Cavaliers Now

UVA Women's Basketball Lands Commitment From Notre Dame Transfer Samantha Brunelle

Coach Mox earns a huge recruiting victory with the commitment of the former No. 1 high school recruit in the nation

Matt Newton

It has been just over two weeks since Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was officially introduced as the head coach of the Virginia women's basketball program and Coach Mox has already earned her first major victory at UVA. 

Samantha Brunelle, a Notre Dame transfer and former No. 1 overall high school recruit, announced her commitment to Virginia in a social media post on Saturday. 

This is a great homecoming move for Brunelle, who grew up in Ruckersville, Virginia and attended William Monroe High School in Stanardsville, just down the road from Charlottesville. 

Brunelle committed to play for Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw at Notre Dame, but McGraw retired after Brunelle's freshman year in 2019-2020. Brunelle had a superb freshman season, averaging 13.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Since then, however, Brunelle has struggled with injuries that limited her playing time at Notre Dame. 

On March 30th, Brunelle announced she would be entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. She visited Virginia this weekend and announced her commitment to UVA on Saturday evening. 

This is a huge recruiting victory for Coach Mox, as she begins her efforts to rebuild the Virginia women's basketball program. UVA returns several starters from last year's team, including UConn transfer Mir McLean, who was the No. 25-ranked high school recruit in her class and a McDonald's All-American in 2020. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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