When women’s basketball transfer Sam Brunelle sent out a Tweet about an official visit to Virginia, it created some instant buzz. When she followed up with a series of UVA commitment posts, the excitement skyrocketed.
Brunelle, who will transfer after graduating from Notre Dame, earned a big local following as a local star at William Monroe High School just outside of Charlottesville. That didn’t wane even when she decided to play far from home for the Irish. So when she entered the transfer portal, hope immediately crept up among fans that she’d come back to town to play for the Hoos.
When she actually did just that? Well, there was plenty of excitement to go around. She shared this video on social media of the new UVA coaching staff’s reaction.
View this post on Instagram
That Instagram version has more than 4,000 likes since she released it Sunday. While that doesn’t translate directly to ticket sales, it’s worth nothing that Virginia listed an average of 1,643 fans at the John Paul Jones Arena in its season stats.
TheSabre.com message board for women’s basketball has awakened too. From Jan. 1 through March 2, the final game day of the season and the day before the news of Tina Thompson’s dismissal, the board averaged 1,155 page views per day. Fans simply weren’t interested any longer.
From April 7, the day Brunelle Tweeted about the visit, through April 10, that traffic more than doubled in comparison with an average of 2,994 page views per day. That’s close to the same traffic generated from March 21 to March 24 when new coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was named the head coach and then introduced at a press conference. Those days averaged 3,663 page views per day.
Long story short: fans are interested again. Brunelle only helps that movement locally. To answer a message board post wondering about the excitement around Brunelle specifically, you have to look at her story a little more closely. Yes, she was a top 25 player nationally in her recruiting class, but it’s a little more than that for her original fans.
The basketball talent drew them in, but it’s not solely what endeared her to the community. For starters, she never left William Monroe High School when sometimes players of her talent level seek different spotlights. Greene County, after all, held a parade to celebrate Brunelle’s gold medal with Team USA’s U17 team in Argentina.
Brunelle returned the support in different ways. When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017, she held basketball clinics to raise money in support. Within that event, she auctioned off her Team USA jersey with it going for $600 and that donation being matched by another bidder despite there being only one jersey. It all ultimately raised $4,100 for the Houston Independent School District that October.
There’s also stories like this one from local basketball coach and trainer Damin Altizer, who Virginia men’s basketball fans might recognize from his work with the likes of Ty Jerome. He shared the Tweet after Brunelle decided to join the UVA program.
This is what makes @SamBrunelle_33 so special. Welcome home, family李 pic.twitter.com/bDVLl5SPSS
— Damin Altizer (@DaminAltizer) April 10, 2022
When fans read things like that, it’s easy to see why there’s some excitement for Brunelle and the Virginia women’s basketball program again.
What an AWESOME young lady. No random sparks in her psyche! She will both represent UVA very well everywhere the team goes, and help attract other great players for our excellent new coaching team. What’s not to like?!