Virginia hires Richmond's Aaron Roussell as new women's basketball coach

Aaron Roussell led Richmond to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back Atlantic 10 titles. Scott Wachter / Getty Images Share full articleThe Virginia Cavaliers announced Tuesday that they have hired Aaron Roussell as their new head coach, the seventh in program history. Roussell comes from Richmond, where he led the Spiders to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and won back-to-back Atlantic 10 titles in 2024 and 2025. Richmond won its lone NCAA Tournament game in 2025 in the first round against Georgia Tech. Virginia moved quickly after firing Amaka Agugua-Hamilton last week despite a Sweet 16 run. Roussell knows the region after coaching in the state for the last seven seasons. He is one of the most well-regarded coaches in the country outside of the power conferences and was named the 2025 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year. The Cavaliers have much work to do with their current roster. March Madness darling and Charlottesville, Va., product Kymora Johnson is in the transfer portal ahead of her final college season, along with fellow starter Sa’Myah Smith. Rotation players Gabby White and Breona Hurd have also put their names in the portal. Furthermore, starters Paris Clark and Romi Levy are graduating. Virginia has some extra money in the bank, thanks to a gift from Reddit co-founder and Cavaliers alum Alexis Ohanian that will have to go toward restocking the player pool. Roussell’s departure from Richmond to Virginia continues a mid-major exodus to Power 5 schools this offseason, as talent is consolidating at the upper levels on player rosters and at the coaching level. Tammi Reiss, who led Rhode Island to an Atlantic 10 title this season, is the new coach at Florida. Carla Berube had Princeton in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons, winning eight combined Ivy League regular-season and conference tournament titles in the process, but is now at Northwestern. Even Robin Harmony, who took College of Charleston to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history this season, took the job at Pittsburgh. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Sabreena Merchant is a women's basketball Staff Writer for The Athletic. She previously covered the WNBA and NBA for SB Nation. Sabreena is an alum of Duke University, where she wrote for the independent student newspaper, The Chronicle. She is based in Los Angeles. Follow Sabreena on Twitter @sabreenajm