- she is stepping into a meat grinder though- ACC hoops. It took Brooks a few years to figure that out too. NC State, ND, Louisville, UNC- loaded year after year. Duke is very good. The list goes on.
Welcome!
Can we get someone to update her Wiki photo?!
Need to wait until we get a photo of her in VT gear,
Why that picture is absolutely amazing.
I do love the baggy short look, its hilarious
Whether you like or not, this is what the peak basketball athlete looked like in the 2000s
Absolutely not, we can't just go around erasing baggy jersey Reebok era basketball
Right??
Reject modernity, embrace tradition.
Don't laugh, this was totally the style in the mid-2000s. Even the American Dodgeball Association of America got in on the act.
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/photos/nba-shorts-years-24811142
Some pics through the years- personally I LIKED the 1980s style- were a lot easier to play in -at least in my opinion...
We never quite got that bad, at least not with the shorts, but around 2007 the tops were basically oversized tshirts with the sleeves cut off
Yes, ordered from a generic Nike catalog too. Not fitted to the team, custom designed etc. We have come a long way
All due respect, baggy oversized uniforms was just the style back then. Had nothing to do with Nike going cheap on us, in fact it was our first Nike uniform after being with Adidas. Even UNC got that treatment.
I meant more that its blurry and old, I do love the baggy shorts!
I feel like the flip phone picture of a newspaper level graininess adds to the effect.
Honestly, I feel like all it's missing is the date in the lower right hand corner, yellow numbering.
Screams early 2000s
Welcome aboard coach. Let's get after it!
Step 1, win the recruiting battles in Blacksburg.
Seems like a decent hire
Top 2 scorers from this year's Marquette team are both in the portal, plus she had one top 100 recruit (#67) committed for next season.
I know womens is not equal to the mens, but poaching from a good Big East school seems like a slightly better hire than from a traditional mid-major school (Richmond, JMU, Marshall, etc.). Sounds like she was strongly considered for several of the other ACC openings too (Miami and Pitt).
Remember all the posts on here about how VT is pretty much just a stepping stone school? Think of how Marquette feels! lol
Like others I know nothing about her, but I am glad she has a good track record, and even more glad that we now have a coach who can get after recruits, including trying to keep as many she can at VT!
Welcome, Megan!
Right, the last coach we got from Marquette panned out
he was great while he was here
#Marquette2VT
More than 1 thing can be true. in 2024's current landscape - VT is 100% a stepping stone school. 100%. You will see that if Pry wins 8 games and a decent job comes open too. what is also true is that VT is not "as much" a stepping stone school as JMU (who loses their coaches at the hint of any success whatsoever) or Marquette- a small midwestern catholic school without a football program.
it was only 8 games less than a week ago. What changed?
Changed it for you. there you go. Good luck on your internet gotcha. Hope I'm wrong
It was kind of a joke, kind of serious. If he wins 10 he's gone. Someone will double his salary overnight and be happy to pay his $$ back to Whit.
what's a decent job that would want to hire a HC with an 18-19 overall record and only going 8-5 in the ACC? Are we talking Vanderbilt or Illinois? It definitely isn't any quality P2 making that hire.
Define "quality" P2.
It's been proven you don't have to be quality to has deep pockets and make huge offers. aTm, UK....
Any P2 with a winning record over the last 3 years is not hiring Pry. The bottom dwellers may want Pry after going 18-19 in 3 seasons. But, that doesn't seem like a reality either. He's pretty far from being desirable at this point.
Win 10+ games, win the ACC, and/or make the playoffs and the conversation changes a bit. Going from 3 wins to 7 wins to 10+ wins would be getting closer to being desirable. It would really depend from where and when those 10-wins come. And for sure, nobody will be very impressed by teams in the ACC winning less than 10 games.
If we're comparing to Kenny Brooks, Norvell and Brohm are way more likely to be desired by the P2. Cristobal and Key would also likely be more desirable. Not saying any leave, especially those coaching at their alma maters, but Pry is low on the totem pole in the ACC.
A school that listens to a slime agent.
Is Pry's agent slimy?
Don't know. I do know that most are.
You need a few slimy people in your corner. Lawyer, Tax/Accountant type, and an OG friend that will help you destroy/hide evidence. I'm assuming if I were marketable enough to need an agent, I'd want one with a little shade.
Maybe we'll finally get Shaka after CMY retires lol
Putting Shaka back in VA where he first became a name. I wouldn't necessarily object as Shaka's teams win a lot of games.
Oh for sure, I think he'd be a great hire if that worked out.
I'm told that this is good
I have told myself this is good
Played in ACC, won national awards, played in WNBA, played overseas, has coached in NIT and NCAA tourney this seems like a great resume hire on paper.
Minor correction: Notre Dame was part of the Big East when she played
Next your going to tell me Mike Vick isn't an ACC legend?
The Flutie hail Mary has to be one of my favorite non VT ACC moments.
It's "the band is on the field" for me
We really have some of the most iconic moments in this conference.
The ACC has also had its share of infamy.... such as that pay-to-play scandal that resulted in the "Death Penalty"
Do you guys remember that time Virginia Tech joined the ACC and proceeded to kick the shit out of the conference, winning 4 football titles over the next 7 seasons?
Wait, that actually happened, didn't it?
Anyone else champing for them to announce Kentucky vs. VT in Blacksburg for the SEC/ACC challenge this fall? Then we can save some NIL money to pay off the fire marshal for the day and "forget to scan student tickets" (sorry Hokie Fireman!).
Game would 100% be in Kentucky, but I get your point
Oh no, visiting Lexington and all the distilleries in spitting distance totally sucks! /s
We'd travel real fucking well for that game, and I have no doubts Rupp would sell out.
Too bad their ladies don't play at Rupp
Ladies play at Memorial Coliseum which will open with only 8500 seats this season.
No, you aren't the only one
Helluva hire, gotta give it to Whit on this one.
...any chance she can convince Clara Strack to stay, maybe? Obviously she has a good idea of how Clara's skillset needs to be developed, considering her own playing experience against a lot of competition the likes of Clara. ๐คท๐ป
Given the timing of Clara's portal entrance and this announcement, I feel like that discussion may have already happened and it didn't end in our favor.
I hope I'm wrong as Clara was one of the players I was most excited about watching over the next three years.
Meh, it's 2024- Your roster is going to completely turn over with a coaching change - IIWII. These kids can tranfer 6 times without penalty if they were in or entering college in 2020.
I took Claras timing more of a dependency on georgia posting first to shield Clara from being the first defector.
I was hoping for Kellie Jolly Harper but this seems like a legit hire.
My mom was a Lady Vols season ticket holder back when I was 13 or 14, and I thought Kellie was "qualified" as a player. Pat Summitt used to scare the bajeebus outta me.
I'll be honest I hope she posts some sort of good bye to Marquette.
So far she has not touched social media. Still shows her as Marquette coach with no new posts
Wikipedia was updated within an hour or so of the announcement, though.
A Marquette publication floated the idea that she was bailing because her roster was gonna suck next season.
Unless she claims the wiki page anyone can edit it. It does appear open to public edits.
Hokies did post this from her.
Looks like her spouse's name might be pronounced "ke-vin".
Maybe that's the assistant coach she's bringing with her
Nah, if it's spelled Kevin, it's pronounced allecaboolamichikapoolabibbitybobbityboo.
I will choose to be happy about this news
She's never won a championship, but she's been really good. Has won at least 21 games in all normal seasons. Her winning record in the Big East is better than Brook's in the ACC.
It does appear she has had issues with keeping players at Marquette due to portal. Very CMY-esque there.
Source
Keeping players from the portal could be because Marquette isn't a Major Conference team.
That being said, maintaining a .700 winning percentage with high turnover is impressive.
And this would still be a major concern coaching in a non-P2 conference.
I'm suggesting we should not expect something similar to 4th year Amoore or 5th year Kitley and King to play VT WBB. And I don't think that is necessarily the coach's fault, but you would hope to see some better retention when that is a critical issue moving forward.
Tough to hate on not winning a conference championship when that slot is sharpied with UCONN every year
yea, that was to compare with Brooks. Winning the WBB Big East is definitely harder than winning the CAA or even the ACC.
"pending Liza Karlen's decision about her bonus year of eligibility. " - fucking so rare I tell ya
she'll fit right in
Ouch. I mean you're right, and that was hilarious. But still...ouch
It brought me no joy to say, but humor is how I cope.
CMY and CMD
Sounds like she knows how to win. Now maybe we can stop losing players from the men's team.
Been watching the hokieswbb instagram account and Matilda is the only current player I have seen liking things
This Hokie fan has some dedication
Based on her career coaching record she seems like a pretty good hire. I'll take 19 wins as a low water mark.
Are we a basketball school again?
Well, at least we have the hire thread back again after the fashion detour....
#67 recruit that had committed to Duffy reopened today.
6 ft guard
92 grade/ 4* on ESPN
Sign her up. ASAP.
Marquette loses another recruit. This one from the 2025 class. She was a Miss Iowa Basketball candidate as a sophomore as her team won a state title. Expected to be a Top 5 forward in class of 25
Liza Karlen in portal. 17 PPG at Marquette last year. Maybe a Hokie?
She and MacKenzie Hare were both in portal before Coach Duffy was hired so not sure what that relationship was like or if it was an NIL decision.
So, just to clarify:
brooks taking players to UK: bad
Duffy bringing players to Tech: good?
You got it!
I'm not going to fault players following Kenny to UK. It's more disappointing wondering what could have been. Again, more the exit of Kenny is what people find bad. Any time a coach brings players with them/players follow, it at least gives some consistency knowing that they have a raport together and should have some level of success to start off with.
This is a mischaracterization of the scenario.
At this point we are only doing what we have to do to survive because of how Kenny gutted us on the way out.
Right now it is just Strack and Amoore unless I missed anybody else. They are the only ones in the portal.
They are the only current but Silva, Blue and Hassett have been following and liking most of the posts from Kentucky WBB is what I have seen comments on X saying. Suffren has also removed any references to Hokies WBB from her social media profiles per Nathan Gray on X. I am not digging into that level of detail and will wait for official announcements.
Suffren has been liking the Megan Duffy posts, though
I tried to go to the Hokiesports website to learn who Silva, Blue and Hassett are and when I clicked on the roster for WBB, onlly two coaches and no players come up. What is up? And who are Silva, Blue and Hassett?
commits, not current players
class wrapup from TSL
EDIT: good lord that site is an assault on all GUI best practices. ๐คข๐คฎ
Thanks for the link. Still curious that no players are on the website.
It defaults to 24-25 season. You'll have to hit the drop down and select 23-24
Guess technically the roster isn't set for next year. Wonder when they usually lock that down on the site. Also, noticed that Gabby Brooks is a freshman, think she stays? /s
Rumor has it that Cattoor and Brooks other daughters are all going to be paid staff next year at UK.
Hassett was the #1 JUCO player who averaged 19.6 ppg/12.4rpg at Eastern Florida State College this year.
Silva if rated was likely a top 10 player in the Class of 24. She averaged 18.6/11.4 in the Euro Juniors Championship for Portugal.
Lexi Blue has continued to move up the rankings and was 27th in Class of 24 last I looked. She is a 6'2 combo guard.
Thought I had seen something that Hassett was staying committed to VT. Did I miss something?
Hazelton is the only one I have seen confirm she is staying committed
Hazelton is the one I was thinking off. Too many Ha...... names for me apparently.
Looks like we will know something specific today from Hassett
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Play it properly or get left behind.
Brooks' actions:
Duffy's actions:
yes because I give zero fucks about Marquette basketball
I more have an issue on timing. Brooks started working his new job and recruiting while the season was still going on. Duffy got approached after the season was complete. Right now there appears to be only one player from Marquette that you could say Duffy leaving influenced her portal decision although both players in the portal from Marquette were in before the Duffy announcement. Hare was a week before while Karlen about 24 hours before.
This is a critical differentiator in the scenarios.
brooks taking players to UK: bad for Virginia Tech basketball
Duffy bringing players to Tech: good for Virginia Tech basketball
This is a Virginia Tech fan site, how do you expect people to react?
Don't you yell at me. I was just asking a question.
I didn't see all caps in steve's comment.
Bad thing is, the players going are higher caliber/ranked than the ones that may be coming
Anyone know when there will be an intro press conference?
Edit: heard a local news report that it will be 9 am on Friday from Cassell
This is correct according to several of the X Hokies coverage guys.
So Duffy played for the USA team as well as in the WNBA (however briefly). Have we ever had a men's team coach who had a sniff at either?
I believe Hokie fans are ready to embrace this woman unlike any coach before. This is not only because a lot of Hokie Nation loved Kenny Brooks but also because much of Hokie Nation was just waking up to the awesomeness that was our WBB program and if Duffy can gather up enough pieces and get it moving forward again then there will be tremendous fan support. Especially if the MBB program stays mired in mediocrity or slightly above it.
I can guarantee that none of our men's team coach's have never played in the WNBA.
big if true
None of our men's coaches have never played in the WNBA...? What do you know that I don't?
๐คฆโโ๏ธ words are hard
Some people have a way with words, others have not way.
Well, I already bought my women's tickets for next year. But ouch the 90 to 160 ticket price increase seems a bit much with what has happened.
We had a really good program when Bonnie Henrickson was the coach. People got enthused, especially young women, girls and their families. Toward the end of her time at VT, the games were starting to get fairly well attended. Now, nothing like the last couple of years, but still and all, if we'd have been able to follow up with a really good coach after Bonnie, the momentum would have continued. Women's sports will continue to generate interest, at least on local and collegiate level. I particularly love our softball team, for one example.
All Duffy needs to do is win to keep the fans interested enough to get over the heartbreak of being done dirty by that dastardly dude from the Shen Valley.
I can tell you, the Shen Valley doesn't claim him any longer
Remember BonnieBall well. Took my daughter to some games when she was a teenager. Fun times.
Late 90s basketball at Tech were fun years. My freshman year the Hokies men were so good with Ace Custis. Men kind of dropped off after that. I went mainly to get out of the Corps dorms but Bonnies teams and watching Ace was always fun.
Agree on both accounts.
I have many fond memories of being a kid in the Cassell when Bonnie and Ricky Stokes were the coaches. The women were just starting to be a bigger draw than the men when she bolted for Kansas.
Coach will be on ACC PM on ACCN right now
She talked about saying goodbye to Marquette and that she has had a chance to talk to the players still here. Did not touch on any portal discussions or current recruits. Muffet McGraw made a surprise appearance to congratulate Coach Duffy.
She did talk about looking forward to the ACC expansion to help with exposure nationwide with recruiting.
A nice interview on ACC PM. I like how genuine and just naturally charismatic she sounds. They also have a graphic explicitly saying Rose and Ekh are returning
https://youtu.be/tniksAA4TEw?si=dxRDeHcmdHkdNa_Q
Any word on assistants and staff? The VT website just shows duffy and a medical staffer.
I wonder if her SW Ohio connections help us to land Dee Alexander
Wow, what a great choice.
I think she'll be a great coach for VT.
Her first challenge is going to be recruiting, but she seems to grasp the advantages of coaching at VT.
Marquette is becoming a feeder school for VT basketball coaches.
Whit needs to sign up for a Shoppers card and go back and pick up a Smart deal.