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

32 Inside Hokie Sports • Same-Day Crowns • IV-Sedation for Anxiety • Evening + Saturday Hours • Premier Invisalign Provider Downtown Blacksburg 540.552.5433 industrial design company—Joba, which is in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Jones’ wife, Robyn, serves as the chief operating officer of the company, and the two of them have befriended Cole, especially Kevin, who originally pursued a property management degree, but changed majors after returning to Blacksburg once his NFL career ended. “I think Blacksburg is the perfect place for somebody getting their master’s,” Cole said. “There’s not too much going on, but not too little going on. There are not many distractions here, really … I like our community here. It’s kind of small and everybody kind of knows who you are. That can be a good thing and a bad thing, but I like it.” As expected, at least by Brooks, Cole continues to excel on the court, too. In Tech’s first 14 games, she averaged 7.9 points, 6.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. She brings a football mindset to the court. Interestingly, her first love as a kid was flag football, which she credited with providing the foundation for her basketball moves. She played flag football until she aged out of it, and her parents refused to let her play tackle football, which led to a move to the basketball court. But even today, she probably loves football more. Often, in her free time, she checks on any breaking football news first before scoping out the hoops scene. Not that Brooks minds, considering what she’s contributing for the Hokies. “The analogy you can use is she’s like a fifth-year quarterback going to a new coach,” he said before the season. So far, he likes what he has seen from her and from his team. The Hokies are built much differently than a year ago. Cole gives them that quarterback, delivering strikes to 3-point shooters such as Mabrey and leading scorer Aisha Sheppard, along with easy passes to any number of scoring-minded post players. Tech’s roster features plenty of size and height, and the Hokies could go nine or 10 deep once Alex Obouh Fegue returns from a hand injury in late January. “If we focus on us and we take one game at a time and look at the next game as the biggest game of the season and continue to work hard like we do, I think the sky is the limit for us,” Cole said. “I don’t think D RESSED S UCCESS for anyone else can control that.” A perfect ending for Cole’s career would be her dishing the Hokies their first NCAA appearance since 2006. Right now, Tech looks pretty good. And for a woman with aspirations of a future in fashion, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Continued from page 31 GETTING TO KNOW … TAJA COLE Q: What would be your dream vacation? TC: Dubai. I like the futuristic buildings. Everything over there looks like 2040. They’re way more advanced than us. So if I could, I’d definitely go to Dubai. Q: If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be and why? TC: I like DC comics. There is a character whose name is Flash. I would definitely be Flash because he helps a lot of people. The thing is he is fast and he can get to different places in a short amount of time and help people that’s in danger and help people that need help. I’m all about that, so I’d definitely be Flash. Q: What’s on the walls of your apartment? TC: I have posters everywhere. I have an artistic wall that is all the different artists that I listen to. Then I have a sports wall of all the people that I’m inspired by, like Muhammad Ali, Allen Iverson, Isaiah Thomas, Floyd Mayweather, different hockey players, different baseball players. Then I have my cartoon wall. I have Tom & Jerry up there, Flash, of course, some different comics. It’s coming along. Amazon Prime is treating me well. Q: What’s your favorite city? TC: Brooklyn. I like New York. It’s pretty busy, and I feel like everybody is on a mission. You stand in the middle of New York, and nobody is going to sit there and look at you. Everybody is like focused on them. Everything is moving. You look up, and you can see some cool things, too. They have a lot of fashion there, of course. I like New York. Q: What your favorite thing about being a Virginia Tech athlete? TC: I like the fact that you can inspire people, and the fact that you have a support system around you. There are so many people that are willing to do things for you or be there for you if you need them just because I’m a Hokie basketball player. That’s also something that you don’t get everywhere, and I really appreciate it. I love being here because of that.