A Blacksburg Welcome: Megan Duffy Named Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball Head Coach (4-5-24)
By: Joey Raymond
All Photo Credit: Katie Lovell-LMS Network
Roanoke, VA —It’s official, Virginia Tech women’s basketball has their new head coach. Athletic Director Whit Babcock formally introduced new head coach Megan Duffy to Virginia Tech this morning in front of the press and fans at Cassell Coliseum. Coach Duffy will be the eighth coach of the Hokies women’s team, taking over the reins from now-Kentucky head coach, Kenny Brooks. She’ll get paid a total of 5.5 million over 6 years, with a salary pool of 1.05 million, with 10 full-time positions. Duffy’s head coaching career spans seven seasons, five at Marquette and two at Miami (Ohio), and features six seasons of 20 or more wins, with a career record of 154-66 (.700). Each year she has guided her team to at least a winning percentage of .600 in league play and she has reached the postseason in every year except for 2020.
Coach Duffy takes over at a time when the popularity of Virginia Tech women’s basketball is at an all-time high. In large part due to the efforts of former head coach Kenny Brooks. When Kenny Brooks announced he was leaving and heading for Kentucky, Virginia Tech fans immediately started the grieving process. Let’s be honest here, Kenny made Virginia Tech women’s basketball into something special. He took this program from nothing to something in fairly quick order. He attracted players to come to the Hokies that the fans could easily fall in love with. From the core three in Liz Kitley, Cayla King, and Georgia Amoore, to players that filled in the gaps like Taylor Soule, Kayana Traylor, and Aisha Sheppard. It was easy to fall in love with the players and the program.
With most of those notable players gone, and the core three finishing up the uncertainty about the program was palpable. Then came the news that Kenny was leaving for Kentucky and Virginia Tech fans were rightfully upset. To add insult to injury, Kenny Brooks did not even say as much as a goodbye to the fans on his way out. Rightfully so or not, Virginia Tech fans were upset that a coach who preached family values, and how Virginia Tech was home, was able to leave without even looking back. Then came the longest eight days of those fans’ lives as they anxiously awaited the arrival of the new head Hokie, Coach Megan Duffy.
Coach Duffy opened by thanking and reminiscing about her time at Marquette. She then went on to do something slightly unexpected, by giving a huge nod to Kenny Brooks. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Coach Brooks and his staff and support staff for what they did to put Virginia Tech women’s basketball back on the map. It’s been incredible to watch from afar, and it’s something that, when this job opened up, I was motivated to say, hey, let’s keep this going. So, congratulations to them and the student-athletes who helped make all the memories, wins, and championships possible.”
She would also say how her “favorite moment” was being able to meet the current roster and how much it meant to her. A really impressive feat from Coach Duffy is roster retention since her arrival. Yes, the Hokies lost Georgia Amoore to Kentucky and Clara Strack to Kentucky, but a majority of this roster is still here. Matilda Eck, Carleigh Wenzel, Rose Michauex, and Carys Baker are all intending to return to the Hokies. In today’s world with the transfer portal, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Hokies pick up some talent and continue to compete and win, something Coach Duffy wants to do right away. When I asked her if she wanted to ‘temper’ expectations she responded with “I came here to win championships and be at the top of the ACC.” she also went on to say “For me, there’s going to be some building, obviously, with roster management, like we mentioned. I’ll let you guys set the expectations from the outside. From the inside, we’re going to establish our culture. We’re going to build relationships. We’re going to fill out our roster with women who want to do it the right way, want to win, and care about each other.”
Those are strong words for a coach coming into a new program. Kenny Brooks established something at Virginia Tech turning it into perennial power in women’s hoops. Following that level of success is going to be a daunting task. The thing is, Coach Duffy has proven herself to be a winner. She even said so herself, “I’ve been a winner, I don’t know anything else. There’s going to be some building. We’re going to establish our culture. We’re going to build relationships. We’re going to fill out our roster with women who want to do it the right way, who want to win, [who] care about each other.” She has high aspirations and expectations for this team. Which is good, since this program has gotten accustomed to winning.
I think for the Hokies administration so far this is a home run hire. When she talks she says the right things. She is a proven winner who seems to have a high basketball IQ. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t still a ton of questions that surround this program. After all, in today’s world with NIL and the transfer portal, so much is fluid. The first impressions are a good sign though. She seems genuine, and grateful for the opportunity. Instead of coming out and giving a bunch of coach-speak, she limited the coach-speak. She spoke directly to what Hokies fans wanted and arguably needed, a coach who was thankful for the past but wanted to be here. She spoke directly to Hokie Nation reassuring them that this team expects to win and just because the coach changed, the philosophy didn’t. Only time will tell if this is a slam-dunk hire for Whit Babcock, but early on, it seems like the Hokies are in good hands.
