CarolinaHokieFan

That's a good amount of time. I would hope at some point a raise for her and her staff would be in order given their performance. She does an excellent job, and represents the school in an engaging, professional manner. All of her players represent the school very well. I think the quality of her staff is under appreciated. I don't live in Blacksburg, I was last in town for Kitley's jersey retirement. I have no inside information or contacts. But I do see good talent development as I watch games and practice videos. Duffy can't possibly be doing that alone. She's also gotten us some good recruits, and good transfers. Again, she's not doing that alone. Hats off to her staff. She seems to have an excellent team of professionals recruiting and training a great group of young women. I'm optimistic for the coming season. I'll also say that in addition to Basketball coaching, conditioning coach Lee Taylor seems to be an excellent addition, who shouId over time toughen our players to withstand the Rugby like contact permitted in the ACC. I was sad to see Carys and Mackie leave, and I appreciate everything they did for the Hokies. I'll miss them. But I think we'll actually see a net gain in performance from their replacements. Time will tell if that is true.

I wonder if her interest started long ago with a pink Barbi car? Pops, in my eyes your comments will always be welcome. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 7/9/2026, 2:05:15 PM ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 7/9/2026, 2:07:04 PM

I thought we had a good team before we added Dimaro. I've felt for the last couple of years there was way too much pressure on Carliegh. She never complained, and she never wilted, but she had a very difficult job. Other teams could focus on her, bang her around, and make life generally tough. Now that there's more help and depth, I expect her to really shine. I think the other players on the team are all good players, and will make major contributions. I'm looking for a fun successful season.

David has been on top of this, and Tech is very compliance aware. Neither have said anything. Maybe the deal is still alive, but an anxious reporter jumped the gun. It hasn’t been reported that she has gone somewhere else, so I remain optimistic.

The link had the Hokies as her 3rd stop. Now her 3rd stop is also in Japan, and the Hokies are gone. This changed within the last 90 minutes. I hope we didn’t lose her

I also see that Clemson is playing Kentucky

It loaded for me, and it had no idea who I was.

Here's a direct link to the post. https://www.instagram.com/p/DZCwnr2OWu5/ I think she will prove to be a big asset this year.

That's not bad. Our Hokie team in 25-26 shot 31%. Carys shot 38%, and Carleigh 33%. Samyha and Leila were 25%. For transfers, Hurst shot 41.4%, and Goff shot 30.7%. Hurst seemed consistent over all games, Goff had several 0-8 games and several high percentage games. Goff seems very streaky for whatever reason. I can't find evidence of any attempts from Jenkins in High School or College. So does Trent become our secret weapon from 3? That would spread things out if a post has to come out and honor that shot.

I'd love to watch but I can't find it on YouTube or ACC network. Thanks.

We seem to continue to attract very good coaches. I think this is a good indicator of how desirable Virginia Tech is as a coaching destination. I can only assume that will impress potential recruits, and translate well for our future.

I went back and listened again. What I heard from Carleigh was a very mature perspective about NIL. She and Liz discussed the unrealistic expectations that some players had, and the absurd amounts requested. I felt like Carleigh didn't have much respect for some of the players that were asking for so much. She pointed out that the NIL money has to pay the whole team, not just one player. She clearly wanted money left to pay teammates that could help the Hokies win, while still wanting fair compensation. She sounded far more adult and informed than many people her age. I didn't hear anything that indicated the Tech couldn't offer fair compensation. They may not offer the most, but Carleigh seemed very satisfied with the deal her dad was able to negotiate on her behalf. It cracked me up to hear both her and Liz refer to her dad as Bobby. It sounds like Liz is very fond of the Wenzel clan. Liz also stated that she had no desire to coach right now, because so much of it isn't about basketball. It was clear she had passion for the game, and passion for helping others, but wanted no part of the ego and money circus. These two young women seem mature beyond their years, and I love that they are dedicated Hokies. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 5/8/2026, 8:44:34 PM

Our roster includes 6'2", 6'3", 6'3", 6'3", 6'4"(or 6'5" depending on report). How tall do we need to be? We've never really seen any of these women play, and we have no idea what they can do. I will say that I saw Jenkins and Trent both establishing great position under the basket, calling for the ball, and the ball never came. It seemed like they could have scored had the ball been delivered. The only time either got the ball was in the high post. I thought it was odd. Maybe some different guards can change that. Another year's experience all around will help too. I think we have pretty great coaches, and I think they can judge talent and teach. Last year's team got much further than anyone expected, and it's possible that it will happen this year. I'm sure the coaches would love to have a roster of 5 star players, but our school doesn't have that cachet yet. We need to find some "diamonds in the rough" and help them shine. That will draw other good players. Freelon, for example, had no history of much of anything, but she shined at Tech. I'm hoping our current roster can grow in the same way. I think it would be hard to be a coach in the current environment. You have a fixed pool of money, and you have to go with players that fit your style, are coachable, will get along with the rest of the team, and don't blow your overall budget. You really have to assign a value to each player, and pay no more than that. Nothing on that list really mentions coaching fundamentals, mentoring, or game coaching. When Liz had Carleigh on her podcast, Liz mentioned her disinterest in coaching because of all the side stuff. She said she'd love to help girls grow into women, improve as people, and improve as players. But it sounded to me like there were too many negative factors to make her move in that direction. I'm guessing we'll get a couple of more portal players someday, but I don't know for sure. I'm pulling for the ladies we currently have, and the coaches who work with them. It will be really interesting to see what next season holds. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 5/5/2026, 5:42:00 PM

Played for Emmanuel University, averaged 14.9 Points and 7.9 rebounds last year as a Sophomore She appears to be a VERY streaky 3 point shooter, with game of 5-6, 5-7 and 5-9. But unfortunately there were several 0-7's. Full season average 30.7%. https://www.instagram.com/p/DXzH2ItFgJg/?img_index=1 ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 5/1/2026, 10:22:19 AM ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 5/1/2026, 10:28:02 AM ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 5/1/2026, 10:35:21 AM

And lots of giggles. I'll watch again.

That means that no new players can enter. I'm not sure there's a deadline for picking up players that are already in. They are no longer committed to their current school, and I'd think they all want to play somewhere. I think there are still 600-700 players that declared and have not landed anywhere. For example, I don't think Spela or Sophie have landed anywhere yet. I hope they both get picked up, but there are no guarantees. I'm sure our coaches are still working contacts. I don't know how much money they have left, or what we can get for the $$$ available. But I would also think players are getting nervous if they haven't been picked up by now. Maybe their $$$ expectations will drop as they don't get any interest. By my count, we currently have 10 players, including 2 freshmen and a redshirt freshman. I would think we'd add a couple more people, if for no other reason to give us some room for injuries. Last year we had three broken noses and a broken foot. Other than Kayl getting kicked in the face while standing up, all of the other injuries seem to have happened outside of games. It was also reported that Mackie was seen in a boot from time to time. We must run really aggressive practices.

I'm gratified that all of these ex-Hokies are getting shots at the WNBA, but I'm curious why we haven't seen Liz Kitley pop up somewhere. Does anyone around Blacksburg or the team have any idea what's going on? Is she still hurt? Is she chasing other opportunities? She had one WNBA game where she looked like she did in her prime, with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 16 minutes. Otherwise she barely played. I wish her well no matter what path she chooses, I'm just curious if her injury was so bad her playing career is over.

In some ways I'm embarassed to admit this, but that's one of my favorite movies. I guess I'm not very cultured.

I love Kayla, but I hope she doesn’t teach Mackie too much about shooting, at least until after we play them.

That was a great honor for a Sophomore. She seems like good people, I hope she finds what she's looking for. I appreciate all of the work she did that helped Tech make the NCAAs.

From Honorable Mention to All-American. She has the skills if we can surround her with good people. The people we had last year were awesome, but most couldn't score. That put may too much pressure on Carleigh and Carys, and they couldn't have a bad game or we'd lose. And nobody can have a good or great game every time out, sometimes things just don't work out on a given day.

It looks like she committed, but things seem a bit out of order. I'm not totally instagram savvy, so I may be wishfully misreading something. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 4/11/2026, 3:09:47 PM

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-k5ygGxNWu/?hl=en ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 4/10/2026, 3:28:06 PM

Why not Princeton?

There are already over 1,300 young women in the portal already, and I think there are at least 10 more days in the window to declare. The portal just opened yesterday. Duffy and team have a huge amount of data to review, and their budget needs to balance. I’m sure she wants to reward those that have stayed, but still have budget left to fill out a good roster. I suspect even the players may be reaching out to players they know, and are potentially being contacted by people asking questions or expressing interest. It’s a complicated balancing act, and right now we don’t even have the full picture of who might come available later in the window. I think patience is important. I’m optimistic that we will do well.

This is good news. Now hopefully Wells will stay also.

I don’t know why some have profiles, but that’s what I found

UConn game would have had a different outcome if it had been called this way. I wish “physicality “ wasn’t needed to describe basketball. Don’t know if you all saw, but Boozer had multiple facial fractures from UConn in the men’s elite 8. No foul was called. I really prefer games where speed, quickness, hop, and general basketball skills and awareness mattered more than MMA training. I’m losing interest in basketball. Maybe I’m an old fart longing for the good old days, but I don’t enjoy this.

I hope this doesn't come off as arrogant, but I'd like to express what I think the team needs are for next year. I'll include some basic analytics at the end. Here goes another one of my too long posts. Our first need is another scorer, hopefully someone that can create their own shot. I don't think it matters if they are 5'8" or 6'8", they just need to score reliably. There's currently too much pressure on Carleigh and Carys to score. If Carleigh and Carys don't score, we lose. Samyha is growing into a scorer, and hopefully that will continue. There are others that might be scorers, but they haven't proven that yet at the college level. I think our second need is to spend the summer working on shooting techniques. According to the data I've collected, we're 184th in the nation in field goal percentage, and 232nd in the nation in 3 point percentage. Those numbers could be slightly off, but I think they are close. The point is, no matter how good your defense is you need to score. With rankings like these it puts crazy pressure on the defense and our 2 scorers. Assists can be hard to come by too. I think our 3rd largest need is a better 1/2 court offense. I wish I could remember who to credit, but someone has been harping on our spacing. I agree that's a problem. We often look like a little kids Soccer team under the basket, with 4 attackers and 4 defenders trying to kick a single ball. In general, our offense seems lost if we don't convert in transition. Spacing is a problem, but I think the way we move as a team in the scoring area is suboptimal. Layups and short shots get much easier if there aren't 4 defenders in the lane. Height is nice, but there aren't a whole lot of Liz Kitley/Clara Strack type folks around. With Trent and Jenkins coming back, we now have 6'4", 6'3",6'3", 6'2" and 6'2" players for our front line. Some places list the 6'4" as 6'5". Look at the analytics below, I think they support my case that skill and athletic ability might trump sheer size. Audi Crooks is now in the portal, but it's been said she can't defend a parked car. I'm not sure we'd try to get her even if we had millions in NIL. Listed below in order is our ranking compared to all teams. I'm sure my numbers aren't perfect, but I think they are close. We're near the top in rebounds and blocked shots, and way down in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and 3 point percentage. It's hard to win games with those numbers, but we did. I'm sure the staff has far more accurate numbers than I do, and I'd bet they are trying to find ways to improve. I hope this hand spaced table formats well when posted. Stat Name Number/Percent Ranking vs other teams ======================================================= Field Goals Attempted 65.2 26 Blocked Shots 4.8 28 Rebounds 40.4 40 Turnovers 13.3 43 Free Throw Made 12.9 53 Assists 15.5 58 Field Goals Made 26.5 61 Free Throw Attempts 18.2 71 3 Point Attempts 24.1 142 Field Goal Percentage 40.7% 184 Free Throw Percentage 71.0% 211 3 Point Made 5.6 223 3 Point Percentage 30.1% 232

I was just looking at the Hokies Instagram, and saw a couple of nice things. First, Carleigh Wenzel is a Finalist for the Womens Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All American team. I checked, and there are 50 Finalists. It's great that with hard work and the help of her coaches and teammates she earned that honor On another front, there is video of the team boarding 2 busses to head to Roanaoke to fly to Texas. I'd guess the crowd cheering them was over 200. James Franklin was in the crowd, giving every player a high five. Things seem to be looking up for Hokie Athletics. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 3/19/2026, 12:14:45 PM

And winning a Championship as a player doesn't mean you can coach. I imagine, for example, that people loved having Dennis Rodman on their team. I'm not sure anyone would sign up to play for him however.

Hi. If we land a player just because we offer the most money, that's probably a player we don't want. They probably wouldn't care about their teammates, and they'd probably leave if they got a better offer. Based on Whitt's presentation last fall, we're at least competitive in the ACC of the schools that publish numbers. I'm not saying money doesn't matter, I just think it's a piece of the puzzle. In my opinion, other factors would include the following: - Long term relationship with the player. At Marquette, Duffy couldn't recruit ACC level talent. I doubt she wasted time trying to build relationships with players like that. The two players she brought with her are very well schooled with a good basketball IQ, but probably won't ever be on the all ACC team. They were really good finds for Marquette, and complimentary pieces for a climbing ACC team. When Duffy got here, she was starting from scratch in terms of building relationships. It takes time, and it isn't easy. - Name reputation of the coach. Duffy is really showing out as a coach, but Aurema, Staley, Mulkey, etc. are far more established. If they walk in to a High School or AAU gym, they don't need to introduce themselves, everyone in the building knows who they are, and likely who they are there to see. If Tech keeps climbing, and I think they will, more and more people will recognize our coach. Right now she has to introduce herself, and sell herself and her program. She's starting behind in a difficult race. - Team Reputation - Tech was building a reputation. The rug got pulled out from under us. The key players and coaches were gone, leaving unknowns all around. It would be a huge risk for an incoming player to buy in to our program. I think our coaches and players punched above their weight the last two seasons, and I think the program is rebounding. But we still need to get lucky with a couple of players playing better than their ranking, and we'll be moving toward the top of the ACC. Liz, Kayla, and Georgia all played above their ranking, and that got the program going. It can happen again. - League reputation - I think the ACC is an asset to our recruiting. The SEC has a far better track record, but the ACC might well be second. So I don't think we have to convince players that they'll be on TV, playing against tough competition. I think the SEC has a leg up in drawing top level talent, but I think the ACC does well. The current players themselves - I think we shine here. I would think if you came to visit Tech, you'd really like the players that you would meet. You'd be impressed with what they said about themselves, their coaches, their teammates, and Hokie Nation. In her interview with Liz, when asked about choosing to stay, Carleigh said something like "I knew what I had here, and who wouldn't want to play here". I think if we can get players to visit, we'd win our fair share just because of the environment Carleigh described. I hope my long winded post isn't too much, I just think many people are paying undue attention to money and height. I trust our staff to find players that fit the system, and will help the team improve. And we made the NCAA tournament! Go team! ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 3/15/2026, 5:25:17 PM ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 3/17/2026, 7:16:17 AM

I know that's really poor joke, and pathetic dad humor. But it was just too obvious to pass up. Please accept my apologies.

@Popsof1, I'm sorry we have a handful of people who like to lay blame where it doesn't belong. Hang in with us, we like having you around.

Last year and early this year, if they played ugly they lost. As this season has progressed, they have learned how to win when calls aren’t going their way and shots aren’t falling. Coaching and game experience have both played a role. Things are looking up. I’ll also add that I think they need another scorer more than they need someone 6’6”. There is way too much pressure on Carleigh and Carys. Defenses can focus on the two of them, but they still feel pressure to score. Samyha has shown flashes, but she isn’t there yet. Give this team a 20 point a game scorer, coupled with the pressure defense and they’ll make the next step up.

Got the rebound, missed, got another rebound, and made it but it was waved off. She got into the trees and leaped for two key offensive boards. Well done.

She's a leader, she's held our team together, she's a hard worker, and she's a gifted athlete. Oh, and academically she graduated in 3 years. If I had a vote, I'd vote her as the team MVP. Is her game perfect, no. But the Naismith Player of the Year candidates aren't perfect either. I do agree with her dad that she probably takes more hard (and often uncalled) fouls than anyone on the team. I don't understand why she has to take the hits that she does, but she seems to be a target.

I made a comment about Suffren being young in her career, so I got curious about the other players. I found 4 numbers for each player by manually looking at their college stats. I only counted games against big league opponents, and looked at playing time. I selected 10+ minutes played and 20+ minutes played per game for my tallies. It's arbitrary, but I had to pick something. So I figured that if they played the equivalent of 1+ Quarter it was a contribution, 2+ Quarters they were a key player. If they played 20+ minutes in a particular game, I counted it for both 10+ and 20+. The first column is 10+ minute games played prior to this year. The second column is 20+ minute games played prior to this year. The 3rd and 4th columns include this year. These women, almost exclusively, didn't have a lot of playing time prior to this year. I think the team has improved this year as players gained experience in difficult games. I think they will all continue to grow in the coming years. I'll put a disclaimer in that I manually tabulated these, and there are sure to be errors. So here's my tally. Player 10+ 20+ 10+ Total 20+ Total ============================================================= Freelon 57 27 76 44 Wenzel 47 27 67 47 Wells 7 0 26 4 Nelson 24 21 43 40 Baker 40 27 60 47 Brecelj - - 0 0 Suffren 7 3 24 11 Daley 69 44 85 52 Jenkins - - 0 0 Trent - - 6 2 Swanson 36 14 38 14 Petersen 17 8 25 8 ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 2/17/2026, 6:32:31 PM

I’m pretty sure I read that when the ACC Network was announced in conjunction with ESPN. I think that’s why Liz does some of our home games. If we were on the actual ACC network, or ESPN, I think we’d get announcers that aren’t affiliated with either team.

I’m pretty sure she ran track in High School, and she’s one of our faster players. She has long arms and can jump. I don’t know that Duffy wants a traditional post, it would slow the team down. As far as the portal goes, assuming no transfers out, we’ll have 7 guards, 5 forwards, plus a Guard/Forward, for 13 out of 15 slots. And since the women are now paid, do we want to split the $$$ 15 ways, or 13? I think the women we have now support each other, represent Virginia Tech well, and work hard. I’d be pleased if they all stayed. We have an inexperienced team that continues to grow and improve. I’m confident they’ll be better next year as they gain more experience. I’m not convinced we need the portal.

She played for Brooks 1 season, but didn't play much. She was injured last year, and shut down with surgery after 10 games, earning a redshirt. This year she was recovering from surgery at the start of the season, and is really starting to blossom now. I think she'll grow even more as she continues to gain experience.

We're getting badly beaten on the first step, we don't seem to have hop on our rebounds, and our shots look like mostly arms with feet not set. State seems to be a better team, but we are way off today and I think a chunk of it is self inflicted. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 2/8/2026, 1:29:28 PM

I have YouTubeTV, but is should work with any package that includes ESPN First, use your streaming device to connect to ESPN Find the game, which sometimes doesn't appear until the last minute Select the game You will be asked to select your provider, in my case YouTubeTV I have to login using my YouTubeTV account, and then I can watch the game. I'm sorry you missed games, hopefully this will work for you.

We should just give up fouling, Notre Dame will not be allowed to lose.

The officiating is criminal. Defend your team.

Moving screens are alleged to be a point of emphasis this season, but they aren’t being called on ND. We’ll really have to be tough to win this, because ND is clearly getting a different set of rules applied. I still wish Duffy would start riding the refs.

Hidalgo has committed 2 or 3 fouls that ended up being called on us

IG shows the women boarding a bus headed for Notre Dame. Google maps shows that as over 9 hours, and 550-600 miles. Does anyone know how this works? It also appears to be a hired bus, as opposed to one of the ones painted for Virginia Tech. Perhaps they are going to take the route through Aniya's hometown of Springboro, Ohio?

I'll open with a rhetorical question. We're losing a Post and a Guard, Freelon and Daley. We're getting a Post and a guard, and Kate Sears and her fan club will be playing for the first time. Please don't publicly answer, I don't want any bad words for any of these women, but ponder who would you bump off the roster to make room for new recruits. I think our 2 Freshman bigs are promising. They are freshmen, this is all new to them. Kayl is a very fundamentally sound player that gives valuable minutes. Carys is developing some post moves, and can attack the basket from outside causing matchup issues. On the guard front, we already have Carleigh, Leila, Mackie, Samyha, and Kate, and 2-3 slots for them to fill at a time. And then we have a recruit at guard coming in. I'd also point out that other than Carleigh, the other guards had limited experience prior to this season. I think they are really coming into their own. I don't claim to know the coaches, nor do I know the players, but I like what I see. All of these young women represent Tech very well as people. They seem to be very close to each other, which I think is great. I like our roster. I think everyone plays hard, and everyone seems to get better with each game. I'm not claiming that they can go out and beat UConn, but I think they can compete against most teams. I think they will continue to improve. I think in a year or two they can compete for the ACC championship, and will continue to grow beyond that. ** Edited by CarolinaHokieFan at 2/5/2026, 6:11:03 PM