Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 3 | January 2020

Most college students tend to steer clear of the fickle world of the fashion industry when plotting their career paths, often preferring areas of study with more of a guarantee of employment. But Taja Cole felt so passionate about fashion that she established her own clothing line of athletic wear before she had even attended a college class. Now, she dreams that her small company—TeamCole5—grows into a brand that eventually rivals the Nike and Under Armour brands of the world. “I came up with that in 2013,” Cole said. “I wanted to do something different that I hadn’t seen anybody else do.” Of course, Virginia Tech’s point guard has other business matters to take care of first these days. The transfer from Georgia has found that she looks quite nice in orange and maroon, and Hokie Nation agrees wholeheartedly, as she led the ACC in assists and stood fourth in assist-to- turnover ratio entering a Jan. 9 game against Pittsburgh. She also has the Hokies looking quite striking on the women’s college basketball runway. Tech entered that Pittsburgh game with an 11-3 record, including a perfect 7-0 mark at home. With her at the helm and a deeper and more talented roster, the Hokies are putting together an alluring early-season NCAA Tournament resume. Cole’s arrival has been a godsend, giving head coach Kenny Brooks the type of point guard that he likes—a smooth distributor with the ability to knock down the occasional shot and a strong defender. He had tried others. Chanette Hicks lacked discipline and left, and Diandra DaRosa departed, too. Dara Mabrey played the point position last season, but appears more natural at shooting guard—she was third in the country in 3-point percentage last season (46.2). For sure, Cole’s arrival on a Brooks-coached team has been a long time coming. She used to attend Brooks’ camps at JMU as a kid from Richmond, and he wanted her to come to Virginia Tech point guard Taja Cole is planning for a career in fashion once her playing days are over, and on the court during this early part of the 2019-20 season, she has the Hokies looking pretty good by Jimmy Robertson D RESSED S UCCESS for 30 Inside Hokie Sports