A University of Virginia women’s basketball legend has been selected to build a new WNBA team.
Monica Wright Rogers, UVA’s all-time leading scorer, is the first general manager in Toronto Tempo history. The Tempo will begin play in the 2026 season as the WNBA’s 14th franchise.
“The excitement about this team, and around women’s sports in general in Canada right now, is palpable,” Wright Rogers said last week. “To have the opportunity to play such a key role in building this team, in this country, at this moment, is an honor.”
Wright Rogers, a three-time All-American whose No. 22 jersey hangs in the rafters at John Paul Jones Arena, played seven seasons in the WNBA and won two championships with the Minnesota Lynx, the team that selected her second overall in the 2010 draft.
After a brief coaching career, including a stint with her alma mater from 2019 to 2021, Wright Rogers returned to professional basketball, where she eventually served as assistant general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Wright Rogers, whose immediate duties with the Tempo will include hiring a head coach and building out the roster for the team’s inaugural season, has a sociology degree from UVA.
