Gene Marrano
If you’ve been on the Roanoke River Greenway recently you may have noticed a trend – more people out enjoying themselves on foot, a bike or even a skateboard. With that in mind, the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission is sending a another message about safety. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has that story:
Ian Price photos
Carilion Clinic, Blue Ridge Cancer Care and Feeding Southwest Virginia have teamed up to open a clinic-based food pantry, dedicated to serving patients undergoing treatment. It will be located at Carilion’s Cancer Center on South Jefferson. The Feeding Southwest Virginia food-bank based in Salem will keep pantry shelves stocked at the Carilion Clinic Cancer Center, with items chosen by a Carilion Oncology Dietician. Blue Ridge Cancer Care has pledged funding to help support the pantry. Feeding Southwest Virginia President and CEO Pamela Irvine:
Megan Duffy VT photo
(from Hokies Sports.com) BLACKSBURG — Megan Duffy was named the eighth head women’s basketball coach at Virginia Tech, Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced Wednesday morning. Duffy, who guided Marquette University to the NCAA tournament in 2024, spent five years in Milwaukee where she accumulated a 110-46 record that included a 64-30 mark in BIG EAST play. Babcock and Duffy agreed to terms on a six-year contract to lead the Hokies.
“I am thrilled to welcome Coach Duffy and her husband Kevin to Virginia Tech,” Babcock said. “An accomplished player and coach, Megan has a relentless work ethic and a demonstrated ability to develop talent and build successful programs.
“She is a proven winner and committed to continuing our women’s basketball program’s momentum. I am confident Hokie Nation will embrace and support Megan as we enter the next chapter of Virginia Tech women’s basketball.”
Duffy’s head coaching career spans seven seasons, five at Marquette and two at Miami (Ohio) and features six seasons of 20 or more wins – leading to an impressive career record of 154-66 (.700). Each year she has guided her club to at least a winning percentage of .600 in league play and she has reached the postseason in every year except for 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic).
Through five seasons at the helm at Marquette, Duffy owned the best winning percentage of any coach in that program’s history at 70.5% (110-46). During Duffy’s tenure, the Golden Eagles made four postseason appearances, including three trips to the NCAA tournament, and earned a pair of runner-up finishes in both the regular season and BIG EAST conference tournament.
Marquette had a notable beginning to the 2023-24 season with the best start in program history at 12-0. The Golden Eagles were one of 10 teams in the country to go undefeated in nonconference play, including winning the Fort Meyers Tip-Off with two wins over Power Five foes – defeating Boston College and Arkansas. She also guided MU to a win over Illinois and her squad earned a ranked victory over No. 20 Creighton.
“I am ecstatic to join Virginia Tech Athletics as the leader of the women’s program,” Duffy said Wednesday morning. “The opportunity to continue the winning tradition with Hokie Nation and to be a part of the passionate, savvy Blacksburg community makes this a dream job for me. The ACC is the best conference in the country with deep talent and outstanding leaders. The work with the team begins today as we look toward building the next great Hokie team. I want to thank President Sands, Whit Babcock and the entire athletics administration for welcoming Kevin and I to the university, sharing their vision for the program, and for their long-term support of women’s sports.”
Under Duffy’s leadership, nine different athletes garnered All-BIG EAST accolades, including the first duo to collect first team nods in the same season from Marquette in Jordan King and Chloe Marotta.
Other highlights of her tenure in Milwaukee include becoming the fastest coach in Marquette history to the 100-win mark, owning the most road wins in a season in program history, securing the most home wins in a single season in program history and defeating multiple AP top five foes in the same season (No. 3 Texas and No. 4 UConn in 2022-23).
Duffy was a four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame (2002-06), helping the Irish to four straight NCAA appearances and two Sweet 16 berths. She is one of four players in school history to total at least 1,000 points, 500 assists and 200 steals.
The Dayton, Ohio, native has translated her extensive playing career, which included All-America selections (finalist for national player of the year awards), USA Basketball participation (Gold medalist) and professional experience in the WNBA (Minnesota and New York) and overseas, into success in the coaching ranks.
Duffy arrived at Marquette after leading Miami (Ohio) to a pair of WNIT appearances during her two-year tenure with the program. Miami finished the season with a 23-9 overall record and a 13-5 Mid-American Conference mark in 2018-19 and reached 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1980s.
From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment.
Jon Laaser G Marrano photo
Not only are more pickleball courts coming to the Moyer sports complex in Salem, which is building thirteen of them where the skateboard park was – but so is “Picklebrawl,” a tournament in September expected to attract up to 450 players from the Mid-Atlantic region. Picklebrawl is being organized by Performance Pickleball COO Jon Laaser, who appeared at the announcement in Salem this morning.
Laaser left his job as the Virginia Tech voice of the football and men’s basketball teams several years ago to pursue other interests – including his Performance Pickleball company, which is also building indoor courts in Roanoke:
Aaron Housh-Good Sam. G Marrano photo
Perhaps today or sometime in the next few days half of the new Good Sam Hospice Center for Caring on Cove Road northwest will be open for business; a wing dedicated to office staff and volunteers. An update from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
Please see the attached message that I shared with Mayor Lea earlier today.
“After much consideration, I have decided not to seek re-election. Please be assured, I will continue to dedicate myself to develop, advance, and promote a legislative program setting forth the needs of the city and its school system, and I remain committed to all of the duties incumbent upon me as a Council Member for the City of Roanoke.”
Laura Zanotti VT photo
Sweeping porches, luxurious mansions and immaculate plantations. Not to mention strolls in carriage rides around the French Quarter. Its Charleston, South Carolina, the subject of an exhibit on the Virginia Tech campus that “aims to make an impact on public memory.” More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
Some heavy-duty brainpower took part in a Research, Innovation and Economic Development in Biotechnology Roundtable at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute today, where US Senator Mark Warner was the guest of honor. Attracting more investment capital and more talent to the region were topics; Warner said afterward the Roanoke Valley needs to land one big fish – a company that’s also a major employer. FBRI executive director Michael Friedlander told Warner about other startups that began at the research institute’s Roanoke campus – only to be lured out of the valley to bigger locales like Boston or the West Coast.