Charlottesville native and Virginia Cavaliers women’s basketball star Kymora Johnson will reportedly forgo her final season with the ‘Hoos and enter the transfer portal, according to Talia Goodman. The news comes following the announcement that UVA parted ways with Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and the conclusion of UVA’s best season since 2000.
Johnson averaged 19.7 points per game, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds this season for Virginia and led the ‘Hoos to their first Sweet Sixteen run since 2000. The stats came second to any Virginia fan who watched her play in the orange and blue the past three seasons. She played with incredible passion. Johnson embodied what it means to play for the name on the front of the jersey rather than the back.
This post-game interview following the Wahoos’ victory over Arizona State in the first four of the NCAA tournament was a tear-jerker for anyone watching, and not even the best of magic eight balls could have told you she would be entering the transfer portal weeks later.
Unfortunately, it is the world we live in now. I’m a big advocate of not blaming the player, but of blaming the system. Kymora put her blood, sweat, and tears into the University of Virginia for three solid years.
This one will be particularly painful for Cavaliers fans, given how synonymous Johnson has become with the program. She has been the face of the program for the last three years. She was who led the team to its first Sweet Sixteen in a quarter century.
A four-year career in Charlottesville would leave Johnson as one of the legends of Virginia basketball. Her senior season could’ve been an opportunity to build on the electric run to close 2026. She could have continued to carry UVA women’s basketball back to national prominence. Johnson would’ve shattered even more program records.
Alas, with Agugua-Hamilton let go, reportedly following an internal investigation into staff mistreatement, this is the reality of college sports.
Thank you, Kymora, and best of luck. Just don’t go to Virginia Tech.
