Thoughts/Analysis on the ACC heading into 2025-26

[Rooster C.]

We've looked at 10 teams up to this point - only 8 more to go !! Lol

Stanford is up next.

 

[cancontent]

Virginia is next.

Overall Virginia had some slight improvement over the previous year. They were unranked going in to the season and finished it unranked as well. Their season came to an end in the ACC tournament where they defeated Pitt and then lost to Cal in the next round by 17. Amaka Aguagua-Hamilton has done a fairly good job at Virginia so far especially considering where they were when she took over. Her overall win pct is .667 and .352 in conference. That doesn't sound great for an in conference record but she has improved each year of the 3 years she's been there from (15 - 15/ 4 -14) year one to (16 -16/ 7 - 11) year two to (17 - 15/ 8 - 10) last year. Where do they go this year ? Is more improvement in conference play possible ? Perhaps.

What was lost : The biggest loss is obviously the 2 starters L. Lattimore (Gr. 6'4" F 14.3ppg) to Ole Miss and E. Noyan from Sweden (Jr. 6'3" F 5.7ppg) to Indiana. Also lost was reserves T. Lauterbach (6'7" C 2.7ppg) to graduation and C. Valenti-Paea from Australia (Gr. 5'9" G) to the portal (Grand Canyon) as well as P. Dunbar (So. 5'11" G) transferred to Providence.

What returns: Coach Aguagua-Hamilton is in good shape with her 3 returning starters : Leading scorer K. Johnson( Jr. 5'7" G 17.9ppg), P. Clark (Sr. 5'8" G 10.3ppg), and O. McGhee (Jr. 6'2" G 7.7ppg). Also back is first player off the bench B. Hurd (So. 6'2" F 9.4ppg). And that's it - 4 returning players.

Incoming transfers : 8 players. They are R. Dias Dos Santos (rs Sr. 5'9" G 2.6ppg) from rival FSU via Brazil, J. Brown (Gr. 5'11" G 5.7ppg) from NW, C. Weimar (Gr. 6'4" F 18.7ppg) from NC ST(sort of), R. Levy (Gr. 6'3" G/F 7.1ppg) from S.Fla./Israel, D. Arigabu (Gr. 6'4" F 3.0ppg) from W.V./Germany, T. Amanze (Sr. 6'4" F 6.0ppg) from Princeton/Nigeria, S. Smith (rs Jr. 6'2" F 6.6ppg) from LSU, and A. Ring (So. 6'5" F 3.7ppg) from UCF/Australia. Quite the TALL international group !

Incoming freshmen: #94 G. White (5'10" G).

Clearly Aguagua-Hamilton's best recruiting year was her first with two ranked players/starters in #24 K. Johnson and #45 O. McGhee. Adding #21 ranked P. Clark to the roster 2 years ago from AZ and #38 L.Lattimore from the portal last year from Miami. Last year's recruit #99 B. Hurd has been an important addition. Unfortunately as she's continued to improve her record slightly each year her recruiting has gone the other direction. Two players ranked #24 and #45 to one player ranked #99 to this year also with one player ranked #94. If she can't reverse that trend in 2026 - and all signs point to it being unlikely - she will have to live and die with the portal.

And speaking of the portal I confess I don't understand what she's going after this year - 6 players that play the power forward/center position ?! And 6 players who will not be returning after the season ends?! While she'll probably be okay this year with a solid core of 4 players/3 starters returning and maybe even next year if everything goes just right - after that she'll start to run in to trouble. It's difficult enough combining 8 incoming players but when they're from 6 different cultures and 6 of them will be fighting for minutes at essentially the same position? A LOT can go wrong over the course of a season.

My best guess is we'll see returning starters K. Johnson and P. Clark in the back court along with J. Brown from NW. Dos Santos will come in off the bench along with Hurd seeing extensive minutes again as "6th man" but they are one injury away from being in serious trouble in the back court. Last year Virginia ran with 2 front court players in Lattimore and Noyan with Lauterbach off the bench. With those 3 gone I'd expect a similar line up this year. Most likely it will be some combo of Amanze/Levy/Smith with Arigbadu and Ring seeing limited minutes.

If this team gels early enough they could improve once again. The returning core is solid and experienced and K. Johnson is a special talent. Smith has a lot of untapped upside and Levy and Amanze are decent players with lots of experience. I didn't mention Weimar because her best year was 2 years ago at Boston U. She has been injured since then and hasn't played against this level of competition yet so she's a complete unknown/wild card. But unless she's THE dominant big early on I can't see where she gets any playing time. I think fewer bigs and more guards/wings would have been more helpful and also more players who weren't just one year rentals. I think that would have added more stability to the program. They will be competitive this year no doubt but it's difficult to see them making any kind of a leap forward when at best they will have pretty much the same team as last year. As with many ACC teams this coming year a handful of games will decide their fate. Consistency and progression will be key. I would expect a similar finish to last season somewhere between 8th and 12th.

Regarding Lattimore, after seeing her play during the recent GloblJam event, I'll be studying her performance at Ole Miss more closely. Her play last season was the closest to the potential that was seen in her during her high school days. Hopefully it translates well in the SEC this season.

 

[cancontent]

We've looked at 10 teams up to this point - only 8 more to go !! Lol

Stanford is up next.

And we appreciate the effort and detail you've put into every one!!!

 

[YKCornelius]

Virginia is next.

Overall Virginia had some slight improvement over the previous year. They were unranked going in to the season and finished it unranked as well. Their season came to an end in the ACC tournament where they defeated Pitt and then lost to Cal in the next round by 17. Amaka Aguagua-Hamilton has done a fairly good job at Virginia so far especially considering where they were when she took over. Her overall win pct is .667 and .352 in conference. That doesn't sound great for an in conference record but she has improved each year of the 3 years she's been there from (15 - 15/ 4 -14) year one to (16 -16/ 7 - 11) year two to (17 - 15/ 8 - 10) last year. Where do they go this year ? Is more improvement in conference play possible ? Perhaps.

What was lost : The biggest loss is obviously the 2 starters L. Lattimore (Gr. 6'4" F 14.3ppg) to Ole Miss and E. Noyan from Sweden (Jr. 6'3" F 5.7ppg) to Indiana. Also lost was reserves T. Lauterbach (6'7" C 2.7ppg) to graduation and C. Valenti-Paea from Australia (Gr. 5'9" G) to the portal (Grand Canyon) as well as P. Dunbar (So. 5'11" G) transferred to Providence.

What returns: Coach Aguagua-Hamilton is in good shape with her 3 returning starters : Leading scorer K. Johnson( Jr. 5'7" G 17.9ppg), P. Clark (Sr. 5'8" G 10.3ppg), and O. McGhee (Jr. 6'2" G 7.7ppg). Also back is first player off the bench B. Hurd (So. 6'2" F 9.4ppg). And that's it - 4 returning players.

Incoming transfers : 8 players. They are R. Dias Dos Santos (rs Sr. 5'9" G 2.6ppg) from rival FSU via Brazil, J. Brown (Gr. 5'11" G 5.7ppg) from NW, C. Weimar (Gr. 6'4" F 18.7ppg) from NC ST(sort of), R. Levy (Gr. 6'3" G/F 7.1ppg) from S.Fla./Israel, D. Arigabu (Gr. 6'4" F 3.0ppg) from W.V./Germany, T. Amanze (Sr. 6'4" F 6.0ppg) from Princeton/Nigeria, S. Smith (rs Jr. 6'2" F 6.6ppg) from LSU, and A. Ring (So. 6'5" F 3.7ppg) from UCF/Australia. Quite the TALL international group !

Incoming freshmen: #94 G. White (5'10" G).

Clearly Aguagua-Hamilton's best recruiting year was her first with two ranked players/starters in #24 K. Johnson and #45 O. McGhee. Adding #21 ranked P. Clark to the roster 2 years ago from AZ and #38 L.Lattimore from the portal last year from Miami. Last year's recruit #99 B. Hurd has been an important addition. Unfortunately as she's continued to improve her record slightly each year her recruiting has gone the other direction. Two players ranked #24 and #45 to one player ranked #99 to this year also with one player ranked #94. If she can't reverse that trend in 2026 - and all signs point to it being unlikely - she will have to live and die with the portal.

And speaking of the portal I confess I don't understand what she's going after this year - 6 players that play the power forward/center position ?! And 6 players who will not be returning after the season ends?! While she'll probably be okay this year with a solid core of 4 players/3 starters returning and maybe even next year if everything goes just right - after that she'll start to run in to trouble. It's difficult enough combining 8 incoming players but when they're from 6 different cultures and 6 of them will be fighting for minutes at essentially the same position? A LOT can go wrong over the course of a season.

My best guess is we'll see returning starters K. Johnson and P. Clark in the back court along with J. Brown from NW. Dos Santos will come in off the bench along with Hurd seeing extensive minutes again as "6th man" but they are one injury away from being in serious trouble in the back court. Last year Virginia ran with 2 front court players in Lattimore and Noyan with Lauterbach off the bench. With those 3 gone I'd expect a similar line up this year. Most likely it will be some combo of Amanze/Levy/Smith with Arigbadu and Ring seeing limited minutes.

If this team gels early enough they could improve once again. The returning core is solid and experienced and K. Johnson is a special talent. Smith has a lot of untapped upside and Levy and Amanze are decent players with lots of experience. I didn't mention Weimar because her best year was 2 years ago at Boston U. She has been injured since then and hasn't played against this level of competition yet so she's a complete unknown/wild card. But unless she's THE dominant big early on I can't see where she gets any playing time. I think fewer bigs and more guards/wings would have been more helpful and also more players who weren't just one year rentals. I think that would have added more stability to the program. They will be competitive this year no doubt but it's difficult to see them making any kind of a leap forward when at best they will have pretty much the same team as last year. As with many ACC teams this coming year a handful of games will decide their fate. Consistency and progression will be key. I would expect a similar finish to last season somewhere between 8th and 12th.

Rooster, great analysis once again. Thanks for doing this. I agree Virginia will be interesting to watch develop (or not). My thought as to why Coach Aguagua-Hamilton brought in the six "bigs" is because of the questions/concerns that each of them have. Said differently, each is an insurance package against the others. A risky gambit for sure.

If Weimer can somehow bounce back from hip surgery (a huge "if"), I think she will be sharing the post duties with Amanze and to a lesser degree Smith. Right after Weimer, Ring is the next biggest wild card in the post. If she can make a sophomore leap, watch out. At 6-5, she is the future so I suspect she will get a lot of minutes.

Interesting that in Amanze, Weimer, Smith and Arigbadu are all back-to-the-basket players. Between the four of them they only attempted four threes in 270 games. With a guard oriented offense, one would reasonably expect that to continue.

Romi Levy is not a post player by any stretch of the imagination. Although tall, she is extremely thin (think Dewanna Bonner) and shied away from contact her two years at USF. She is a slasher who likes to shoot jump shots and the three when open. A very, streaky player who didn't shoot well the entirety of last season.

You are right that there is a LOT to gel in Charlottesville. If everything falls into place, a .500 record in conference could happen - and would certainly be impressive.

 

[Bone Dog]

I doubt Weimar will see significant playing time. But if she does it will be a pleasant surprise.

I’m also very curious about Romi. She’s quick for 6’3” and if she can sustain her energy level she can change games.

 

[Rooster C.]

Regarding Lattimore, after seeing her play during the recent GloblJam event, I'll be studying her performance at Ole Miss more closely. Her play last season was the closest to the potential that was seen in her during her high school days. Hopefully it translates well in the SEC this season.

I recall a year ago when someone on here was asking for some insight on Lattimore and I sang her praises mentioning her ability to block shots, run the floor, score and rebound inside, and was developing a nice 3 pt shot. It put that person's mind at ease a bit but someone else on here responded by stating that she had never lived up to her hs ranking and was a very average player. Well I think we found out as she was in heavy demand when she hit the portal with her 14.3ppg and 8.2 boards/game. She was ranked in the top 20 players in the portal according to espn.

 

[TheFarmFan]

We've looked at 10 teams up to this point - only 8 more to go !! Lol

Stanford is up next.

 

[Rooster C.]

Rooster, great analysis once again. Thanks for doing this. I agree Virginia will be interesting to watch develop (or not). My thought as to why Coach Aguagua-Hamilton brought in the six "bigs" is because of the questions/concerns that each of them have. Said differently, each is an insurance package against the others. A risky gambit for sure.

If Weimer can somehow bounce back from hip surgery (a huge "if"), I think she will be sharing the post duties with Amanze and to a lesser degree Smith. Right after Weimer, Ring is the next biggest wild card in the post. If she can make a sophomore leap, watch out. At 6-5, she is the future so I suspect she will get a lot of minutes.

Interesting that in Amanze, Weimer, Smith and Arigbadu are all back-to-the-basket players. Between the four of them they only attempted four threes in 270 games. With a guard oriented offense, one would reasonably expect that to continue.

Romi Levy is not a post player by any stretch of the imagination. Although tall, she is extremely thin (think Dewanna Bonner) and shied away from contact her two years at USF. She is a slasher who likes to shoot jump shots and the three when open. A very, streaky player who didn't shoot well the entirety of last season.

You are right that there is a LOT to gel in Charlottesville. If everything falls into place, a .500 record in conference could happen - and would certainly be impressive.

Very nice assessment of all their post players. While I agree Levy (at 6'3") is not "really" a post player that's also true of many of the 6'2" forwards in wbb at the college level - and quite a few that ARE true post players. There's something to be said for having a player of her size who can stretch the floor/ shoot over smaller defenders, especially when paired with another post player who is handling that task. Last season Virginia went with two (Lattimore/Noyan) and I believe she'll go with two again. I'm not sure with so many possible combinations she has the time to figure out who those 2 players are until later in the season. Playing "russian roulette" usually doesn't result with anybody being happy. I still think she has too many post players.

 

[cancontent]

I recall a year ago when someone on here was asking for some insight on Lattimore and I sang her praises mentioning her ability to block shots, run the floor, score and rebound inside, and was developing a nice 3 pt shot. It put that person's mind at ease a bit but someone else on here responded by stating that she had never lived up to her hs ranking and was a very average player. Well I think we found out as she was in heavy demand when she hit the portal with her 14.3ppg and 8.2 boards/game. She was ranked in the top 20 players in the portal according to espn.

All this is true, however she has also attended 3 different programs until it started to click like it did last season. Demand in the portal for her is one thing, however we've also seen these moves fail to work out as a player may hope. Her friend Day-Wilson's time at LSU is a good example.

The concern is that she'll regress in her final season when there's chatter about her being a potential late draft pick in 2026. I've seen Lattimore come up the ranks and the hype machine her team created for her and Day-Wilson. She has an opportunity to establish herself further if things go well.

She finally had a season that showed her potential consistently throughout a season. If things fail to work out at Ole Miss after making the progress she has, it would be disappointing.

 

[Rooster C.]

All this is true, however she has also attended 3 different programs until it started to click like it did last season. Demand in the portal for her is one thing, however we've also seen these moves fail to work out as a player may hope. Her friend Day-Wilson's time at LSU is a good example.

The concern is that she'll regress in her final season when there's chatter about her being a potential late draft pick in 2026. I've seen Lattimore come up the ranks and the hype machine her team created for her and Day-Wilson. She has an opportunity to establish herself further if things go well.

She finally had a season that showed her potential consistently throughout a season. If things fail to work out at Ole Miss after making the progress she has, it would be disappointing.

I mostly agree. If not for things blowing up at Syracuse just before arriving there with Day-Wilson things would probably have gone very differently. That team was loaded. Her freshman year at Texas was mediocre but most freshmen really struggle and with the unexpected situation happening at Syracuse I'll give her a pass although I am surprised her choice would be the school where the former Syracuse coach is now located. Her first year at Miami as a sophomore was progressing by leaps and bounds and when paired with Z. Spearman (now at TN) they were a powerful tandem. Sadly she tore her ACL early in the season and that was the end of that. When she returned the next year she slowly worked her way back in to playing ahape and was really coming on strong at the end - the tandem with Spearman was working again. I think Miami was expected to be in the tournament (C.Creme had them in and not as a play-in either) but I think there were some forces working against them and they were snubbed (although winning a couple more games down the stretch would certainly have helped). I think Lattimore would have shown her skills in the tournament but that opportunity never came. With Meier's retirement (which is tied in to being snubbed by the committee) She left along with most everybody else. I think she would have stayed along with most of the team had Meier remained. So why she left after a year at Virginia I can only speculate that she wanted more national attention and so a chance to improve her WNBA stock along with it. A 6'4" player isn't what it used to be and you see more and more players her height not sticking on WNBA teams unless they are really special. Leauge expansion will help but she'll have to be far more dominant than she's shown. She will definitely help Ole Miss this year but beyond that .....there's always Europe!