Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1483813
DECEMBER 2022 19 around our whole program right now is just great. It's very positive, very energetic, and I'm just really excited in general." Agugua-Hamilton, like Brunelle, grew up in Virginia. She graduated from Oakton High School in Vienna, and she's been an assis- tant coach at Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion (as well as at Indiana and Michigan State). When the job at UVA opened last spring, it was "a no-brainer for me," said Agugua- Hamilton, who played at Hofstra University. "When I was growing up, Virginia was in the forefront of women's basketball: Final Fours, Elite Eights … Dawn Staley, Tammi Reiss, Wendy Palmer, all those players that came through," she noted. "That's what my vision of Virginia women's basketball was. "I was fortunate. We did some great things at Missouri State, and then when I got called, it was just like a dream come true to me." Her connection with UVA athletics direc- tor Carla Williams was another selling point, Agugua-Hamilton said. "Her vision for the program and her vi- sion for athletics really lined up with mine, and just being under a leader like that was something that really intrigued me, and then just having all the resources and facili- ties and everything they allocate towards women's basketball," she said. "It's a community that loves women's bas- ketball. So, just helping bring that excitement back to it is something that I take pride in, and the icing on the cake is I'm home." Agugua-Hamilton is new to the ACC, but she arrived in Charlottesville with some knowledge of the league. In 2021-22, Mis- souri State defeated Virginia Tech in the reg- ular season and knocked off Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. "That helped me just get an idea of what to expect," Agugua-Hamilton said. "I've watched this league. I grew up in ACC coun- try, so no matter where I was, even when I was in the Big Ten, I always had an eye on the ACC, just seeing what was going on. "I know what to expect from this league. And I feel like we have the tools to be suc- cessful." MIR MCLEAN'S VERSATILITY GIVES CAVALIERS AN EDGE AT BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT Mir McLean began the 2021-22 season at UConn but ended the year as an impact player for the Cavaliers. McLean transferred to Virginia in January and was granted a waiver by the NCAA to make her immediately eligible to play hours before the tip of the home game against Virginia Tech. She celebrated the occasion by scoring 11 points with 9 rebounds against the Hokies. By the next game, she had secured a place in the starting lineup. McLean appeared in 11 games with nine starts for the Hoos, and averaged 11.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while scoring in double figures in all but three games. She did not have enough games to qualify for the conference leaderboard, but if she had she would have ranked fifth in the ACC in rebounding. "Mir is super passionate and competitive," head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. "She's a freak athletically, which just offers so much versatility for us on both sides of the ball. On the defensive side, she can guard posts, but she can also guard a guard and rebound with the best in the country. On the offensive side, she's a matchup problem because she can do so much. She can score at the rim. She can rip and drive, and her shot is getting better. "Her versatility changes what we can do." McLean signed with the Huskies and played in 24 games during her freshman season, a year in which UConn went to the Final Four, but she was averaging less than 7 minutes per game. After playing a total of 8 minutes in 3 games during the early part of the 2021-22 season, she entered the transfer portal. McLean was the No. 25-ranked recruit in her class coming out of high school. She averaged 21.3 points and 12.2 rebounds per game during her senior season at Roland Park High School in Baltimore, where she finished her career as the school's all- time leading scorer with 1,849 points. She was named the 2020 Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year and was also a McDonald's All-American. Prior to last year, Virginia has only had two McDonald's All- Americans: Monica Wright (2006) and China Crosby (2009). This season, Agugua-Hamilton's squad will have two: McLean (2020) and Sam Brunelle (2019). — Melissa Dudek Mir McLean, a 5-foot-11 third-year guard/forward, led the Hoos with 8.3 rebounds per game last sea- son and is the team's second-leading returning scorer at 11.4 points per game. (Photo courtesy UVA)