Mir transfer to Virginia, granted immediate eligibility [merged thread]

[Vowelguy]

Interesting that VA has 15 athletes on their roster right now, and most are 6' or taller [only 2 of 15 are shorter]. Must need a quick and athletic upgrade...

They may have difficulty against uNd on Thurs, but may have winable games vs. Miami and Virginia Tech to start the new year. Not sure when Mir will break in this year, but blessings to Mir and her new team!

Very doubtful against VaTech
Probably not against Mia but I don’t know a lot about the Canes.

 

[triaddukefan]

Very doubtful against VaTech
Probably not against Mia but I don’t know a lot about the Canes

You can throw out the record books when UVA and VPI meet up.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Hopefully she is successful and happy. Thompson may not be the answer at UVA but I have no idea how long of a leash, if any, she really has given the program wasn't doing so hot prior to her arrival. It's a fantastic school academically and that could be as important to Mir as basketball.

It's always interesting to see where people wind up when they make the decision to move on. Just like with recruiting we never know what is going on in the minds of the students.

 

[jchusky]

This is her fourth season and by far the most disastrous.

Yes, her 3rd season was cut very short by covid, but they were 0-5 at the time.

not a fan of Uva's Ad, he's very cheap. Look at their coaches in cfb, they leave and don't last. Only Tony Benett has had success but even this season his team looks god awful. Will not be an easy place to win regardless who the head coach is.

 

[Vowelguy]

the program wasn't doing so hot prior to her arrival. .

.

VA was doing decent under Boyle. In her last year they made the NCAAs for the first time since 2010. And had made the WNIT the previous 3 years. It seemed they were on their way back.

Thompsons first 2 years UVA had their 2 worst records since 1978.

 

[jchusky]

Hopefully she is successful and happy. Thompson may not be the answer at UVA but I have no idea how long of a leash, if any, she really has given the program wasn't doing so hot prior to her arrival. It's a fantastic school academically and that could be as important to Mir as basketball.

It's always interesting to see where people wind up when they make the decision to move on. Just like with recruiting we never know what is going on in the minds of the students.

lol exactly, people act like she took over Tenn or a program with prestige. Covid last season knocked out the team.

 

[Happydad745]

I'm surprised Shea Ralph did not pick up either of the two that left.

 

[sno-cat]

Maybe Shea Ralph consulted Geno?

 

[Gus Mahler]

@Carnac , you lost an opportunity to use weft and woof. I ask you how often does that chance come along?

@RockyMTblue2 : But what about the warp?

And I wonder if that's why we use the term "warped," as in something is askew.

 

[UConnCat]

not a fan of Uva's Ad, he's very cheap. Look at their coaches in cfb, they leave and don't last. Only Tony Benett has had success but even this season his team looks god awful. Will not be an easy place to win regardless who the head coach is.

He's very cheap? He? Virginia's Athletic Director is Carla Williams who most definitely is not a "he." She was hired as AD in 2017.

Not sure what evidence you have to support the "very cheap" label. Bennett's salary is certainly top 15-20 in the country. Mendenhall was lured from BYU and his compensation was set to be $3.9 million before announcing his retirement. That salary seems appropriate for a program like Virginia. Williams will likely hire Poindexter as Mendenhall's replacement and I doubt she brings him in on the cheap.

I have no idea what Thompson's compensation package looks like but I'm sure it's commensurate with her coaching experience when hired which was very limited. Before hiring Thompson UVa approached Staley about the job which, again, doesn't support the "cheap" label.

 

[HuskyNan]

I have no idea what Thompson's compensation package looks like but I'm sure it's commensurate with her coaching experience when hired which was very limited. Before hiring Thompson UVa approached Staley about the job which, again, doesn't support the "cheap" label.

Thompson’s base salary is $325,000 before speaking fees, endorsements, etc.

 

[CL82]

or maybe the 2 who transferred decided they have had enough of the Uconn way and want to try something different?

Vanderbilt is it UConn by any stretch of the imagination. More likely they wanted to go to programs that weren’t at the very beginning of a rebuild. JMO.

Whatever the reasons I’m just glad they found a place that felt comfortable to them

 

[Cuango]

I think clarifications like "to be honest" often mean: "I would prefer not to be the one who has to say this" , or, "in the interest of getting real with this discussion". It isn't necessarily something racist or meant as demeaning but it could be something uncomfortable or even distasteful. At the same time, shouldn't we be honest with each other? Shouldn't we say things that are honest rather than just go along with whatever is considered "polite" even if it is almost totally inaccurate? There is a limit, of course, but I'd prefer to call things accurately. We are expressing opinions mainly. All of us. Sometimes facts are cited but for the most part we express opinions.

For example, an honest assessment could be that Virgina is an upgrade from Uconn academically overall. It could be a better fit for Mir athletically as well. It looks like maybe a great decision on her part. She probably will have significant success in their program but is unlikely to develop into a WNBA level player. It is still possible, of course, but the current track may be to pursue a great degree and quality of life which doesn't necessarily depend on athletics. Most of these comments are opinions. Projections from someone who knows It's up to Mir to make these choices and only she knows her mind. To me it looks like a terrific fit.

Apparently Dennis Rodman didn't play high school basketball at all. He didn't even want to go to college and his recruiter spent 2 hours trying to get him to see him when he visited his mom's house. He went on to be one of the best players in history. Almost anything is possible.

To be accurate, one of the best defensive players in history. Let’s face it, he was pretty useless as far as his scoring goes. I’ll not say he was as bad in that respect as Simmons but he was a very reluctant/hapless scorer.

 

[TCC Kid]

Closeish to home but really question if Tina Thompson will last much longer.

MIR has great potential, a very good if undersided post. I agree Tina Thompson, a super great College and Wnba player never quite made it in Coaching.
However, I agree with Carnac that MIR hasn't tapped her full potential yet. It would be nice to see her grow into a top ACC player.

 

[Cuango]

Only one of this year’s losses has been by single digits, a 9 point loss to Richmond.

Head Coaching Record[edit]​

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
2018–19	Virginia	12 –19	5 – 11	12th	None
2019–20	Virginia	13 –17	8 – 10	T–9th	None
2020-21	Virginia	0 –5	0 – 2	N/A	None
2021-22	Virginia	3 - 7	0 - 0
Overall		28–48	13–23

Yet another example that great players rarely make great coaches!

 

[TCC Kid]

I don't mean to be mean, but at the D1 level what stuff does she have to show. Love to be shown wrong and I like this young woman with the beautiful smile.

We haven't seen much of MIR, the glimpses show a kid trying hard and for a bit did some good work under the boards. You may be correct in one way and she hasn't had the opportunity to show off her guard skills for long periods. I doubt Tina would take a work in progress. We'll see.

 

[Vowelguy]

lol exactly, people act like she took over Tenn or a program with prestige. Covid last season knocked out the team.

Lol. Look at UVAs history. It’s quite rich.
And all ACC schools except Duke and UVA managed to play last year.
Funny how only the teams that started off the year really badly cancelled their seasons.

 

[EdSaid]

How does that 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon game work?

Mir transfers to VA
VA football has Covid and has to pull out of the Fenway Bowl vs SMU.
Boston College Football (right down the street from Fenway ( has 40 cases of Covid and pulls out of the Military Bowl vs East Carolina.

Hold on for the roller coaster ride.. Get it all out of the system before March

 

[stamfordhusky]

2 seasons cut her some slack.

2 1/2 poor seasons. This year they are the worst team in the ACC by a wide margin. And the program is far worse now than when she arrived. A large number of Virginia fans and boosters want her gone, and the only thing that might bring her back for one final season is the large buy out on her contract.

 

[triaddukefan]

Lol. Look at UVAs history. It’s quite rich.
And all ACC schools except Duke and UVA managed to play last year.
Funny how only the teams that started off the year really badly cancelled their seasons.

Duke didn't start the year off badly before they cancelled.

 

[Vowelguy]

Duke didn't start the year off badly before they cancelled.

Ha yeah I thought you might correct me. But Va, Vandy, a few others were all really bad teams.

 

[Shorty Dee]

I wish Mir the best. Like the ones before her, I will follow her career.

 

[Mdoggie]

See below.

It could also be if the reason for transferring out, they might have been not happy with a task master and level of practice required here.
Therefore mom / dad and former coaches or other advisers just may have told them. "If your not happy playing for Geno you will most likely not be happy playing for a protege.

See what had happened was……

 

[MSSportsGuy]

VA was doing decent under Boyle. In her last year they made the NCAAs for the first time since 2010. And had made the WNIT the previous 3 years. It seemed they were on their way back.

Thompsons first 2 years UVA had their 2 worst records since 1978.

Hmmm, I was thinking she had only been at UVA 3 years now rather than 4. Forgot she had two full seasons prior to COVID.

I am old enough to remember when UVA was a pretty good team and I agree, they weren't at the total bottom the way they are now. I'm sure patience among fans and boosters is wearing thin and she truly may not be the best person for the job but I don't know how high women's basketball is in the pecking order at UVA.

 

[HopJim]

With Covid interupting their season last year, suspect Thompson will be given more time. While her first two years showed little progress, there was not much she could do last year and the disruption Covid caused with recruiting hurt as well. With all the rumors circulating around about a potential coaching change, Thompson is in a difficult position regarding new recruits, likely one of the reasons she is recruiting in the transfers bucket.

 

[Fossil]

It appears that all of UConn‘s recent transfers have done nicely at the new schools and I expect Mir to do nicely as well if she gets the playing time which she should on a wins challenged team. From what I saw with Mir and her limited playing time she looked as though she was trying to hard to make an impression she often was out of place and seemed frantic and uncontrolled. Gino made a comment once that when Mir got the ball the shot was going up(paraphrasing ).It’s a shame she was never able to settle in and play controlled relaxed basketball. Let us not forget that she played out of position most of the time out of necessity. Often we compared her to Gabby but I believe Gabby was a unicorn and not likely to be matched ever. I genuinely hope good things come to Mir in her basketball and personal life she appeared to be a lovely young woman

 

[Bigboote]

It felt to me like things really took a turn at UVA when Felicia Aiyeotan had to end her career due to Marfan syndrome, I think just about three years ago. It felt like they might be beginning to turn things around, then the wind went out of their sails.

 

[Gus Mahler]

It appears that all of UConn‘s recent transfers have done nicely at the new schools and I expect Mir to do nicely as well if she gets the playing time which she should on a wins challenged team. From what I saw with Mir and her limited playing time she looked as though she was trying to hard to make an impression she often was out of place and seemed frantic and uncontrolled. Gino made a comment once that when Mir got the ball the shot was going up(paraphrasing ).It’s a shame she was never able to settle in and play controlled relaxed basketball. Let us not forget that she played out of position most of the time out of necessity. Often we compared her to Gabby but I believe Gabby was a unicorn and not likely to be matched ever. I genuinely hope good things come to Mir in her basketball and personal life she appeared to be a lovely young woman

Clever expression!

 

[Florida Fan]

You’re not kidding.

I would think Mir would do well on a team that is undersized where a 5’10” would naturally play forward. (Which is a lot of teams)

Her fit on a super tall team seems … odd.

Be interesting to see.

Tall/schmall, Mir needs guard skills to compliment her defense and jumping-jack credentials. And she has to improve her jump shot, 3 point and mid range. All world could be right around the corner. Being healthy would also help.

 

[HopJim]

Tall/schmall, Mir needs guard skills to compliment her defense and jumping-jack credentials. And she has to improve her jump shot, 3 point and mid range. All world could be right around the corner. Being healthy would also help.

Mir needs a team that values and uses her skills. You are asking her to recreate her entire skill set. Wish her the best but these changes are not very likely.