VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Virginia Wesleyan women's basketball had fallen upon tough times in recent years. The Marlins posted 13 combined wins during the course of the last three seasons. That might scare some coaches away.
Megan Green looked at a program coming off a 3-22 campaign and saw nothing but untapped potential.
"When you're rebuilding a team, there's so much growth," the first-year head coach noted. "Somethings there's more growth that happens in those moments than sometimes when you're at the top and trying to stay at the top, so I knew I had a hungry group."
Green is off and running in her first year leading a college program. The Marlins boast a new coaching staff and many new players, with everybody coming together to embrace a new culture.
"We're going to be disciplined, we're going to be held accountable and we're going to be gritty," Green said. "Those are the three pillars of our program and I think any game you've watched this season, we've done that."
Her message is working in the early going. Monday's win over William Peace improved Virginia Wesleyan's record to 4-4, meaning the team has already eclipsed last season's win total. It's just the latest milestone reached for a group that, for the time being, likely measures success a little bit differently than some other programs.
"When we got that fourth win, it was super exciting," senior graduate transfer Keagan Schwab said. "The three before that were super exciting, but that's not all we want. We want more, so we were excited, acknowledged it, but keep it pushing and get some more wins."
"When we beat Greensboro on the road, our first win of the season, that was their first road win in two years," added Green. "So we're acknowledging that in the locker room."
Now the team is hungry for more. The bulk of a challenging ODAC schedule lies ahead, but the Marlins are working in hopes they can make opponents fear the fish once again.
"There's only up from here," pointed out Schwab, a guard who transferred from Mary Washington. "Having a winning record is obviously the ideal goal in life, but just putting it all out there and seeing where it takes us."
"For us, it's just closing the gap and then finding ways to win the rebounding margin, shooting a better percentage from the free throw line," said Green. "These small wins along the way that at the end of the season become big wins."
The hope is that the big wins will lead to a big shift in the program. Green's first team is proud to be the group that serves as the foundation for the hopeful success to come.
"I just want to leave the team better than I found it," said Schwab. "That doesn't necessarily mean statistically better, but bonded-wise, our relationship with our coaches... that's what's more important to me."
"They put in too much work not to have fun and it's a fun group," Green smiled. "For them to believe in themselves, that's good for me."
Seven players on the Virginia Wesleyan roster suited up for the team last year and are a part of the turnaround. The Marlins won their last ODAC title in 2015, won their last conference tournament game in 2017 and have not qualified for the ODAC tournament since 2021.
VWU is back in action Saturday afternoon against Guilford with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 PM.
