Summer Practice Starts in Earnest
The existing upper-class team (returning Hokies and new transfers) members got back to Blacksburg and their practice home at Hahn-Hurst to start summer school and practice sessions. Hokie Sports gives us a peek at the first week of practice for them. Looks like everyone is back and working hard.
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The New Players came to Blacksburg to get started they had a little welcome home picture session on the 16th of June.
Welcome to Blacksburg and Hokie Nation goes out to Aniya Trent, Amani Jenkins, and Kate Sears (though Kate and family have been steady fans at the 2024-25 games, so she’s well acquainted with Tech.)
The Transfers have Come to Play, Too
Well, it’s all part of the game, now. We had three players transfer out from last season, and so the coaching staff needed to get on the road and find some experienced players to fill out the roster, provide either starting strength or bench depth. Coach Duffy has signed up
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Sophie Swanson lists as a 5’10” guard, but at that height I don’t see her staying purely in the backcourt for long on Coach Duffy’s squad. We might see her at that hybrid Wing position. Sophie comes to Tech from Purdue and has two-years of eligibility remaining.
Melanie Daley is even a bit taller at 5’11 and still listed as a “guard”, we shall see there, too. That wing position might be an interesting place this season. But she’s a grad student coming from Northwestern with a 10-point per game average over 4 years.
Kilah Freelon is a true 6’1” forward from Texas Tech and replaces a bit of the 6-foot plus factor lost with the graduations of Rose and Matilda.
Two New Faces Behind the Scenes
Coach Duffy has added a new coach and a general manager to the women’s program. Darren Guensch comes to Blacksburg from his recent coaching stop at Missouri State. He’s really from Leesburg and graduated from Radford. So, he’s very familiar with the NRV and Virginia Tech. He’s also had coaching stops at his Master’s alma mater George Mason, with stops at VCU and Richmond.
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The job of being a head coach AND managing the operations of a team in a rapidly professionalizing environment meant that Coach Duffy was going to need some help that wore a business suit more than sneakers and workout clothes. The AD and Coach Duffy have hired a “General Manager” to work the day-to-day business operations of the team. Stephen Fishler has been named Assistant AD, General Manager for Women’s Basketball. He comes to Tech from a recent multi-year assignment in the business end of Rutgers athletics.
That brings the changes with Women’s Basketball news to a close for this one. But changes are normal, the retentions are actually more encouraging. Carleigh graduated (she’s now a Hokie Alumna) but is staying to play at least one year of her eligibility at Tech. Mackie Nelson will be back. Samyha is healthy again and itching to play her speed game next season. Leila is back, and so is Kayl. Of course, we still have Carys Baker who looks to have another really significant season as a team leader with Carleigh.
It’s going to be a fun season, and it’ll all start in late October, early November. We’ll go over the schedule when it’s finally published.
GO HOKIES!!!
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