Alexis Ohanian Makes Historic Donation to UVA Women’s Basketball

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, a University of Virginia alumnus and prominent advocate for women’s sports, has made the largest donation in the history of UVA women’s basketball. The multi-year gift aims to elevate the program’s recruiting and retention efforts, with the goal of bringing a championship to Charlottesville in the coming years.

Ohanian, a 2005 graduate of UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce, announced the donation Sunday during a game against No. 14 Duke at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers, led by head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, fought hard but ultimately fell 60-55 to the Blue Devils in front of a crowd of 5,203.

“UVA women’s basketball has such an amazing legacy, and it’s just awesome to be able to honor that and see a bunch of Hoos get really excited for these ladies,” Ohanian said. “The sky’s the limit, and the reason I know that is because this legacy of greatness is already here. We’ve already got the banners to prove it, and we’re just bringing some of the hype back.”

Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams and is a father to two daughters, Olympia and Adira, has long been a vocal supporter of women’s sports. He co-founded Angel City FC, a National Women's Soccer League team, and has consistently invested in initiatives that promote gender equity in athletics.

“Women’s sports is just a great investment, period,” Ohanian said. “Technically it is a donation, but I see it as an investment, and I see it as something that is going to generate tremendous, outsized returns, maybe not financial ones for me, but when I think about women’s sports, I think a lot of well-intentioned people for many decades treated it like charity, and ironically, held it back.”

The donation comes after Ohanian attended the Cavaliers’ season opener in November, where they defeated American University 104-68. Inspired by the team’s potential, he met with Agugua-Hamilton and UVA athletic director Carla Williams to discuss how he could contribute to the program’s success.

“I basically said, ‘Listen, what would it take to make this team be able to bring home a championship in the next few years? I’d love to know,'” Ohanian recalled. “[Agugua-Hamilton and Williams] laid it out, and I said, ‘All right, let’s do this.’ And so I’m just very proud to be able to do this. It gives me so much joy to see the joy that sports brings to a community.”

Virginia guard Kymora Johnson described the donation as “life-changing” and emphasized its impact on the team. “It fuels us on and off the court. It keeps us going,” Johnson said. “But also Alexis, just as a person, he’s a great guy. He’s always there. I’m always chatting up with him. So just having that connection is really important for me and my team.”

Despite the loss to Duke, Agugua-Hamilton expressed pride in her team’s performance. “I thought we competed. We fought. Really proud of our fight,” she said. “If that’s the No. 14 team in the country, we’re not far away from that.”

Ohanian, who hopes his contribution will inspire other UVA alumni to support women’s sports, remains optimistic about the program’s future. “When we’re hanging a banner in the next few years, all [the fans at JPJ] will get to say, ‘Yeah, we were right. We believed,'” he said.