OT: UVA fires Women's bball coach after first trip to s16 in decades

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Never Forget #1 Overall Seed UVA 54, #64 UMBC 74

She went 70-58, including a 29-42 mark in ACC play.

I know zero about women's hoops, but if you're going <.500 in ACC play over 3ish(?) seasons, you can't be that good can you?

Season prior to arrival
2-14 (5-22 overall)

4 seasons
1st 4-14 (15-15 overall)
2nd 7-11 (16-16)
3rd 8-10 (17-15)
4th 11-7 (22-12) and made a Sweet 16

Seems like a remarkable improvement and were set to have all their talent back

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

I stand very much corrected!

context matters. On the face of it, you weren't necessarily wrong. But broken down by season, you see clear improvement year over year, which contextualized the overall record. I think it's probably a bad move by UVa. And I'm fine with that. :)

Onward and upward

No after the announcement there have been a number of reports of Mox being extremely abusive both physically and verbally. To the point that UVA sent observers to practices that recorded a number of incidents. Sounds like her being fired was the right move. Actually sounds like it could have been for cause. The new hire seems like a homerun too so likely they will be better off for it pretty quickly.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Interesting thing will be how many of their players withdraw from the portal with the new coach announced.

welp

Onward and upward

Yeah she could have won the natty and firing her would still be the right call

Danny is always open

The way Staley spoke in that article makes me wonder if she's not at least entertaining the idea of going back to UVA.

She's not going to get the budget she has at SC

Please no

Danny is always open

I cant see it, especially if she beats UCLA. She is set up to have statue et Al if she stays.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Staley is everything wrong with coaching.

I don't see USCe letting her leave. Shes a queen down there.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Sounds like a great addition to Megan Duffy's assistant pool.

EDIT: based on new info, NEVERMIND, don't want her anywhere near our program.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

That takes money we clearly arent giving to Basketball

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Apparently we're top 5 in wbb budget

is budget house money? NIL? Coaching Salary? Operational spend?

I assume you mean top 5 in the ACC, which I can believe. We're nowhere near top 5 in the country.

Correct. Top 5 ACC

Rumor mill is internal issues and that the firing was set prior to post season run.... Their star player liked the announcement of her being fired

Danny is always open

Yeah more and more of UVA press claiming entire team threatened to leave if she wasnt gone

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

It seems like the private version of her is even worse than the public

Danny is always open

Team decided to leave anyway. At least three in the portal this morning including Kymora Johnson

Update: up to at least 5 now
Gabrielle White
Samyah Smith
Kymora Johnson
Olivia McGhee
Yonta Vaughn - grad

Update 2: Breona Hurd thats 6 of 11

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Could be as simple as keeping options open until new coach is identified

Danny is always open

Any we should pick up?

"Yes I am going to have favorites. My favorites are high production and low maintenance players, coaches, and staff." - JMFF

Unrealistic - Kymora Johnson
Maybe realistic - Samyah Smith, Gabby White

Unknown -Yonta Vaughn, she sat out most of the 24-25 season due to concussion, did not play at all this year. She was a good point guard prior to that.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

I would want Johnson not sure about Smith or White.

Bet Johnson goes to TCU

Smith reminds me of Freelon. Same build, same speed but seemed to have a mean streak. Less bought in on White but experienced point guard.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Just saw Tenn has zero rostered players right now. Hahaha.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Welp Staley et Al just got smoked in the title game. May change the conversation a bit but still doubt she leaves.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

You don't let a 3x national championship winner leave because they lost in a national title game.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

Its more about what Staley wants.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Please educate us.

Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

If Staley is choosing to walk away, which she has intimated in quite a few interviews the last couple years then she will have her pick of new jobs if she wants to coach. I still dont see it working at Virginia but if thats what she wants she can make it work. She is good friends with the UVA AD. I dont see them ponying up enough money to run the program the way SCar has allowed Staley but anythings possible I guess. I am sure SCar will push to keep her and as I said above, it would break up her legacy at SCar but Staley seems to do what she wants, others be damned.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Thanks
I'm not a Staley fan.

Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

Agreed, like I said above. I think Staley is everything wrong with coaching. This year for the first time coaches didn't shake hands before the final four game, the UCONN coach waited for several minutes at half court.

yeah and the internet and pundits are/have gone after Geno with their pitchforks for his behavior at the end of the game. True, he may have acted a little irrational however I fully agree that Staley is all that is wrong with college coaching and that she's a terrible person.

uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

agree that she's not my cup of tea in the coaching world. But why say she is a terrible person?

Vroom Vroom

The anger at Staley confuses me. Geno was an asshole during the handshake line. He started yelling at the opposing coach in a moment that's supposed to be about sportsmanship and (most importantly) the players. That's not being "a little irrational," it's fully whiffing on your job as a coach in that moment.

I'm really not sure where a backlash against Staley is coming from in all this.

Staley is a polarizing figure, but in this case she is not the wrong one

Danny is always open

She was absolutely the wrong one. Geno was absolutely right there is a double standard on coaching going on. Her behavior during and towards the refs would have gotten almost every other coach ejected with multiple technical fouls in the first quarter of the game.

I also dont like her, but I was talking about the handshake thing.... Shes obnoxious af a lot of the time

Danny is always open

Well, she did shake hands w Geno before the game. Also with all the assistants and dapped up every single person at the table as well. Geno "appogized" to some extent. He was mad he got boat raced and out Geno'd.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

They did shake hands before the game. It seemed to me that Geno was mad that his team was getting physically dominated.
So I'm really left confused - what exactly about Dawn Staley is "everything wrong with coaching"? Because I feel like Kim Mulkey fits that bill much better in WBB.

"That move was slicker than a peeled onion in a bowl of snot." -Mike Burnop

100%. Kim Mulkey is the worst.

Okay, I will revise Staley is most of what is wrong with coaching, Mulkey is the worst.

And for the vitrol against Staley, Geno is worse. Lied about the handshake line. Just went ballistic after the game about the refs and the ripped jersey that HIS player ripped on purpose. Got boat raced, then turned sour grapes into whine.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Yeah, I thought it was an accepted fact that Geno is the Bill Belichick of women's basketball.

I don't know much about Staley though.

21st century QBs Undefeated vs UVA:
MV7, MV5, LT3, Grant Wells, Braxton Burmeister, Ryan Willis, Josh Jackson, Jerod Evans, Michael Brewer, Tyrod Taylor, Sean Glennon, and Grant Noel. That's right, UVA. You couldn't beat Grant Noel.

I think its a case of geno being universally awful and staley being (less) bad but some people overlooking it and others not.

Danny is always open

If you listen to Geno's post game presser, he never actually said they didn't shake hands pre-game. He was pissed that he had to wait for her. Was it kinda cr@ppy on her part? Yep. Could it have been on purpose to get in his head? Possibly.

All I know is I don't want her at loluva.

Yeah he was complaining about some official time to shake hands on front of the crowd when she had shaken hands earlier in the pregame with him and the staff. Pretty soft excuse for crashing out.

Danny is always open

Wait, you mean to tell me that UVa didn't give their basketball coach an automatic extension after a fluke tournament run?

Huh, imagine that

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Current head coach at Richmond

Head coaching record

Overall 460–194 (.703)

Accomplishments and honors

Championships

3× UAA regular season (2008, 2011, 2012)
3× Patriot League regular season (2016, 2017, 2019)
2× Patriot League tournament (2017, 2019)
2× Atlantic 10 regular season (2024, 2025)
Atlantic 10 tournament (2024)

Awards

3× UAA Coach of the Year (2008, 2011, 2012)
2× Patriot League Coach of the Year (2016, 2017)
2× Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2024, 2025)
Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year (2025)[1]
ECAC Coach of the Year (2025)[2]

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Unfortunately seems like a good coach

Danny is always open

And that's the rest of the story.

Had him lined up.