Virginia named Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton, the women’s coach at Missouri State the past three seasons, as its basketball coach on Monday.
Athletic director Carla Williams made the announcement. Agugua-Hamilton replaces Tina Thompson, who was fired on March 3 after her fourth season.
Agugua-Hamilton compiled a 74-15 record with the Lady Bears, who won Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles in 2020 and 2021 and competed in the past two NCAA Tournaments. Missouri State had a 26-4 record in Agugua-Hamilton’s first year as coach, when the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are thrilled and very fortunate to have recruited Coach Mox to UVA,” Williams said in a statement released by the school. “She is a gifted teacher, a skilled tactician of the game and a person who cares deeply about her players and vice versa. Her teams play with tremendous tenacity and confidence.”
A Virginia native who played at Oakton High School in Herndon, Agugua-Hamilton guided the Lady Bears to nine wins against Power Five programs in her time at Missouri State, including a 61-50 victory against Florida State in the First Four of this year’s tournament. They reached the Sweet 16 of last year’s tournament before falling to Stanford, the No. 1 overall seed.
“I am overjoyed and thankful for this tremendous opportunity to lead this group of young women at one of the best academic and athletic institutions in the country,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I was immediately drawn in by Carla Williams’ vision for the women’s basketball program and the athletic department as a whole. I am certain I will thrive under her leadership. As a Virginia native, UVA is a dream come true for me. I could not be more excited to be HOME!”
Agugua-Hamilton played at Hofstra, where she was a four-year captain and still holds the program’s career field-goal percentage record. Her prior coaching stops include two years each at VCU, Indiana and Old Dominion and six years at Michigan State, the last four as associate head coach.
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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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