Can Money Buy Success in Women's Basketball? The Surprising UVA Story

Roughly 16 months ago, Virginia alum Alexis Ohanian made a donation to his alma mater’s women’s basketball program. This donation, described as 'transformational,' was the second largest in the history of UVA women’s sports. The main goal was to help the basketball program compete with the giants across the NCAA. Ohanian, through his investment firm Seven Seven Six, is a major investor in women’s sports, alongside his wife Serena Williams. In December 2024, Ohanian stated: 'It’s time to bring the nation’s best hoops talent to Charlottesville and win some championships in the next four years.'

UVA’s success is a potential blueprint for programs clawing for national relevance. Gone are the days of two or three powerhouses controlling women’s college basketball with insurmountable infrastructure and legacy. Now, any program can be a contender with the right dollar amount.

UVA coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, who has run the program since 2022, commented: 'I knew where this program has been.' She added that she always wanted to be part of bringing the program back to its glory days. Virginia women’s basketball has a storied history, with Hall of Fame coach Debbie Ryan, who led the Cavaliers to 20 straight NCAA appearances between 1984 and 2003, including three trips to the Final Four. Notable players like Dawn Staley, Monica Wright, and Jenny Boucek are some of the program’s most formidable alumni.

Between 2005 and 2010, Ryan led her team to four more tournament appearances, but never made it out of the second round. At the time, two coaches, Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and UConn’s Geno Auriemma, owned Division I women’s basketball, accounting for 15 titles in a 26-year span. After Summitt retired in 2012, Auriemma led UConn to four straight titles. In the era of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), UConn has won just one title in 2025, as other programs have caught up, including South Carolina and LSU.

The historic deal, which went into effect in July 2025, allows colleges to share revenue directly with their athletes up to $20.5 million annually, a figure expected to increase each year. Most programs were expected to follow a distribution model that allocated 75% of funds to football, between 15% and 18% to men’s basketball, and less than 10% to women’s basketball. According to a fall report from Opendorse, less than 15% of all revenue-sharing money was expected to be directed toward women’s sports.

Private capital has already begun to make all the difference to boost women’s programs and bridge the gap—especially with donations the size of Ohanian’s, which will infuse more than $3 million over four years into UVA’s women’s basketball, according to Sportico. Ohanian told Front Office Sports: 'I think it will be a net positive. It has already been a positive in women’s sports, because the free market doesn’t care about your feelings, the free market just wants to put dollars to where it thinks it can generate value.' This year has proved that donor dollars can be a shot in the arm to any program, in any sport.

When Ohanian’s money filtered into the program, Virginia finished the season with a 17-15 record. The Ohanian fund hasn’t instantly transformed Hoos basketball into a juggernaut. This season, UVA was relatively inconsistent with a 22-11 record and entered the 2026 tournament as a bubble team. However, they made it in for the first time since 2018, and once in the tournament, reached their first Sweet 16 since 2000. What's ahead is perhaps more durable than this year’s March Madness run: the combination of a deep transfer class and the decisions of Kymora Johnson and Paris Clark to remain next year puts the team in a position to build toward a future that puts the Cavaliers in the upper echelon of NCAA women’s basketball. In the name, image, and likeness era, Ohanian is proof that winning can be for anyone—but at a cost.