Bionca Dunham and Jazmine Jones announce "It's Louisville."....Golf 2nd and 4th in Atlanta -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

WALZ ADDS TWO FOR CLASS OF 2016

Jazmine Jones, a talented off guard from Tallahassee, FL., and Bionca Dunham, a dynamic post from Philadelphia, PA are the two newest recruits that have announced they intend on attending the University of Louisville in 2016. 

They join Kylee Shook and Sydney Zambrotta as high school student-athletics who have pledged that they will join the University of Louisville basketball team for the 2016-17 season. 

So...how did Jeff Walz and his coaching staff spend the day after getting this great news? Wild partying and fist bumps? Nah.

Recruiting. 

Reports are that Walz is still quite interested in several more possible candidates for the 2016 class...including Lauren Cox and Jensen Caretti...who are also very talented 2016 prospects that are still uncommitted.

As we mentioned yesterday, if there was a picture of recruiting in Webster's Dictionary...it would be a group photo of Walz, Sam Purcell, Samantha Williams and Steph Norman. 

The way I see it...the building blocks to constructing a great program are made of recruiting players that will fill your needs. Coach Walz and his staff have attracted the best and the brightest over the past several years and "recruiting never sleeps". 

Recruiting. 


It's what the fans want to know about, hear about, speculate about, read about and....occasionally...argue about.

They have no interest in my excellent Italian Sausage, peppers, onions and mushrooms recipe. That's well and good...but always remember that fans know considerably less about what a program needs than the coaches. 

Also remember that Angel McCoughtry was lightly recruited.

As the modest owners of a women's sports site, we balance the fan fervor and expectations in recruiting against the reality of what the coaches know they want. Somewhere in between (and the most important aspect of the equation) are the players themselves. 

We get comments, observations, criticisms, suggestions and speculations from, you...the readers...on the "what, where, why, when and how" concerning the "who" in recruiting. ( I need an e-mail assistant, believe me...since I fired Bill The Goat for replying "NYYAAAAHHHHHH" to all e-mails and eventually eating half the keys on my laptop.) 

We don't claim to be experts or the authority here on women's sports. Just a fan-based website that loves UofL women's athletics and the joy and excitement they bring. Every once in a while...we get something right.

Read it again. Joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. 

We found the hub-bub and anticipation leading up to the eventual announcements by Jones and Dunham very exciting. Just as we did last year, the year before...and so on and so forth. 

In the final analysis, though...it breaks down to a player, parents and coach reaching a mutual accord. Trust in your coaches....they know what is best for the program. Trust in Jeff Walz. He's been at this awhile and surrounded himself with the best assistant and associate coaches in the business. I feel pretty confident with them driving the bus...how about you?

Bionca Dunham, Jazmine Jones, Sydney Zambrotta and Kylee Shook (and any others that may join them) will have a whole new and exciting world awaiting them when they arrive on the Belknap Campus less than a year from now. After going through their final year in high school -- which is a magical time-- they'll join a basketball family and community that will welcome them with open arms.

They'll learn from the elder stateswomen on the squad and, in turn, pass that on when they become elder stateswomen.

Just as the five freshmen on campus are experiencing now.

What will the 2015-16 UofL women's sports teams
accomplish? We have no way of predicting but
we're watching with high level interest and hopes.

Welcome aboard, baby birds of 2016! Whatever size this class ends up being...it'll be a fun one to watch grow and develop under the watchful eye of the Cardinal coaches. 

Meanwhile...

Basketball season is just nine weeks away...field hockey, soccer, golf, volleyball, cross-country and rowing are happening now.

It's a great time of year...right?  

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KATIE MITCHELL FIRES 138 TO WIN FALL KICKOFF.

I know....kickoff and golf don't exactly go together (unless you've seen me play and know I can kick a golf ball further than I can hit it) but Fall Kickoff is what they named the tournament in Atlanta...so we'll go with it. 

Katie Mitchell can also call it...hers. An opening round 66 and two-day total of 138 propelled her to the lowest score and first place in the six team, 30 player event at the Highlands Course at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Her Louisville "A" squad finished second in the event...15 strokes behind Georgia.

Louisville's "B" squad finished fourth in the two-day event.

paulie