It’s a new era of Brock women’s basketball after the all-time great and former national player of the year, Madalyn Weinert, departed from the team, moving onto the next steps in her basketball journey. The 2026-27 season will be a challenge for new Head Coach Ajay Sharma as he takes on the task of rebuilding the foundation for this newly formed Badger squad.
Last year, the team unfortunately lost to the Windsor Lancers in the OUA quarter-final in a hard fought 83-77 battle on the road. Heading into this season, the team structure will more than likely feature several new players filled into the rotations in place of some integral graduating players.
Assistant Coach Chloe Peters spoke with The Brock Press about her expectations for the team heading into such a pivotal year.
“The expectation this season is to compete. We have a talented group, and with the returning players and new additions to the team, there’s a lot of potential. We want to continue building on the success we have had over the last several years, while also establishing what this group can do together. Ultimately, our expectation is to come into every game prepared to compete and put ourselves in a position to make a playoff run,” said Peters.
She then spoke on Sharma as an incoming head coach and what he brings to this team.
“Coach Ajay brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to the program. He has been coaching at a very high level for a long time, including building a very successful program at Humber. Having someone with his depth of experience leading the team gives us a lot of confidence going into the season. He also brings a really strong, competitive mentality. Our practices have been competitive and intense, and that comes from the standard that he sets every day. Transparently, Brock, and evidently Brock women’s Basketball, is extremely fortunate to have him as head coach this year,” she said.
This Badgers team has been able to consistently maintain a strong culture around this program, with talented players who are looking to win by any means and represent the school the best they can.
Sharma and his recruiting staff are welcoming just shy of 10 new players to the team this year, all of whom the coaching staff believes can make an impact as soon as this season. Peters made it apparent that the team isn’t dwelling on the loss of Weinert, rather continuing to build on the overall team success they’ve had in recent years.
“Naturally, there are going to be some changes with any player graduating out of the program. Madalyn had an incredible career at Brock and has been a huge part of our success. But we’re not focused on replacing one person; we’re looking to build on what we already have. We have returning players who are already filling bigger roles in our training, along with 8 incoming players who bring different strengths to the team. There’s a lot of talent on this team which makes this season really exciting,” said Peters.
Guard Shailah Adams will be called upon to carry a large portion of the scoring load in Weinert’s absence. Adams has put together a very impressive OUA career so far, proving herself as a serious scoring threat from all three levels and a menace on the defensive end. Look out for her this season as the player the Badgers go down the stretch to when they’re in dire need of a bucket. This season will undoubtedly be a lot different than recent ones. With countless new additions to the roster and a new head coach, the Badgers women’s basketball team will be in for a very interesting season.