Virginia women’s basketball didn’t get nearly the same transfer buzz as the men, but the Cavaliers may have found some real help in the portal anyway.
That matters because expectations are climbing after last season’s run to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16, the program’s first trip there since 2000. Virginia also brings back two key starters from that team: all-ACC point guard Kymora Johnson and center Tabitha Amanze. With the rest of the lineup still open heading into preseason practice, new coach Aaron Russell added four transfers and four freshmen to sort through the mix.
The biggest swing piece may be D’Asia Asare. Russell knew her well from four years coaching against her at Richmond, then brought her over from VCU for her graduate season.
If she’s fully back from the knee injury that ended her junior year after seven games, she looks like the cleanest fit on the roster. Asare is a polished scorer who averaged 16 points per game as a junior and 17.4 as a senior before the injury.
She also shot 40 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore at VCU and 37 percent as a junior, which gives Virginia the kind of perimeter threat that can keep defenses from loading up on Johnson. Johnson led the Cavaliers in scoring at 19.5 points per game and in assists with 201 last season, so the fit is obvious.
Asare could be the secondary scorer Paris Clark was at times in 2025-26, and together they could give Virginia one of the ACC’s best backcourts.
The frontcourt additions look more about doing the hard stuff than piling up points, and that’s where Laila Piatti comes in. The 6-foot-4 forward started all 33 games for Florida last season and posted 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Those numbers don’t jump off the page, but Florida also had a high-volume scorer in Liv McGill, who averaged 22.5 points. Piatti should compete with senior Olivia McGhee for minutes at small forward.
Virginia also added another player with major-conference experience in Kate Walker. She spent two seasons at Rutgers after beginning her career at Kentucky, and last season she started 15 games for the Scarlet Knights.
At 6-3, she handled plenty of the work that doesn’t always show up in the box score, finishing with averages of 2.6 points and 3.5 rebounds. Walker should be part of the frontcourt rotation with Amanze and Andean Ring.
The final transfer to watch is Kymora Lester, who is trying to get back on track after a leg injury wiped out her entire 2025-26 season at Alabama. As a freshman, the 5-8 redshirt sophomore guard averaged 4.1 points in 10 minutes per game before going down in practice just before the 2025 NCAA tournament. If she’s healthy, she gives Virginia another steady option behind Johnson and Asare in the backcourt.
In Other News...
Tony Elliott Faces Virginias Biggest Camp Question On Offense
Virginia begins preseason practice on Wednesday with a familiar challenge for Tony Elliotts staff: keeping the offense on the same track after its best season under him. The Cavaliers do have some stability up front, with key offensive linemen and tight ends back in place, but the rest of the unit is going to look different when they open the 2026 season against NC State on Aug. 29 at Scott Stadium.
The biggest unknowns are the spots that usually drive an offense, and Virginia will be sorting through new faces at quarterback, running back and receiver while also filling a couple of openings along the line. For a team trying to build on last years progress, the next few weeks of camp will matter less for what is already settled than for how quickly those new pieces come together before a 3:30 p.m. kickoff that will arrive sooner than it looks. [Read more 🡒]
Why Virginias Freshman Class Suddenly Matters More Than Fans Expected
Virginias 2026 freshman class did not arrive with much buzz, at least not by the recruiting rankings. But the roster math is changing quickly for the Cavaliers, and that makes this group more relevant than the usual first-year class. With experienced starters in place, Virginia still has some spots where depth will matter, especially at linebacker and wide receiver, and that opens a path for freshmen to get on the field sooner than many fans expected.
Dylan Cope has already drawn attention in spring practice and looks like one of the newcomers most likely to factor into the rotation. The bigger picture is that Virginia may not be asking this class to carry the team right away, but it could be leaning on it in meaningful ways during the season, which gives the group a chance to matter long before the long-term recruiting grade catches up. [Read more 🡒]
Virginias Biggest Camp Test Might Be Up Front Again
Virginias training camp is shaping up as a real proving ground up front, where the defensive line has been reworked with experience and competition in mind. The Cavaliers brought in seven veteran transfers to battle with returning pieces such as senior Fisher Camac, junior Billy Koudelka and grad student Ezekiel Larry, giving the staff a deeper pool to sort through as it tries to settle the line before the season begins.
The challenge is that the jobs are not just open, they are layered with uncertainty at both tackle and end, which means every rep in camp matters. With several players jockeying for starting and backup roles, Virginia is still trying to find the right mix of size, production and reliability, and the answers up front may end up telling the story of how far this defense can go. [Read more 🡒]