Amaka Agugua-Hamilton

Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton became the sixth head coach in Virginia women’s basketball history on March 21, 2022. She is a native of Herndon, Va., where she attended Oakton High School.

Agugua-Hamilton (Uh-mah-kuh Uh-goo-gwa) came to Virginia after serving as the head coach at Missouri State for three seasons from 2019-22. The two-time Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Coach of the Year won two MVC regular-season titles (2019-20, 2020-21) and led her teams to the NCAA Tournament twice (2021, 2022), including a Sweet 16 trip in 2021. The first African-American female head coach for any sport at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton is a 20-year veteran of Division I women’s basketball, including five seasons as a player at Hofstra and four coaching stops. Prior to taking over the Missouri State program, she was on the staff at Michigan State from 2013-19, the last four years as associate head coach.

Since her arrival on Grounds, Agugua-Hamilton has reenergized local support and enthusiasm for UVA women’s basketball, which saw a 183% increase in attendance average from 2021-22 to 2023-24.

In 2023-24, Agugua-Hamilton returned the program to the postseason for the first time since the 2017-18 season after the Cavaliers advanced to the second round of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Virginia concluded its regular-season campaign by winning four of its last six contests. For the first time since 2008-09, the Hoos toppled four ranked opponents, including No. 5 Virginia Tech in front of 11,975 spectators at John Paul Jones Arena, which marked a single-game record among women’s basketball games ever held in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Agugua-Hamilton also oversaw the development of guard Kymora Johnson, a true freshman in 2023-24, who was named a Second Team All-ACC selection and to the conference’s All-Freshman Team. Johnson is the first UVA freshman to earn All-ACC honors since 2002. A native of Charlottesville and a two-time Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year and McDonald’s High School All-American, Johnson started in all 32 possible games and led the Hoos in scoring (15.3), assists (5.4), steals (1.8), and minutes (31:09) per game. Johnson’s 5.4 assists-per-game average was good for second among all freshmen nationally.

In her first season as Cavalier head coach, Agugua-Hamilton made an immediate impact by tallying 15 wins, which tripled UVA’s win total from the previous two seasons combined. She led the Cavaliers to a top-25 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time since 2010. Her Cavaliers went 11-0 in non-conference play, just the third time UVA was undefeated in non-conference action. The team’s 12-0 start was the best beginning to to a season since 1994-95. She was also named the ESPN.com Coach of the Week for the team’s hot start. The enthusiasm for the squad continued to rise throughout the season as Virginia finished fourth in attendance in the ACC, including a draw of 6,378 fans for its home finale.

In the summer of 2022, Agugua-Hamilton made her USA Basketball coaching debut, serving as a court coach for the Women’s U18 National Team trials at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she assisted with on-court drills and scrimmages.

In addition to being named MVC Coach of the Year twice while at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Spalding Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year in 2020, and was one of 10 finalists for WBCA National Coach of the Year in 2021. In 2021-22, Agugua-Hamilton became just the fourth head coach in women’s Division I history to reach 60 victories in less than 70 games to begin their career at the DI level. During Agugua-Hamilton’s three years heading up the Lady Bears program, Missouri State went 74-15 including a 46-6 record in MVC play. While at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton developed players that won multiple conference honors including player of the year, defensive player of the year (twice), all-newcomer team (twice), all-defensive team (three times) and the Lady Bears had five first-team all-MVC selections. During her tenure at MSU, the Lady Bears compiled a 36-2 record at home and consistently among the nation’s statistical leaders in defense and rebounding.

The 2021-22 Lady Bears went 25-8 overall and were a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. MSU defeated Florida State 61-50 in the tournament’s inaugural First Four before bowing out against No. 6 Ohio State in the tournament’S First Round. The victory against the Seminoles was one of nine Agugua-Hamilton had against Power Five opponents during her three seasons at MSU. That list also includes wins over USC, Virginia Tech, Missouri (three), Maryland, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

As the No. 5 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Missouri State matched its best-ever seed in program history before embarking on the program’s fifth Sweet 16 run. In the tournament, the Lady Bears defeated UC Davis and Wright State before falling to No. 1 overall seed Stanford, which capped MSU’s 19-game win streak. The 2020-21 Lady Bears finished with an overall record of 23-3 after going 16-0 in conference play and 11-0 on the road, both of which were school records. MSU extended its ranking streak in the Coaches Poll to 35 consecutive appearances and finished 14th in the final poll, its highest ranking since 2001. The Lady Bears also set a school record for rebounding margin (+10.8) and finished second nationally in defensive rebounding margin (.794).

In Agugua-Hamilton’s first season as head coach (2019-20), the Lady Bears went 26-4, which set a school record for regular-season victories. She became the second first-year head coach in MVC history to be named Missouri Valley Coach of the Year and first to win an outright regular-season title in their debut season. Ranked No. 19 in the coaches poll, 23rd in the AP poll and eighth in the NCAA RPI, Missouri State appeared to be on its way to the NCAA Tournament before the it was canceled due the onset of COVID-19. MSU’s No. 8 finish in the RPI marked the highest ever recorded by an MVC team. The Lady Bears spent nine weeks rated fourth or better in the RPI throughout the season, including an ascension to the nation’s No. 1 spot for seven consecutive days in January. MSU also went undefeated (15-0) at JQH Arena for the school’s first perfect home season since 2003-04.

During her six-year stint at Michigan State, Agugua-Hamilton helped the Spartans to four seasons with at least 21 wins, four NCAA Tournaments, one WNIT bid, and the 2014 Big Ten regular-season title. She was integral in signing four consecutive top-35 recruiting classes, including her last class of Spartans that was the seventh-ranked group in the nation. She recruited and coached 26 all-conference players and a pair of top-10 WNBA draft choices in East Lansing. She also earned four victories as interim head coach in 2017 and aided the Spartans to a 125-72 overall record and 58-44 Big Ten mark in six years.

Prior to Michigan State, Agugua-Hamilton was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Old Dominion for two seasons, helping the Monarchs to an eight-win improvement and WNIT berth during her second year (2012-13) in Norfolk. At ODU, she recruited and coached eight All-CAA selections and one WNBA draft pick.

Before her arrival at ODU, Agugua-Hamilton worked at Indiana for two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, and at VCU for three years as an assistant coach (2007-09) and graduate assistant (2006-07). She helped VCU to a pair of 26-win seasons and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance during her two years as a full-time assistant.

Agugua-Hamilton is a 2005 graduate of Hofstra University, where she averaged 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds over a 95-game career. She concluded her career as the Pride’s all-time field goal percentage leader (55.1) and with the top-3 single-season field percentage marks in school history. A four-year team captain, she was a Second Team All-CAA pick in 2004, and helped the Pride to a berth in the 2006 WNIT, the school’s first-ever postseason appearance.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in business management, Agugua-Hamilton earned her master’s degree in sports leadership and administration from VCU in 2007.

Agugua-Hamilton married Billy Hamilton in 2017. The couple has a son Eze, born in April 2018, and daughter Nkiru, born in June 2024.

AGUGUA-HAMILTON’S HEAD COACHING RECORD