JEFF WALZ NAMED HEAD COACH OF U23 SQUAD
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| Coach and CARDINAL COUPLE hero Robbie Bartlett |
To be considered for the squad, players must be USA citizens, under 23 and currently a freshman, sophomore or junior in college.
It'll be a 12-player squad and tryouts will start July 31st at the United States Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. They go at it through Aug 4th...the squad will be selected and they'll leave for the land of the rising sun Aug. 7th.
Walz will have an old buddy as one of his two assistants. Michelle Clark- Heard...head coach at Western Kentucky and a former Walz assistant at Louisville...along with Courtney Banghart (Princeton) will be the brain trust for this unit.
Walz was with USA Basketball as an assistant in 2014 and 2015...helping the squad compile a 12-0 record. In 2016, he took the Cards to Cuba. It's a great honor for the coach to be working with the best and the brightest in the college game and further shows that the Louisville head coach is one of the top echelon coaches in his profession as a college coach. Walz states:
"I am beyond thankful for the honor to work with USA Basketball again," Walz said. "I had amazing experiences the past two summers as an assistant coach. Professionally, it's something I dreamed of doing, and it became a reality. Now, to be asked to be a head coach and work with these student-athletes, is incredibly humbling. USA Basketball possesses impeccable standards and a winning tradition, and I am excited for the opportunity and eager to be entrusted with such an important role.
"I was fortunate to have worked with Michelle (Clark-Heard) when she was on staff at Louisville," Walz added. "She is a terrific coach, has a great understanding of the game and an unmatchable work ethic, and I'm excited to coach with her again. I'm looking forward to working with Courtney (Banghart) and getting to know her better. I've been very impressed with what she has done throughout her career. The teams that she has put on the court always are very well-coached and play extremely hard."
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WON BY ONE...CARDS SOFTBALL DOWNS WKU
Thank Megan Hensley for the Wednesday night triumph. She tossed a seven-inning one-hitter at Big Red and drove in the lone run with a double...scoring Nicole *Poof * Pufahl, who had also doubled earlier in the inning and advanced to third on a beautifully executed sacrifice bunt by Maryssa Becker.
( I know...the words "bunt" and "Becker" don't normally appear in the same sentence very often...but the Oregonian slugger showed her versatility with the "lay-down")
The Cards (26-14) managed only five hits against WKU starter Kathryn Downing...which leads to the conspiracy-theory that UofL's bat collection never made it back from Blacksburg, VA...where the Cards crushed 29 runs on 38 hits against the Hokies in a three game sweep last weekend. Or, the BatCards have a hitting phobia when facing non-conference schools. Against Kentucky, Lipscomb and WKU...Louisville scored three runs in 19 innings.
Good to see Hensley (7-6) firing on all eight cylinders again. The sophomore has struggled with injuries and a broken nose this season (necessitating the mask she wears while pitching). The Cards will need her to stay on that same level...conference leader FSU comes to town this weekend for a three-game series. Scheduled to start Saturday at noon, there are provisional plans to possibly move the opener to Sunday for a double header if the weather is too dicey in the 'Ville on "Thunder Day". No air show or fireworks yesterday at Ulmer...but the Cards did what you have to do in order to win games...score more than the opponent does...and got the "W".
SANDY PEARSALL TALKS ABOUT THE WIN
paulie
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Would like to see Jeff as the Olympic Assistant coach. He has shown his worth and ability to successfully work with Dawn.
ReplyDeleteI think this is definitely the road to making that happen. I don't think we'll see this in the next olympics, but the one after I think is more of a possibility
DeleteWhat a great honor for Walz!
ReplyDelete-- The Real Joe Hill --
Walz is highly respected and admired by the coaching community and USA Basketball. He has shown the ability to work with a lot of different coaches and players and it is right that he's getting the chance to be the head coach now. It is the first of many opportunities, I hope. Michelle is a great pick, too. That team will definitely be in great shape for the event with those two and the Princeton coach. Maybe they should have included Kim Mulkey for entertainment value and dramatic flair.
ReplyDeleteAs for softball, they better get in all the hitting practice they can in preparation for the weekend. They won't beat FSU 1-0. The Deb Factor