Kenny Brooks reflects on "monumental" moment for Virginia Tech women's basketball

When Kenny Brooks took the Virginia Tech women's basketball coaching position, he never imagined that he would have the Hokies in the spot they were on Thursday night. After beating North Carolina at home, 74-62, Sunday afternoon, his team clinched at least a tie for the ACC regular season title in 2023-24. They had a chance to win the title outright with a win at 17th-ranked Norte Dame Thursday night but lost 71-58 to a very talented Irish team.

Despite losing by 13 points to Notre Dame, the Hokies clinched the ACC regular season title outright after Syracuse, the last team with a chance to tie Virginia Tech at the top of the standings, lost 75-71 in overtime at North Carolina State. The Orange have five conference losses and the Hokies can have no more than four.

It's an accomplishment that he doesn't take lightly and nor should he. The grind on a nightly basis in the ACC is one the hardest in the country. After winning the ACC Tournament last spring and going to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, they know that are going to get their opponent's best each night and they still have won 14 of their 17 conference games.

Finding out in his postgame press conference at South Bend Thursday night that the Orange lost, Brooks reflected on what winning the regular season title means.

"“On a night where you lose a basketball game but you gain a championship, it’s huge. That’s an achievement that you don’t take lightly, I don’t care how bad you feel on a night like this. That’s monumental for us, especially as good as this league is. For us to say we are the regular-season champions, it’s monumental for our program and I’ll take it.”"

- Kenny Brooks

Brooks also mentioned that when he took the job, Notre Dame was one of the top programs in the country with former coach Muffet McGraw. He said that they were the staple and he was in awe of their program, a spot where he is now.

There is still plenty of business left for the Hokies this season with the regular season final at Virginia on Sunday night, then the ACC Tournament next week.