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26 CAVALIER CORNER In late March, when Amaka Agugua-Hamilton took over as head coach, UVA's recruiting class for 2022-23 was nonexistent. No players had signed with the Cavaliers in November, and Agu- gua-Hamilton's predecessor, Tina Thompson, had not added any recruits as the season went on. Agugua-Hamilton and her staff went right to work, and over the next month UVA added four newcomers for the coming season: transfers Samantha Brunelle (Notre Dame) and Alexia Smith (Minnesota) plus incoming first-year guards Cady Pauley and Yonta Vaughn. Brunelle, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, already knows her way around John Paul Jones Arena. She's from nearby Greene County and grew up attending UVA games at JPJ. A 6-foot-2 forward, Brunelle was a McDonald's All-American at William Monroe High School, where she totaled 2,229 points and 1,272 rebounds. At Notre Dame, Brunelle started 31 games as a first-year in 2019-20 and averaged 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She battled injuries but still averaged 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in her three seasons with the Fighting Irish. After entering the transfer portal this spring, Brunelle visited UVA and met the new coaching staff. They connected immediately. "She said it was the kind of feeling that she had when she knew Notre Dame was the place for her," Agugua-Hamilton said, "and she didn't think she would be able to have that feeling again. So, it wasn't just her coming home. She actually feels like she could thrive in my system and help us put UVA back on the map. "It was really a happy marriage on both ends, because I'm a culture coach. Yes, I want some- body to be very talented, but you've got to fit our culture, and we've got to have that connection." Smith, a 5-8 guard, is from Columbus, Ohio. She played two seasons at Minnesota, where she averaged 3.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. A heralded recruit coming out of high school, Smith is "an athletic, physical, high- character kid who understands the importance of the grind," Agugua-Hamilton said. "She is a lockdown defender who can rebound at a high level from the guard spot. Offensively, she can handle the ball, get downhill and create." Pauley, a 5-11 guard, scored 3,074 career points for Milan High, the eighth-most in the history of girls' basketball in Missouri. She also excelled in track and field — her best events were the shot put and discus — and in softball. Her best sport, though, is basketball, and she averaged 33 points per game in 2021-22. "She can shoot it from the parking lot," Agugua-Hamilton said. "Her ability to score in a variety of ways, especially shooting, is elite." Agugua-Hamilton grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, and that's where Vaughn (District Heights, Md.) is from. A 5-foot-8 point guard, Vaughn was a four-year starter for Bishop Mc- Namara High, and she's ranked among the top 75 recruits nationally in the class of 2022. "She is an amazing young talent on and off the floor," Agugua-Hamilton said. "She knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to work hard for it. She is an athletic, high- IQ, facilitating point guard who can score from all three levels, and she also understands the importance of the defensive side of the ball." — Jeff White AGUGUA-HAMILTON BOLSTERS HER ROSTER WITH NEW ADDITIONS As for academics, players will be ex- pected to work as hard in the classroom as they do on the court. "My job is not only to make you a better basketball player and to win games, but it's also to prepare you for life after basketball," Agugua-Hamilton said. "I take a lot of pride in that. Everyone will be pushed to do their best, which will ultimately be different for each kid. We will celebrate your success off the court just as much as we celebrate your success on the court." Last, but not least, comes basketball. "It's a big reason why we're here," Agugua- Hamilton said. "The tradition here for many, many years was to pursue championships and to put up banners in the stands. We will get back to that. Player development will be key. Recruiting will be essential. We need to rejuvenate this community. Bringing back alums, getting butts in those seats, all that will help the process. "One thing you'll hear me say all the time is that progress is the process. We just have to keep taking steps forward. We'll be disciplined, hard-working, relentless com- petitors day in, day out. But we will enjoy the journey." Ryan said she is confident Agugua- Hamilton will "do extremely well here," but added that improvements aren't going to take place overnight. "If we just give her enough time to get her own players in and help the players that are here develop, I think we'll be fine," Ryan said. Agugua-Hamilton knows she'll have to be patient as she rebuilds the Wahoos' program, but she's wasted no time "setting my culture, setting the standards, the expectations. "And then the winning mentality is the biggest thing," she added. "This is a team that won five games last year. So you have to change the mentality, and we do that even in shooting drills in practice. There's a winner and loser in everything we do. Every drill is competitive, and every drill correlates into our system, so you're never just doing something just to do it or check the box." Sam Brunelle, a Virginia native who spent her first three college seasons at Notre Dame, is one of two transfer portal additions the Cavaliers made this spring. (Photo courtesy Notre Dame)