Post was originally from MiamiHurricanes.com
A new era officially begins on Sunday, October 27, when the University of Miami Women’s Basketball team takes the court at the Watsco Center in an exhibition game against Palm Beach Atlantic, marking the start of the 2024-25 season.
For the first time in 19 years, the Hurricanes have a new face at the helm of the program, as legendary coach Katie Meier retired at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign, and Miami brought in Tricia Cullop from the University of Toledo to take the reins of the program.
Cullop enters her 25th season as a Division I Head Coach on Sunday; and, she has accumulated no shortage of accolades during her career. Boasting a career record of 476-279 with 10 20-win seasons, Cullop has been successful at all of her stops throughout her time as a coach.
An Indiana native, Cullop played four years of collegiate basketball at Purdue, putting together a stellar career for the Boilermakers. After holding assistant coaching positions at Radford, Long Beach State, and Xavier, Cullop earned her first head coaching position in 2000 at Evansville University. By the 2007-08 season, Evansville was a 20+ win team and 2008 Missouri Valley Regular Season Champions, while Cullop was named Missouri Valley Coach of the Year.
After the 2007-08 season, Cullop accepted a new position as the Head Coach at Toledo, where she found tremendous success. After 16 seasons, 353 wins, 11 postseason appearances, six MAC Coach of the Year awards, five MAC Regular Season titles, and two MAC Tournament Championships, Cullop made her way to South Florida, where she is set to take over a Miami program that will aim to return to the NCAA Tournament and bring back the magic that fueled a spectacular Elite Eight run in 2022-23.
Along with a new coach, the Hurricanes squad will comprise many new faces, as Cullop and her staff worked to reload the Miami roster; however, a few familiar faces from the 2023 Elite Eight run remain, as well as return.
Haley and Hanna Cavinder are back with the Miami program after stepping away from basketball during the 2023-24 season. With one year of eligibility remaining, the Cavinders elected to return to Miami to finish out their collegiate career in the same atmosphere where they rose to stardom. Jasmyne Roberts returns for her fourth and final collegiate season, as she is set to finish her career at the same place it began when she stepped onto campus in 2021.
A variety of new players joined the program this past offseason, as Cullop and her staff worked to compile their roster with multiple freshmen signings, as well as adding coveted players from the transfer portal.
Cameron Williams joins the program for her final year of eligibility after playing for Michigan the past four years. Natalija Marshall made her way to Miami from Notre Dame, where she won an ACC Championship with the Irish last season. Darrione Rogers joins the squad from Mississippi State, and Daniela Albies transferred to Miami after a breakout 2023-24 campaign at Wichita State.
In addition to the impressive transfers that Cullop signed this offseason, she also managed to bring in the 18th best freshman class in the country, consisting of Ahnay Adams, Leah Harmon, and Simone Pelish.
Despite the mix of returning players, transfer additions, and freshman signees, Cullop is confident that the group will blend well together.
“We haven’t been together very long,” said Cullop. “There’s a lot of new pieces on this team, a lot of new staffmembers, and I feel like we’re in a good place for coming together for the time we’ve had. I think we have a lot of improvement ahead of us, but I’m very excited about the talent that we have and helping them reach the potential that I think they are capable of.”
Cullop has placed a tremendous emphasis on culture and building the type of culture that she wants in her program, and she is confident that she has the right pieces to create that culture and blend the mix of players she has put together to form a formidable team for the upcoming season.
“A lot of times this year, you are going to hear me talk about it. When we recruited and signed this last class, and as we blend the players that are incoming, the ones that remained, and the kids that we signed, it’s all about culture. We have spent a lot of time working on that.”
At the forefront of the culture that Cullop is aiming to create are two players that Canes fans know very well: Haley and Hanna Cavinder. After a dominant three-year career at Fresno State by both players, they transferred to Miami ahead of the 2022-23 season. Haley Cavinder immediately broke onto the scene in the ACC, becoming a critical piece of the Miami team that made it to the Elite Eight. She earned 2023 All-ACC Second Team honors after averaging 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, while knocking down 34.5 percent of her 3-point field goal attempts.
Hanna Cavinder also played an instrumental role in Miami’s 2022-23 season, serving as a key reserve; she averaged 3.8 points, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 rebounds per game. The Cavinders are back after a brief hiatus from college basketball during the 2023-24 season, and Cullop has been extremely impressed with their work ethic and leadership skills so far.
“They are two of the hardest workers that I have ever coached, and I’ll go even further and say even two of the hardest workers that I have played with, and that’s saying a lot because I played with some All-Americans. They have an extreme hunger to want to be better, and they set the bar really high for the rest of my players.When your best players are your hardest workers, you have something special, and with them we have that. They are very good communicators, they are very good leaders, and they are people that will run through a wall for you. I love coaching them and I am so glad that they’re here because as you try to establish culture, work ethic, being a great teammate, being a great leader, that’s who they are, and I don’t have to look to something in a book or show my team a video, I can just point to them.”
Both Haley and Hanna Cavinder are elated to be back and excited for the potential that this year’s roster has.
“It feels like home here at the University of Miami,” said Haley Cavinder. “Obviously it’s a new staff, new system, and new players, but I do believe that just the culture that Coach Cullop envisions and having Coach Fitz here is something that makes me feel like this is home, and I’m so excited to be back and finish my last year of college basketball here.”
One critical element of this year’s team that Haley Cavinder thinks makes this squad dangerous, their versatility and depth, saying “it’s really hard to scout us. I think that’s what allows you to go deep into the March Madness Tournament. Any player can step up on any given night. I’m really excited, I think we have a lot of weapons offensively and defensively, and a lot of experience, so I think that it’s going to be a very successful year and a great first year for Coach Cullop.”
Like Haley, Hanna Cavinder is also thrilled to be back with the Hurricanes, and more so to being back in the Miami community, a place she considers home.
“It honestly felt really refreshing right when I got back on campus,” said Hanna Cavinder. “Obviously, I love TheU, the community, and everything that I represent here. There’s no better feeling than being back on campus.”
Hanna Cavinder also believes that Miami has an opportunity to have a successful season, because of the roster that Coach Cullop has put together, and the depth and versatility that the Canes have.
“Like Coach Cullop said, there’s so much versatility, so many people that can play different positions on the court, so I’m excited for that. We have a great balance on the inside, our post players are so good, so I think that’s going to open it up for the guards.”
In addition to the Cavinders, Jasmyne Roberts is the lone player that will take the court for the Canes this season and was also a member of the 2022-23 Elite Eight squad. Roberts enters her fourth and final season of collegiate basketball, all of which have been spent at the University of Miami, somewhat of a rarity in college athletics these days. After seeing limited action her freshman season, Roberts broke onto the scene her sophomore year, averaging 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, while shooting an efficient 46.4 percent from the field. She elevated her numbers again last season, putting up 11.1 points and 4.9 boards per contest. Now, Roberts looks to take her game to another level and close out her college career in exceptional fashion with a tremendous senior campaign. Roberts echoed some of the Cavinder’s feelings on the depth and skill that this year’s team has displayed leading up to Sunday.
“We have great veteran guard play and experienced players on the team,” said Roberts. “This is an amazing group. I’m so excited to see how we play, because I think we can make a deep run in the postseason, and I think we have a chance to win an ACC Championship, that’s where our minds are at.”
With a whole lot of fresh faces joining the program after Cullop took the reins, the two most high-profile additions are Cameron Williams and Natalija Marshall. Williams comes from a great basketball family, as her father, Aaron Williams, played 14 seasons in the NBA, while her uncle, Alvin Simms, also made it to the NBA before having a lengthy career playing professionally overseas. Williams spent the past four seasons playing for Michigan, and she had a stellar year for the Wolverines in 2023-24. As a senior last year, she appeared in all 34 games with 16 starts, and she posted season averages of 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field. Williams is expected to take on a key role with the Hurricanes in her final collegiate season, and Cullop is ecstatic about the potential that she has.
“Cameron Williams is one of the best post players that I have ever had the opportunity to coach, and that says a lot because I’ve coached some that were pretty talented,” said Cullop. “She can score with her right or left hand, she’s very physical, she runs the floor really well, she’s strong, she’s very smart, and she reads things really well. I also think she’s a great leader. I love the fact that she can score in a variety of ways and with both hands. Sometimes you get a post player, and they have a dominant hand or a dominant move. With Cam, the post is her oyster, and she can do with it what she can.”
Williams will be joined in the post quite frequently by Marshall, as the pair is expected to spend a fair amount of time on the court together. No stranger to the ACC, Marshall transferred to Miami after playing for Notre Dame for the past three seasons. Marshall won the 2023 ACC Regular Season Championship, as well as the 2024 ACC Tournament Championship with the Irish, as she brings great experience to Miami. Marshall was an essential piece for Notre Dame last season, appearing in 34 games, with four starts. She averaged 5.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field throughout the season. A talented athlete and skilled post player, Marshall is expected to be a significant playmaker for the Canes this year.
“Natalija is a rim-runner,” said Cullop. “I am going to be challenging her to go get three to four rim runs every game. She can run with our guards when we run sprints. She’s very quick, she can face up, she’s someone that can put the ball on the floor and drive right past you. A lot of kids at her position can’t guard her.”
The Canes will likely rely on a mix of youth and experience off the bench to complement their starting lineup. Darrione Rogers joins the mix after playing for Mississippi State last season and Depaul for three seasons prior to that. A 3-point sniper, Rogers has scored 1,399 points and buried 234 3-pointers at a 35.3 percent clip throughout her career.
Daniela Abies will compete for playing time in the post after joining the squad this past offseason following a breakout sophomore campaign at Wichita State. Abies averaged 13.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Shockers last season, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the arc.
Lemyah Hylton is expected to return to the Miami lineup soon after sustaining a season-ending injury last February. Hylton had a formidable season off the bench for the Canes last season, providing consistent offensive contributions prior to her injury. She is expected to take on a similar role upon her return.
Cullop managed to sign one of the most talented freshman classes in recent memory, and they will have the opportunity to make an immediate impact on the program. Ahnay Adams, a point guard from New Bedford, Mass., was ranked as the No. 10 point guard in the nation by ProspectsNation.com and the No. 37 overall player in the country. She earned three consecutive Gatorade Player of the Year awards throughout high school. Simone Pelish, a guard from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was a three-time NY Upstate Player of the Year and rated as a four-star recruit by ESPNW HoopGurlz. Leah Harmon completes the class, joining the Canes from IMG Academy, and she was rated as a five-star recruit by ESPN.
Miami will be tested early in the season, as they are slated to travel to Gainesville to face Florida in their third contest of the year on Nov. 16. The Canes will host a Thanksgiving Tournament and will then face Vanderbilt at home in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Miami will commence ACC play on Dec. 15 at Pittsburgh, before heading to Hawaii for the 2024 Maui Classic where they will play Nevada and Oregon State. The Canes will resume ACC play on Dec. 29 against UNC.
Competing in one of the premier conferences in the country, the ACC is loaded with talent once again this year. Six ACC teams are ranked in the AP-Top 25 entering the season, and the Canes will face all six of them at least once.
Miami will face a difficult slate in Cullop’s first season at the helm of the program; however, she is excited for the opportunity to consistently face elite programs.
“There will not be an easy game, not one,” said Cullop. “But we’re excited about it, we signed up for this. This is why everyone wants to be in the ACC, and they want to compete at this level. This is why the ACC had so many teams in the NCAA Tournament. I think that speaks alone how strong this league is, and I think this league got even better with the addition of Cal, SMU, and Stanford. It’s an unbelievable league.
All roads lead to the 2025 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and despite facing a daunting slate while having a new Coach and a lot of new faces in the program, Miami is optimistic that they will be in position to make the NCAA Tournament when they head to the conference tournament in early March.
