Despite leading the ’Hoos to their first Sweet 16 appearance since the year 2000, Virginia Athletics announced Saturday afternoon that Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton will not be returning as the women’s basketball head coach.
In a rather short official statement, Virginia noted that Coach Mox “finished her four-year tenure at UVA with a 70-58 record, including a 29-42 mark in ACC play” and that “a national search will begin immediately.”
The move comes as a bit of a surprise considering Virginia’s recent success in the NCAA Tournament. The ’Hoos won three games in five days during their first appearance in the Big Dance since 2018, becoming the first women’s team ever to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16.
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The fact that UVA needed to play in the First Four, however, is likely at the root of the separation, along with some rumored discontent behind the scenes.
Despite working with a sizable NIL budget, the ’Hoos struggled to find consistency throughout the regular season. An early Quad 4 home loss to UMBC hampered Virginia’s resume, and a three-game losing streak heading into Selection Sunday nearly cost UVA its NCAA Tournament bid.
Overall, Coach Mox revitalized a struggling Virginia women’s basketball program that won just five games the season before her arrival, while providing a major uptick in attendance and bringing a plethora of four- and five-star talent into the building.
While Coach Mox certainly left wins on the table during her tenure, Wahoo fans will hope that Carla Williams has a big name in mind to justify the decision.
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As far as potential candidates, former Rhode Island head coach and Virginia alum Tammi Reiss was at the top of the list while Coach Mox’s seat warmed this season. But Reiss was announced as the new head coach of the Florida Gators in March, leaving Virginia without a clear leader in the clubhouse (aside from a certain, perhaps unlikely, someone who will be coaching for the national championship on Sunday afternoon).
