Michael Voepel, ESPN.com, December 12, 2024, 04:15 PM ET. Michael Voepel, a senior writer, has been covering the WNBA, women's college basketball, and other college sports since 1984 and has been with ESPN since 1996.

The "Multi-Year Transformational Gift"

The Virginia women's basketball team has received what the school calls a "multi-year transformational gift" from entrepreneur and philanthropist Alexis Ohanian. Ohanian, married to tennis legend Serena Williams and a founding control owner in the Angel City FC team in the NWSL, has a history of supporting and investing in women's athletics. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2005. Although the specific dollar amount of the gift was not released, it is the largest in the history of the Virginia women's basketball program. This will enable the program to become a premier destination for female student-athletes while meeting the financial and competitive demands of the new era of college athletics.Ohanian told ESPN, "Starting Angel City and seeing the wave of investment in women's sports has really been inspiring. Women's basketball has constantly come to my attention, and many people have asked me about it. It's my alma mater. I'm often in New York for work and live in Florida, so Charlottesville is a convenient stop in between, and I'll be attending quite a few games."For several years, Ohanian has been optimistic about the potential of women's sports. He pointed out that in 2019, it cost approximately $1 million to buy an expansion team in the NWSL. In contrast, the controlling stake in Angel City FC was sold in July to Willow Bay and Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, at a $250 million valuation."There was an under-investment in women's sports, and there was also a mindset that it was not about excellence or business returns but about 'charity.' The curse of those low expectations really hindered growth," Ohanian said.He was particularly disturbed by seeing the "weight room debacle" revealed on social media by then-Oregon player Sedona Prince during the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament held in a COVID-19 "bubble" in San Antonio. Prince showed how the women had a few small stacks of weights at their NCAA tournament compared to a vast weight room for the men at their tournament in Indianapolis."I was like, 'This makes no sense to me,'" Ohanian said at the time, criticizing it on social media. "And the sad thing is, the talent was there in the women's game. If you looked on the Internet, at places like Instagram, at the follower counts, the interest was there. This told me that the women just needed more investment and promotion."

Virginia Coach's Perspective

Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton first heard of Ohanian's interest from Cavaliers athletic director Carla Willams. Ohanian then attended the Cavaliers' season-opener at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on November 4 against American and was impressed by the atmosphere."I'm just really grateful he believes in his alma mater and our athletic department. He believes in Carla, me, and the players," Agugua-Hamilton told ESPN. "This is game-changing for us. The purpose of the gift is to help us recruit and retain student-athletes and put ourselves in a position to be an elite team. We've been elite before. We're still going to operate with high integrity and do things the right way. But this gives us the financial means to level the playing field."Virginia said the gift will help address the modern-day financial demands in college sports as schools navigate the transfer portal, conference realignment, and the House vs. NCAA lawsuit, which could allow institutions to share revenue with student-athletes.Virginia was one of the top women's programs in the nation under coach Debbie Ryan from the late 1980s into the 1990s, making 20 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1984-2003. That period was highlighted by three consecutive trips to the women's Final Four in 1990-’91-’92, led by point guard Dawn Staley, who is now head coach of South Carolina and has won three national championships with the Gamecocks.Agugua-Hamilton said Staley is a role model and support for her as a coach. Now in her third season leading Virginia, Agugua-Hamilton believes the Cavaliers, 6-5, can return to upper-tier status after making just one NCAA tournament appearance since 2010."We're dealing with some injuries and trying to get people back, but we're going to turn things around this season," she said. "I always say progress is a process, and this gift will help with that now and in the long term."

Inspiring Others

Ohanian also hopes his gift will inspire more alumni to support the women's sports programs at their schools and businesses to invest in women's athletics."Look, I'm quite a groupie of women's sports, and I'm proud to be that. Yes, I have two daughters, and I want them to have great role models. But that's not all this is. I love believing in things when maybe not as many other people do. I think it's why I've had success in my life as an early-stage investor. You see today's women's athletes are hungry, they're motivated. People are realizing why women's sports are so compelling and worth investment. It makes business sense."