TunstallHokie

Mackie is easily replaceable with what’s already on the roster. Carleigh, Kate, and Samyha can fill that role, but I also have faith that CMD will bring in better pg.

That was an obvious recruit. Does anyone have any information on her? ** Edited by TunstallHokie at 2/20/2026, 8:26:23 AM

But I grade Suffren higher than Nelson. Nelson is a solid player and will get a ton of minutes, but if Suffren picks up where she left off, opposing coaches will have to game plan for her. She needs to improve on her jumper, but she more dynamic of a player.

I think you’re a spot on with most of your evaluation. I agree that we have seen Nelson run the team and not Suffren. I personally see Nelson more as a one guard and Suffren as a 2 guard. I think that Suffren was a much better on ball defender, actually the best on the team, Nelson was excellent in help defense. She was great getting in the passing lanes and getting steals, but Samayha could make nights difficult for opposing teams guards with her on ball defense. Nelson is better at running the offense, but when things would break down Samayah was better at creating her own shot. I feel like her offensive game was more aesthetically pleasing. Now where I say they play great off of each other, has more to do with their defense and with the pressure that Samaya put on the ball and with Nelson’s ability to get in the passing lane they created several easy baskets when they were in the game together. I think they both played Free when they were up and down the court, my favorite lineup actually consisted of both of them with Wenzel. There was just a different energy in the building when we had those three guards in the game at the same time, were there mistakes, of course, but the athleticism and effort that was on display at that time was beautiful to watch. Offensively I don’t think either one of them have the best outside shot, but I do believe.that Suffren has a better midrange game and Nelson shoot the three a little better but they both have a lot of improvement in both of those areas and I believe they both will in the off-season. So when we’re looking at the criteria for why I say Suffren is a better player is because I believe offensively. She adds more to the offense and defensively I think her ability to lock up the number one player on the other team gives her the edge.

The better of the two between her and Nelson. I will say that I thought this before the season started and nothing I saw changed that opinion. I also feel that the team was the most explosive when they played together. They played off of each other so well. I wish I could’ve seen Suffern against ACC competition, but in the small sample size, she’s ahead of Nelson.

I think Nelson, Suffern, and Wenzel have all been better than I thought. I love to see all three of them in the game at the same time. We lose some shooting, but defensively they are so disruptive, which turns into easy baskets. I also think Samyha is not getting enough love on this board. She gets to the basket with ease. Her offensive game is way ahead of Nelson, but Mackie has this energy about her that is great to watch. The future is bright with this three guards.

Camp

But it has been really quiet, and that is alarming. I’m not sure why certain people jump all over any poster that says anything about the FACT, there has been little to no information come out about the portal. I am personally super excited about CMD and the team will be just fine, but it has been very quiet.

To say that the full staff has not been together long enough is not true. There are other schools that have received commitments with new/not finished staffs. I think CMD seems like a great hire, she is putting together a rockstar staff, but I wish we had more portal movement. I was a VT women’s fan long before the final 4 run and I will be long after. I just feel like if we don’t capitalize off of our notoriety know, we could go back to the Dennis Wolf days, which weren’t horrible, but not great. There is great energy surrounding the program and I would like to see that continue. If the team struggles next year, I think it becomes even harder to attract top players. CKB wasn’t able to attract top talent until he started winning. Liz was an anomaly and Georgia was pure luck. Georgia only had two offers. If we don’t capitalize now, we might not get that lucky again, but either way, I will still be in the stands supporting, but I sure did have more fun recently than I did in the past.

I don't think those expectations should be tempered. I think an unfair expectation would be to repeat as ACC champions, but having a losing season is not what I am expecting either.

Other teams have signed players and their coaching staffs aren’t complete. Tennessee has signed at least one transfer.

I believe that it is very important that CMD brings in the right pieces and as a fan base we give her time to do so, but I also think that for future success, our team needs to be competitive now. If we want to have the same level of success that we enjoyed under CKB, I believe that the team will need to be competitive now in order to attract future players.