Cards WBB reloads on the coaching front too -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BRADBURY, BERNABEI-MCNAMEE JOIN WALZ STAFF

Joanna Bernabei-McNamee

Jeff Walz has had a multitude of assistant coaches in his 20 years at Louisville. Beginning with Steph Norman and other notables such as Sam Purcell, Adrienne Johnson, Cam Newbauer, Beth Burns and recently adding two former head coaches to join "J.P." and Brittany Morris on staff, Walz seems to always have a smart, basketball savvy and experienced crew joining him on the Cardinals bench and in practice. 

Joanna Bernabei-McNamee was named to the staff a couple days ago. A lot of you will remember her being a head coach at ACC foe Boston College, but her association with Walz goes back way further than that. She and Walz were on Brenda Frese's staff at Maryland when they won the NCAA. 

Jeff Walz recently spoke about the newest assistant...Mike Bradbury:

"Adding Mike Bradbury to our staff is about bringing in a coach with a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the game. He's been a head coach, he's navigated the challenges of building programs and he understand what it takes to compete at a high level." 

Bradbury has been the head coach at Morehead, Wright State and the past ten years at New Mexico.

One has to wonder if the hires also might be Walz auditioning them for a possible head job replacing him at Louisville when he retires. Walz current contract has him at $1 million dollars a year and runs through March 2029. He's accomplished quite a bit in his time at Louisville...the only glaring thing off his resume is a national championship title. 

Not saying Walz is out the door here after two more seasons, you did not hear that from me. One of his mentors...Geno at UConn continues to rule of the dynasty that is in Storrs, CT.  Of course, Geno has Chris Dailey on his staff...Walz has never given an assistant the equal coaching platform and duties Geno and Chris share. Steph Norman would probably be the closest. 

With three new players transferring in, who knows how many freshmen and two new coaches, one could almost call them a "new look" UofL women's team....sure...established stars Roberts, Randolph, Elif and Berry will be on every opposing coaches coaches "mut contain" list... but three established players coming in via transfer and the promise of Bender, Mbugna and Putra make the Cards a top contender for 2026-27.

Is it WBB season yet? 

Oh, btw...in case you have forgotten. your taxes are due today. 

paulie