Gameday vs Notre Dame
Kick off your sports day today with Notre Dame coming to the KFC Yum! Center to visit the Cards at noon.
Usually a marquee matchup, these two teams have a long history of high caliber competition, and consequently, the TV coverage for this one has been elevated to ESPN2. Consequently, we get the high power commentary crew with Ryan Ruocco for play by play, Rebecca Lobo as Analyst, and Holly Rowe for roving reporter.
The Irish come to Louisville sporting a ranking of number three in the nation based on an 18-2 record, undefeated, 9-0, in conference. The losses came to TCU (with Ms. Van Lith), and Utah.
Signature wins on Notre Dame's resume (not that they really need them) include an overtime win over Texas, an 11 point margin over UConn, 10 points over UNC, and 15 over Georgia Tech.
Many of you, our dear readers, are likely already familiar with the big names at ND. Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Liatu King, and Maddy Westbeld.
There are no obvious weaknesses in this ND team. Niele Ivey has them firing on all cylinders, and besting their opponents in every statistical category on the stat sheet.
The Cards will have their work cut out for them. This is the crucible that will help discover how this Cards team is made of. In the past the team has crumpled under pressure, particularly in 4th quarters, even if they were able to ride out the damage and still get a victory at the end of the game sometimes.
That won't be an option today. Louisville will need to come out the tunnel ready and raring to go and not make any mistakes in order to be able to handle this Irish team. We'll need inspired play from multiple players to be able to stand up to the Miles and Hidalgo attack.
As mentioned, noon, on ESPN2, or come out to the KFC Yum! Center to catch the action.
Volleyball Commentary
It was mentioned earlier in the week that I would contribute my commentary about the volleyball coaching changes announced this week, and honestly, what is there say other than it was a great hire. Erin Fairs, UofL alumna, will make a great assistant coach at Rice.
Oh, not that coaching change?
Of course, the really big news of the week, and not just for the individual programs involved, is the retirement of John Cook at Nebraska, the subsequent announcement that Dani Busboom Kelly would be taking the reins as their new head coach, the complementary announcement that she was stepping down as Louisville's Head Coach, and then the promotion of Dan Meske to the helm here at Louisville.
Those came out as four individual announcements, obviously related, but each individually posted. But the time lapse from the first to the last was a whopping 32 minutes. Clearly this was well coordinated between the Nebraska and Louisville programs, and kudos to both as this minimizes the disruption, angst, and worry of both fan communities, as well as the players on each team.
Maybe the only surprising part of this whole change was the timing of John Cook's retirement, as most in the volleyball community expected him to coach for another year or two before hanging up the clipboard, but even that surprise was minimal. Nebraska tabbing DBK as the next Head Coach was not surprising in the least, with Nebraska' Athletic Director suggesting that he would have been run out of town by fans if he had picked anyone else.
It's also not in the slightest bit surprising that DBK took the offer. Nebraska is her home, she grew up nearby, in Cortland, NE, her husband Lane grew up Lincoln, and both of their families still live in the area. DBK negotiated in her recently renewed contract that there would be no buyout if she left to coach Nebraska (the buyout would have been $300,000 otherwise), and it was clear to any that interacted with her that her heart was still in Lincoln.
DBK has been, unquestionably, a huge asset for Louisville and we should be forever grateful for her work here and wish her the best in the Big10.
But don't weep for Louisville volleyball. The only other point of even slight uncertainty of how this would all go down when Cook decided to retire, was whether Louisville would put on a national coaching search, or just promote from within. My preference and general expectation, was to promote from within as they did, and I think it's a fantastic decision.
Dan Meske is a great next Head Coach for the Cards. He has been a huge part of the growth and development of this team over the eight years that he worked with DBK, and is one of the architects of the great culture that exists within the program. He is a super well respected coach and apparently turned down several offers over the past few years to helm other programs with a preference to stay in Louisville.
And that's one of the things that I want to emphasize. More than Xs and Os, more than recruiting, and even more than his hand in the incredible culture...Meske wants to be in Louisville. I've heard him comment about really thinking about Louisville as home at this point, noting that Louisville is the only home is three sons have ever known.
For the better part of eight years we've all but known for sure that DBK would someday be leaving for Lincoln, with the only real uncertainty being "When does John Cook retire." To be clear, I don't blame her, I've even said that if she didn't take that position when it opened up I would be marching into her office asking, "What on earth are you doing?!" But its good to have a coach that at least feels like he's in it for the long haul. I wouldn't be surprised if he borrows the idea from Jeff Walz, "I'll either retire here, or be fired here."
So great things are ahead for Louisville volleyball with Meske at the helm. I don't expect this program to miss a beat. Nearly all of the current players, and many recruits, have expressed their excitement for years to come and expectation of continuing in their current or future enrollment plans. Oh, and this is the case for both Louisville and Nebraska from the sounds of things.
I don't think I have ever seen such a smooth coaching transition, particularly considering the coordination needed between two difference schools on the announcements, and that speaks to the care, thought, and investment from both schools in the programs involved.
I can't wait for spring play, and the season to start in late August.
Oh, and for what it's worth, the comment about Rice hiring Erin Fairs as an assistant coach is true! And I do expect she will make a great assistant coach for them as she embarks on her coaching career. Well wishes to the Cardinal alumna.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
The CCRHP wasn't live on Youtube yesterday as I was battling with some audio issues with my headset after upgrading the OS version on my computer during the week. I did join a few minutes after the start of the recording, and had a great discussion with Case, Daryl, and Paul about the new coaching changes in volleyball as well as some recap and preview for basketball.
Check it out:
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JMcA
It was the seamless and quick transition one would expect when something has been planned in advance.
ReplyDeleteDBK leaves KNOWING she's leaving us in good hands👍