The Virginia women’s basketball team is receiving what the school calls a “multi-year transformational gift” from entrepreneur and philanthropist Alexis Ohanian.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams and was a founding owner of the NWSL’s Angel City FC team, has a history of support and investment in women’s causes. He is also an alumnus of the University of Virginia, graduating in 2005.
The specific gift amount was not disclosed, but it is the largest in the history of the Virginia women’s basketball program. This will allow the program to become “the premier destination for female student-athletes while addressing the financial and competitive demands of the new era of college athletics,” the school said.
“It’s been really inspiring to launch Angel City and see the wave of investment in women’s sports,” Ohanian told ESPN. “Women’s basketball has been constantly on my radar and a lot of people have been asking me about it.
“It’s my alma mater. I’m in New York a lot for work and I live in Florida, so Charlottesville is an easy stop in between, so I’ll be attending quite a few games.”
Ohanian has been optimistic about the potential of women’s sports for many years. He points out that as recently as 2019, it cost about $1 million to purchase an expansion team in the NWSL. This contrasts with the controlling stake in Angel City FC, which was sold in July to Willow Bay and Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger for a $250 million valuation.
“There has been a lack of investment in women’s sports, but there has also been a mindset that it’s not about excellence or business profits, it’s about ‘charity,’” Ohanian said. “The curse of such low expectations actually stunted growth.”
He said it was especially distressing to see the “weight room fiasco” posted on social media by then-Oregon player Sedona Prince during the 2021 NCAA women’s basketball tournament held inside a COVID-19 “bubble” in San Antonio. Prince showed off how many small stacks of weights the women have at the NCAA Tournament compared to the large space available for the men to lift weights at the tournament in Indianapolis.
“I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense to me,’” said Ohanian, who was critical of it on social media at the time. “And the sad thing is that there was talent in women’s football. And if you look at places like the Internet and Instagram and the number of followers, the interest was there. This tells me that there is a need for more investment and investment in female players. Promotion.”
Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said he first heard of Ohanian’s interest from Cavaliers athletic director Carla Willams. Ohanian then came to watch the Cavaliers’ season opener against the Americans at Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 4 and was impressed by the atmosphere.
“I’m so grateful that he has faith in his alma mater and our athletic department,” Agugua-Hamilton told ESPN. “He believes in Carla, me and the players.
“This is a game-changer for us. The purpose of the gift is to help us recruit and retain student-athletes and put us in a position to be an elite team. We have been elite before, and we will continue to be elite. “We operate with high integrity and do things the right way, but it also ensures that we have the financial means to level the playing field.”
Virginia said the gift will help address the modern financial needs of college sports by allowing institutions to share revenue with student-athletes as the school deals with the transfer portal, conference realignment and the House v. NCAA lawsuit.
Virginia was one of the nation’s top women’s programs under coach Debbie Ryan in the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in 20 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1984 to 2003. That period was highlighted by three consecutive appearances in the women’s Final Four in 1990-’91-’92. The Cavalier team was led by point guard Dawn Staley, who is currently the head coach at South Carolina and won three national championships with the Gamecocks.
Agugua-Hamilton said Staley has been her role model and supporter as a coach. Now in his third season leading Virginia, Agugua-Hamilton believes the 6-5 Cavaliers can return to the top tier after making just one NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
“We’re dealing with some injuries and trying to get people back, but we’re going to turn things around this season,” she said. “I always say progress is a process, and this gift will help me now and in the long term.”
Ohanian also hopes to inspire more alumni to invest in women’s athletics by supporting women’s sports programs at schools and businesses.
“Look, I’m quite a fan of women’s sports and I’m proud of that,” he said. “Yes, I have two daughters and I want them to have great role models. But that’s not everything. I like to believe, maybe not as much as other people. I think that’s why I’ve been successful in my business. As an early investor, Life.
“Today’s female athletes are hungry and motivated. People are realizing why women’s sports are so attractive and worth investing in. It makes business sense.”
