Clay Walker, UVA NIL General Manager, joins Carla and John to discuss his role and the new created division of Playfly Sports and Virginia Sports Properties (VSP).

Virginia men's basketball great and nine-year NBA veteran Malcolm Brogdon join Carla Williams and John Freeman to discuss Virginia men's basketball, the legendary coach Tony Bennett and the impact UVA had on Malcolm's career.

Jenny Boucek was a standout member of the Virginia women's basketball program from 1992-1996, finishing her career as a member of the 1,000-point club and twice earning team Defensive Player of the Year honors. Following a stint in the WNBA, Boucek played professionally abroad before beginning her career in coaching. After coaching in the WNBA for 18 years, she made the transition to the NBA where she is now an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers. Jenny was the first female assistant coach to coach in the NBA Finals. She joins Virginia Athletics Director Carla Williams and voice of the Cavaliers, John Freeman for the fifth episode.

Episode Details

After introductions, Jenny discusses Virginia's connections to the Indiana Pacers (0:00-4:52). Carla and Jenny talk about navigating the difficulties of being trailblazing women in sports and how the career landscape is evolving for women in both college sports and the NBA (4:52-18:33). The pair discuss the trajectory of women's basketball (19:10-26:50). Carla explains how the rise of NIL has impacted female athletes specifically (27:07-28:51). Carla and Jenny talk about the challenges of balancing motherhood and working in the sports industry (29:20-35:50). The two discuss how they want their careers and impact to be remembered (36:11-40:05).

Andres Pedroso is the director of tennis and head men's tennis coach at the University of Virginia, overseeing both the men's and women's tennis programs. In his time at UVA he has won three national championships (two as a head coach), has been named Wilson ITA National Coach of the Year twice and ACC Coach of the Year three times. He joins Virginia Athletics Director Carla Williams and voice of the Cavaliers, John Freeman for the fourth episode.

Episode Details

After introductions, Carla talks about the landscape of olympic sports in college athletics and where Virginia lands (0:00-3:25). Andres and Carla talk about scholarship and roster limits as well as UVA's focus to endow scholarships in tennis and other olympic sports at UVA (3:26-12:33). Andres' explains how his role has evolved as a head coach (12:34-14:25). What scholarships look like currently at UVA in tennis as well as other olympic sports (14:26-17:99). Andres explains what the support system looks like at Virginia, not only in fundraising but his collaboration with other departments and coaches (18:00-21:20). How football helps olympic sports and vice versa (21:21-25:42). Andres and Carla goes over the timeline for scholarships for olympic sports and where UVA currently sits (25:43-28:50). The impact of the recenly opened Harrison Olympic Sports Center (28:51-36:32)

College football season has arrived! Carla Williams and John Freeman have Assistant Athletics Director for Marking, Eric Ward, on the show to discuss the gameday experience inside of Scott Stadium!

The second episode of Inside Virginia Athletics with Carla Williams features Tyler Jones, UVA's newly appointed General Manager. Jones has served as the department's deputy athletics director for external operations since July of 2023. In his new role will lead Virginia Athletics' Front Office efforts, and be elevated to Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing the department's revenue generation verticals. He will also serve as UVA's CAP Manager for football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and baseball.

Episode Details:

After introductions, Carla explains how she met Tyler and his "recruitment" to Charlottesville (0:00-2:53). The evolution of the GM position at Virginia and the day-to-day of a college GM (2:54-10:31). Tyler and Carla talk about the transformational gifts that enabled the program to land a top-25 transfer portal class and the approach moving forward to acquiring talent (10:32-18:43). Virginia's approach to player evaluation and how the UVA brand is being sold to prospective student athletes (18:44-23:38). Establishing relationships across grounds to aid athletics in the admissions process while not compromising UVA's values (23:39-31:20). The tools used to gather data points on the prospective student-athletes in evaluation process (31:21-36:49). Contracts, what do they look like at UVA (36:50-38:20). What does the path of graduation look like for student-athletes at UVA and how transfers are like any other student at the university just with a different path (38:21-45:53)

The debut episode of the Inside Virginia Athletics Podcast with Athletics Director Carla Williams! Associate Athletics Director for Development, Gerry Capone joins Carla and co-host John Freeman.

Intro and the three reasons why we started the podcast (0:00-3:17). How different are the resources now from when Carla first started in 2017 and when Gerry Started in 1983 (3:17-14:55)? With the opening of the Hardie Center, is Virginia now positioned to be competitive (14:56-22:04)? Why invest in football and what are the consequences if UVA does not invest in football (22:05-24:36). Where does the university come to play in this, what has it been like in the past and the role of academics at UVA (24:37-30:40)? With all the changes in college athletics, how have donors been the past few years and what is the message to them about winning (30:41-33:10). The biggest change in college athletics according to Gerry (33:11-35:36).