UVA Women’s Basketball Receives Record Donation From Alexis Ohanian

The Virginia women’s basketball program received its largest donation in program history from UVA alum, co-founder of Reddit and founder of the venture capital firm Seven Seven Six Alexis Ohanian, as announced by the Virginia Athletics Foundation, Virginia Athletics, and Ohanian on Thursday evening. According to the press release, this is the second-largest gift to women’s athletics in UVA school history and will be used to “elevate Virginia Women’s Basketball recruiting and retention of championship level talent” and “will allow UVA to be a premier destination for female student-athletes while addressing the financial and competitive demands of this new era of college athletics.”

“It’s probably the question I get the most often these days–when are you going to make moves in women’s basketball?” said Ohanian, a longtime supporter of women’s sports and the husband of 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams. “I am proud to support the women’s program at my alma mater with this donation. It’s time to bring the nation’s best hoops talent to Charlottesville and win some championships in the next four years.”

Ohanian graduated from the UVA McIntire School of Commerce in 2005 and co-founded the social media and content aggregation site Reddit the same year. Four years ago, he founded the venture capital (VC) firm Seven Seven Six for the purpose of advancing tech and VC industries.

“Alexis’ commitment to women’s sports is unparalleled,” said Virginia Director of Athletics Carla Williams. “He sees the value and he is willing to invest. His support will help attract championship talent to the University of Virginia and specifically, to UVA Women’s Basketball. I am extremely grateful for his foresight and commitment to the future of women’s athletics at the University of Virginia.”

Ohanian sat courtside at John Paul Jones Arena for the Virginia women’s basketball season opener against American back on November 8th, a 104-68 victory for UVA, and he met with the Cavaliers in the locker room after the game. Clearly inspired by what he saw on the court and in the locker room when he met the team, Ohanian made this record-breaking donation to the Virginia women’s basketball program a little over a month later.

Of course, one of the biggest beneficiaries of this donation will be UVA head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, who took time to record a video to thank Ohanian for his generosity.