Ashley Earley new assistant at Virginia

Virginia made it official on Wednesday - former Marquette assistant Ashley Earley has been hired by the Cavaliers. The school's release says Earley will coach Virginia's post players and assist in all recruiting efforts. She will replace Katie O'Connor, who left for personal reasons regarding her health.

Virginia Tech assistant Chantelle Anderson actually broke the news on Earley several days ago via Twitter when she congratulated her former teammate on her new gig. Anderson and Earley played together on those hellacious Vanderbilt teams in the early 2000s. We actually covered one of those teams in an NCAA Tournament game against Boston College at Old Dominion's Constant Center. The Commodores led by double figures midway through the second half, but the Eagles chased them down and would have won in regulation had one of their players not missed two free throws with the game tied and just one second left. The Commodores hit a three with about 12 seconds left in OT to go ahead by a point, but BC's Amber Jacobs made a layup just before the buzzer for a one-point victory. (Coach Earley, if you're out there, sorry to bring this up. But hey, it was one heck of a game. Can't believe you guys lost.)

Earley's arrival also gives her a spot on our 10-player ACC Coaches All-Star Team, a 10-player collection of the league's best ex-players (assistants and head coaches, women only) currently roaming the sidelines. Her credentials include scoring more than 1,300 points, earning first-team All-SEC honors and getting drafted by the WNBA's Indiana Fever.

For those curious, if there was such a thing as an All-ACC Coaches Team, we'd take:

Chantelle Anderson, Virginia Tech; MaChelle Joseph, Georgia Tech; Joy Cheek, Duke; Brooke Wyckoff, Florida State; Tricia Stafford-Odom, North Carolina; Shelley Sheetz, Boston College; Janie Mitchell, Georgia Tech; Katie Meier, Miami; Kelly Harper, North Carolina State; Ashley Earley, Virginia.

Who YOU got?

In other Virginia-related news, former Cavaliers assistant coach Tim Taylor was recently appointed the principal at Wetsel Middle School in Madison.

Also, Wilka Montout, a 6-5 junior college All-American from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and a Cavaliers recruiting target, is visiting South Carolina this weekend (April 28-29). Montout was in Charlottesville two weekends ago.