What Will Josie Williams Bring to Louisville WBB? -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HEIGHT, INTERIOR SCORING AND REBOUNDING SHOULD IMPROVE WITH WILLIAMS ON CAMPUS

We found out at the end of June that the Cards WBB squad was adding a third center to their roster in the form of Utah Valley State senior transfer Josie Williams. Liz Dixon and Olivia Cochran aren't listed as centers but as forwards on the 2022-23 roster, maybe the style of basketball Walz employs doesn't call for a true center -- but for all you fans who have bemoaned over the years that Louisville needs "that one big player" -- Hopefully Liz Dixon and Olivia helped solved your dilemma and Josie will give the Cardinal coaching brain trust a threesome of post players. 

There's a lot to like about Williams. 6'5" being maybe the first thing (you can't teach height. Her senior year at Utah Valley State was impressive in the fact that she had 17.4 points per game and 12.4 rebounds. She shot 55.3% from the floor and 80.1% from the free throw line, too -- a number you love to see from a "big".  She had 24 double-doubles in the 2021-22 (and they weren't in assists and blocked shots). She's doesn't try the "three" very often, but the Cards have several on the squad that are not only three-point shooters...they're makers as well. 

A great quote from her Twitter timeline might add some insight to the person Josie is....

"No matter how talented, educated, funny or wealthy you think you are, how you treat people tells the real story of who you are, how you feel about yourself and what your future will be."     -- Hank Smith

Some of you may be thinking "Yeah, that's great against Abilene Christian, Lamar, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah...but can she put up numbers like that against North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, FSU, Duke and UNC? And, of course, the answer is (obviously) we'll have to wait and see. It does give Walz more options in going with two "bigs" at the same time (if you remember the experiments of playing Dixon and Cochran at the same time). Experience and depth in the front court are not a bad thing to have. 

I'll be quite interested in seeing how she (and Alexia Mobley) fit into the scheme of things with Cardinals women's basketball.

When you have seven players on a roster that are 6'2" or taller (Mobley, Cochran, Dixon, Williams, Imani Lester, Nyla Harris and Morgan Jones) you've created a rebounding nightmare for the vast majority of your opponents.  

So, I expect what you can expect out of Williams is her being an inside scorer, good rebounder and one that you'll hesitate fouling when she has the ball. We'll see if the pep band at WBB games learns how to play "Josie" (that great Steely Dan song from 1977). Forgot that classic or never heard it? Well, here ya go...LINK TO STEELY DAN'S JOSIE 

Hoops season is about three months away. Let's not rush it, though...we need to cheer on our fall sports squads first, readers, and we will give you great coverage on those. 

paulie