Following a season in which the program reached new heights, Virginia Tech Women's Basketball is reloaded as it looks to get back to the Final Four and win a national title this time.
The team, led by eighth year head coach Kenny Brooks, back-to-back ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, and All-American Honorable Mention Georgia Amoore, are looking dangerous entering the 2023-2024 season.
Thanks to the success from last season, in which Tech won the ACC Tournament, was a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, and went on a deep run until its loss to the national championship winning LSU Tigers in the Final Four, the Hokies are no longer a national secret, and the preseason polls show it.
Just the beginning.#Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/ZDUd0o0vSi
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) October 17, 2023
Earlier this week, the Preseason AP and Coaches Polls were released, with VT being ranked 8th by the AP and 5th by the Coaches. Both rankings had the Hokies at the top of the ACC, followed by Notre Dame, North Carolina, Duke, and Miami.
Tech returns a big three of Kitley, Amoore, and sharpshooting senior Cayla King.
They also had some roster turnover, losing Kayana Traylor and Taylor Soule to the WNBA after their graduation, while D’asia Gregg and Taylor Geiman also graduated. In addition to those four, backups Ashley Owusu, Charlise Dunn, and Maddie Vejsicky all transferred looking for bigger roles.
However, Kenny Brooks revamped his squad with Wake Forest transfer Olivia Summiel, Michigan State All-B1G transfer Matilda Ekh, and Minnesota All-B1G transfer Alanna Micheaux. They also have a loaded freshman class featuring Mackenzie Nelson, Carys Baker, Samyha Suffren, and Clara Strack.
Redshirt freshman guard Carleigh Wentzel is also expected to take on a major role after redshirting last season.
Virginia Tech opens play November 6th, at home against High Point, before taking on a beefed up non-conference schedule which included the likes of Iowa in the Ally Tipoff in Charlotte, and LSU in the first year of the ACC/SEC challenge, both of whom were Final Four teams a season ago.
Time will tell if the Hokies can live up to their preseason rankings, and vie for a national championship once again. Nonetheless, it should be an exciting season for the Hokies.
