But the top 25-to-50%, maybe 60% of teams are highly competitive and they’re spending money on women’s basketball and it’s paying off.
Q. You were at the front of a ton of women’s basketball success at Virginia. How was the sport marketed during your time as coach?
A. They put money into things that other people didn’t – like promotions – and they cared about the attendance. They knew they had something special with the Dawn Staley years (1988 to 1992, which included three Final Fours) and the Burge twins. That whole crew – Dawn, Tammi Reiss, the Burge twins, Audra Smith, Melanee Wagener, Dena Evans and Tonya Cardoza – they were just such relatable teams to the regular public and our fabulous fans.
And they continued it through the 1990s. They said, “We need to promote the women and we need to try to fill U-Hall.” And it went all the way back to Kim Record and “Hot Dog Night.”
Women have been kept down for a long time. And most of it back in the day was a lack of funding, always the second-class citizen, but Virginia was out in front back then.
Q. You’ve called Dawn the “face of women’s basketball.” What from her time at UVA can be traced to her success now?
A. I go back to when she chose Virginia. Dick Weiss, an award-winning sports writer in Philadelphia (Staley’s hometown), said, “This was a great choice for Dawn Staley because she’s going to get not only a great program to play in, but she’s going to have a chance for a great education.”
And Dawn made the most of it because she came in here not really wanting to communicate much and she left here with all the communication skills she needed. (Staley graduated with a degree in rhetoric and communication studies.) And you can see that she makes really good decisions. Part of that is what Virginia instills in you. And she’s become outspoken about a lot of social justice issues and things like that now. And before she was at Virginia, that probably would have never happened.
The thing that people love about Dawn is that she can communicate with anybody. And she makes everyone feel welcome. And she’s not looking at your age or your race or anything.
Q. The current UVA women’s basketball program is coming off a season in which it knocked off four ranked opponents and made the postseason for the first time since 2018. What do you think about the future of the program under coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton?
A. I think she’s doing a fabulous job. And I talk to Mox all the time. Coaching at Virginia isn’t always the easiest, but it really teaches you about life and things in general and I think Mox has done a great job of navigating the transition from one coach to another.
I think she’s going to be a tremendous talent here. The ups and the downs are the hardest part when you’re relying on young players and players from a different coach, and she has experienced some great highs and then some lows. And I told her, “You’ve done a great job.”
She’s always terrific with her handling of the fans – and the fans love her – and the program itself, and the media. She’s very straightforward. That’s what I like about her the most.
I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about coach Mox at all. She’s going to blow it out of the water.
