We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!
CARDS VOLLEYBALL FACE NOTRE DAME IN KFC YUM! CENTER
It's been awhile since we could make that headlining statement...about Louisville regular season Volleyball downtown in the KFC YUM! Center. You have to go back to 2016 to find the games downtown. Louisville played 13 games in the KFC YUM! Center and two in the L&N Federal Credit Union.
It'll be interesting to see what the attendance is tonight for this one. We hear more and more conversation about the want to see Louisville Volleyball in a bigger arena that the on-campus LNFCU. Games at the YUM! Center would traditionally bring in more than 2,000 fans, which is more than you can fit in the LNFCU, but only around 10% capacity for the Downtown Arena. People point out that Louisville would draw many more now...but the 2016 squad had a lot of talent in Melanie McHenry, Molly Sauer, Jasmine Bennett, Tess Clark and Maggie De Jong and the UK game attracted nearly 4,000....despite the squad going 12-18.
The Irish come to Louisville with a 9-11 record and they are 4-6 in ACC play. Virginia and Pitt defeated them in their last two contests (both on the road). Notre Dame did host third place conference team Georgia Tech in late September, but got swept in three sets. Notre Dame is tied with Wake Forest for 10th place in the conference standings/
Avery Ross leads Notre Dame in kills with 191 and Kaylin Winkler has 150. Lucy Trump has 147. Trump and Ross are freshmen outside hitters...Winkler is a grad transfer from SMU. It's a rebuilding project underway in South Bend for Irish Volleyball, they have just two seniors on the roster and four grad transfers...compared to six freshmen and three sophomores.
The Cards will be looking to bounce back from the Sunday loss at Pitt. The loss dropped then to 9-1 in the ACC (second place) and 18-2 overall. It also dropped them to #4 in the nation, behind Nebraska, Texas and surprising San Diego. Pitt, in another surprise, only moved up one spot -- from #8 to #7. You know how polls are, though. They're a popularity thing first, actual record and performance numbers behind that.
The Cards need a solid convincing win in this one and you probably can't blame them if they keep looking at the door to see if Anna DeBeer is actually back and ready to go. Not that Chaussee, Mbonu, Kong, Jones,Tillman and Bartlett haven't stepped up and tried to help shoulder the load...they have...but DeBeer is the best player on this squad and they miss her. Knees can be tricky, you don't want to come back too fast on them and you need to protect them when you do first come back. (I know from experience).
Only seven regular season games remain after tonight's match for Louisville against and make note of the start time -- 8 p.m. Katie George will be on the ACC Network broadcast with Eric Frede. We last saw Katie in Lexington, when she had the call for Louisville vs. Kentucky Volleyball...and....yes, she is still a "10". A married "10"....but still double digits.
Let's hope the Cards Volleyball get the "W" and a fun time is had by all in the KFC YUM! Center. You've been asking for it, Louisville fans, so get down there and enjoy it !
Louisville Women's Basketball Makes Statement with Win over UConn
The country was probably shocked when they witnessed Louisville Women's Basketball defeat Connecticut, 78-69 last night in the KFC YUM! Center. Four players scored in double-figures for the Cards, led by Asia Durr's 24 points.
Durr showed everyone why she truly is the BEST player in the country.
17,023 fans packed into the KFC Yum! Center for the event, the largest of the season for the Cards and also the largest of the season for all of women's basketball. The record for the largest crowd at a UofL women's basketball home game is 22,163 vs UConn back in 2014.
Sam Fuehring and Jazmine Jones each recorded a double-double with Sam going for 10 points and 12 rebounds and Jaz went for 13 and 12.
Jaz also dished out four assists to tie Dana Evans for a team-high. Evans also tallied 20 points including 5-10 shooting from deep. Overall, Louisville had 13 assists and limited their turnovers to four.
How many losses does UConn have?
Durr went scoreless in the first quarter, but Louisville still went toe-to-toe with the Huskies, tied 21-21. UConn's 3-5 from three-point range kept their offense going while the Cards spread the wealth among five scorers. Louisville's six fouls and UConn's five would total to be the most combined (11) of any quarter until late fourth quarter.
Things were evenly matched in the second quarter, but Louisville won it, 19-17, to hold a two-point halftime lead. Nite-Nite began to heat up. She scored 14 points, going 4-6 from deep and 5-9 from the field overall. Surprisingly, neither time committed a turnover in the period.
Louisville still held the lead, and was winning the rebounding battle. 20 minutes remained. Cardinal fans were as energized as the frisbee-chasing dogs performing at halftime.
The third quarter is where momentum shifted into the favor of the Cards. They won the quarter, 18-13. Asia added another seven points to her total, but it was the defense that showed its strength. UConn was forced to go deep into the shot clock every possession knocking them out of rhythm.
The fourth quarter was another higher-scoring quarter with Louisville winning it, 20-18. Between Louisville shooting a high number of free throws down the stretch and the Huskies knocking down a pair of threes near midcourt both teams found life on offense. UConn got a bucket 13 seconds in the fourth quarter but then went silent for almost five full minutes, pushing Louisville's lead to double-figures.
The Huskies were nailing shots late in the fourth, but so were the Cards. No losing the lead late here. The overall shooting numbers were not spectacular (38% U Conn - UofL 39.7%). Dana gets our "star of the game" nod. 20 points, four assists, zero turnovers.
This was Louisville's night to shine with a nationwide audience checking in and the roar of the KFC YUM! Center will long be a fantastic memory for me, Paulie, Sonya, Daryl Foust and all of the over 17,000 who were in attendance.
The Cards still have plenty of work to do, of course. A dangerous Clemson team awaits them Saturday in Littlejohn Arena. NC State remains perfect. Syracuse is coming in soon and they are always a "tough out" for UofL
Not a lot of time to celebrate this historic win but, oh, what a night down by the river here in Louisville !
F-R-E-D Report
Paulie says...."Nite-Nite"
Free Throws: Louisville looked great for a while before having a rough stretch in the final minute where there were a lot of 1-2 trips to the line. Still, the Cards went 17-24 for 70.8%. There was also an offensive rebound in there so the percentage can go up for that. Capital "F".
Rebounds: Add another game to the list of games where Louisville won the rebounding battle. The out-rebounded UConn 46-40. More importantly, the 35 defensive rebounds helped keep the Huskies from pulling in offensive rebounds for second chance points. With both Jaz and Sam with 10+ rebounds I'm sold on a capital "R".
Effort/Efficiency: 25-63 (.397) from the field isn't great but 11-29 (.379) from three is pretty solid. What really catches my eye here is the 13 assists on 25 made shots opposed to only five turnovers. In terms of effort I'll quote Geno Auriemma "They deserve it. They worked their asses off tonight." Capital "E".
Defense: Okay, so UofL didn't hold an opponent under 50 points. UConn scored 69 points, which is still about 13 less than average. The Huskies were held in the teens three quarters. UConn had zero fast break points and only 11 second chance points. The Huskies looked out of whack for most of the game due to Louisville's pressure. To finish the perfect score we see a capital "D".
When one plays UConn and wins, things must go right so a perfect score of F-R-E-D isn't all too surprising.
I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that this is a game we soon won't forget and will talk about many years down the road. It was a privilege to cover the game as media.
Louisville improves to 20-1 on the year should move back up to #2. UConn falls to to 18-2 for their multi-loss regular season since 2013. Jeff Walz is now 1-17 against UConn while in control of the reins at Louisville.
The Cards travel to Clemson this Saturday (not Sunday) to play at 2:00 p.m.
Caption These
You can catch videos of post-game below.
In these two pictures, one of Jazz celebrating and Walz looking like he's about to break into dance, it was a time for smiling, dancing and letting their feelings loose.
The Cards met the dragon and slayed the dragon .
Jeff Walz post game presser
Asia Durr and Dana Evans
Geno Auriemma
Happy Friday and Go Cards!
(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON AND POST-GAME COVERAGE BY SETH SPALDING)
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - Louisville gets a visit from the Govs - Radio today
Austin Peay returns to the Ohio River Valley for the second time in a week, this time to meet No. 7 Louisville in a 7 p.m. (ET), Saturday contest at the KFC YUM! Center.
The Lady Govs visit Louisville after suffering back-to-back losses in last week’s action. Austin Peay fell to Middle Tennessee at home, Wednesday, before falling at Xavier, Saturday. APSU suffered through a poor second-half performance in both contests, shooting a combined 31.7 percent while failing to making a three-pointer (0-of-7).
Junior Kristen Stainback leads the Lady Govs in the two December contests with 18 points, making 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from the floor. Freshman Beth Rates led the Lady Govs with 13 points off the bench at Xavier and is second on the team with 17 December points on 7-of-10 (70 percent) shooting.
Head coach Carrie Daniels is in her eighth season with a young squad dominated by sophomores and freshmen. The Lady Govs starting lineup has been composed of a senior, junior and three sophomores in the season’s first seven games with three freshman seeing significant action off the bench. LADY GOVS LEDGER
Austin Peay brings a two-game losing streak into Saturday’s contest, its first-back-to-back losses this season… Saturday’s contest will be the 12th time – and sixth consecutive season – APSU has faced a nationally-ranked opponent during head coach Carrie Daniels tenure, two of those meetings featuring Louisville… Austin Peay lost to Western Kentucky, the lone common opponent with Louisville, by a 78-75 scoreline on opening day… Sophomore guard Tiasha Gray leads the Lady Govs in scoring (15.8 ppg) and assists (5.6 apg) and her 5.0 rebounds per game ranks second on the team this season… Freshman center Tearra Banks returns to her hometown (played at Ballard HS) and leads APSU’s bench with 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
CARDINALS CALL Louisville, which joined the newly formed American Athletic Conference during the summer, is off to a 9-1 start this season – the lone loss coming at nationally-ranked Kentucky… The Cardinals own two wins against nationally-ranked opponents (LSU and at Oklahoma)… Louisville defeated Western Kentucky, the lone common opponent with Austin Peay, by a 74-61 margin earlier this season… Senior guard Shoni Schimmel leads the Cardinals in scoring (13.8 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg) while averaging 3.0 three-pointers made per game… The duo of junior forward Sara Hammond (6.8 rpg) and senior forward Asia Taylor (6.6 rpg) form a potent one-two rebounding threat for Louisville. With Nita Slaughter out for the season, Taylor will likely see increased time at the wing position.
Austin Peay has never defeated Louisville in eight attempts and Jeff Walz is 3-0 against the Governors.
Jenny O'Bryan will recap it in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Due to holiday obligations, Paulie and Sonja will not be in attendance. That should cheer a lot of folks up,
The University of Louisville has been awarded the National Championships for Field Hockey in 2017 for Division I, II and III. The news from the NCAA is a boost for the Cards and Louisville...even though it is a few years away. Trager Stadium is the gold standard when it comes to field hockey facilities and...with a little luck, good recruiting and some hard work...maybe Justine Sowry's stick swingers will be a participant.
Maybe by then the NCAA will also figure out how to plan an NCAA Field Hockey Tournament event. 16 or 32 teams would seem to be a good idea. Where they came up with 19 squads this year is anyone's guess.
Connecticut, Duke, Maryland and North Carolina were the FINAL FOUR teams this season and the Huskies defeated Duke 2-0 in the finals...held in Norfolk, VA. where ODU plays.
That's three ACC teams (one that's leaving in Maryland) and a BIG EAST squad. With UConn winning...it's the second year in a row that a non-ACC team has won the title...after a 10-year run of the ACC providing the National Champ.
Louisville has hosted four previous FINAL FOURS in Field Hockey...the last time in 2011
The NCAA women's basketball regionals are going back to neutral sites.
No regionals here for the foreseeable future
The championship committee announced Wednesday that Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Greensboro and Albany will host the 2015 regionals. The committee received criticism this Fall from some coaches about the move to have regionals on campus
for this season's tournament.
"The committee heard the concerns from the coaching community in protecting
neutrality at the regional rounds and acted accordingly," said Anucha Browne,
NCAA vice president, women's basketball championships. "In looking for ways to
improve the student-athlete experience, the committee felt a move to neutral
regional sites was in the best interest of the championship."
Stanford, Notre Dame, Louisville and Nebraska will host games in March with the
chance to go to the Final Four on the line.
Muffet is a fan of integrity
"I'm so pleased to see the committee recognize the importance of neutral sites in order to preserve the integrity of the tournament," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "I believe they are as happy as the coaches are that we will be able to play on neutral courts for the regionals moving forward."
The first two rounds in 2015 again will be played on campus sites with the top 16 seeded teams in the tournament hosting the sub-regionals.
The Final Four will be in Tampa. There was talk of trying to move it up two days
to a Friday-Sunday format, but while still possible it is unlikely that it will
occur in 2015.
Sites for the Division II and Division III Final Fours were also unveiled. The
possibility remains that all three levels may play their championship games in
Indianapolis in 2016 over the same weekend.
WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE *******NITA SLAUGHTER UPDATE******** This from the UofL SID staff on #4:
Antonita Slaughter is still in the hospital undergoing tests today and tomorrow to determine what caused last night's episode. She is alert, in good spirits and surrounded by her family. We hope to have testing completed by early Thursday. Once we have results and a diagnosis, we will be holding a press conference to update everyone on Nita's condition. At this time we ask that you respect the family's privacy.
We'll discuss more on our favorite wing in the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...which we may start calling "Slaughter COUPLE" until our pal is back on the court and draining treys. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// -Nita Slaughter rushed to hospital during game
It's the kind of thing one hopes to never see at an athletic contest. A player on the floor, surrounded by medial staff and EMS techs. Loaded onto a cart and hastened off the court...motionless and eyes closed. Players standing around in shocked disbelief and worry.
Shortly after coming out of the game Tuesday night at the 17:44 mark, Nita Slaughter grabbed a seat on the Cardinal bench and then went into seizure mode. Quick thinking medical and arena staff personnel went into action, laid her on the floor of Denny Crum Court and had her on the way to the hospital via ambulance.
The reports finally came in. Slaughter was responsive and answering doctor's questions at the hospital.
She is OK.
UofL sent this e-mail out at 8:15 about her to members of the media:
She was taken to Jewish Hospital and is awake and answering questions from the doctors. We will not know the official cause of her episode until all the tests are run. Head Coach Jeff Walz will be available following the game
It was, of course...the topic of discussion at halftime and on press row during the rest of the game. No one knew of any prior events events that Slaughter had had with similar issues. It was offered maybe she was dehydrated and her electolyte level had dropped significantly. Trying to ease the tension...a jib about turkey poisoning from Thanksgiving leftovers made the rounds. I even heard one tale that she couldn't believe Shawnta Dyer converted a free throw and passed out in disbelief.
We can be a sick bunch on media row at times.
Hospital physicians and staff are evaluating and diagnosing why the senior forward suddenly started convulsing and seizing up and she'll spend the night in the hospital under observation
She had been pulled from the game early on by Coach Walz...along with Asia Taylor and Sara Hammond so he could question them on a designed play that backfired...with the Cards holding a 6-2 lead. Slaughter had scored the first goal of the game just 19 seconds into the contest.
Coach Walz gathered the players after the incident by the free throw line and discussed the matter. He told them that she was in good hands and that if Nita was there...she'd want them to play hard and well.
And, they did for Nita.
Louisville raced out to a 15-4 lead when Shoni drained her second three-pointer in a row with 14:22 on the clock. Her third three of the game made it 22-8 Cards and a Emmonnie Henderson jumper pushed the Cards to a 16-point advantage with 12:35 remaining in the first half.
Two free throws from Tia Gibbs made it 30-11 Louisville...part of a 13-2 run over a four minute span that put Louisville comfortably ahead 37-13 with 7:36 to go.
The shots kept falling for the Cards, who shot a blistering 61.1% in the first twenty minutes. A Shawnta Dyer jumper in the paint gave Louisville their largest lead of the half...47-19...at the 3:47 mark. the Cards would go on to lead 55-30 when the half ended. Shoni led all scorers with 11 first half points and Bria Smith contributed 10 on 5 for 6 shooting.
The final half was a bit slower offensively but the Cards defense tighten up markedly over the final 20. Missouri State would not score in the first 4:38 of action...and when Kenzie Williams hit a layup for the Bears...it made the score 61-31 Cards.
Louisville steadily increased the lead. Shoni's final three dictated a 67-41 margin at the 12:17 clock reading and Cortnee Walton scored a layup to increase the margin to 75-44 with 8:26 remaining. It was part of a 12-3 Louisville run over the next five minutes that culminated when Monny Niamke bounced home a layup to set the score at 87-47 and 3:12 to play.
Megan Deines jumper made the final 91-49 and the Cards had done what they set out to do...play hard and win one for their teammate.
The post-game presser with the players and Coach Walz was centered around the Slaughter incident and Walz was headed to the hospital to meet with the doctors and Nita's family after his media appearance. Shoni and Bria indicated they wanted to go also when asked in the presser.
A nice win under scary circumstances early on. Louisville solved the turnover bug with only 12 against the MVC foe. Louisville turned up the defensive effort in the second half...going to a zone and extending the defense in the Bears passing lanes. The Cards shot an acceptable 56.5% for the contest and created 24 MSU turnovers. Louisville also had 24 assists on 35 made baskets...a stat that Walz praised. Free throw shooting still can't quite get to the 70% mark,..the Cards going 14-23 for 60.9%. Shawnta Dyer's 2-6 and Cortnee Walton's 0-2 stats from the charity stripe lessened and otherwise decent effort for the Cards at the foul line.
THE FINAL WORD Thoughts turned to Nita as we watched first half action...we relied on asst. women's basketball SID Kim Pemberton's updates and all breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced during halftime to us that Nita was alert and responsive.
As Shoni mentioned in her post-game remarks...this team is family and they were just as worried as Slaughter's family about the prognosis and event. We, as media, also have had great post-game interviews with the perpetually smiling wing and our concern was genuine and heartfelt.
As Jody Demlng mentioned to me as second half action began...it may have been one of the best early game substitutions in Walz's coaching history...even if it was purely coincidental. Imagine Nita running down the court, leaping in the air or battling for a rebound and the event occurring. She was sitting when the seizure struck and that may have been a blessing because her chances of hurting herself were greatly reduced.
We wish her a positive diagnosis and speedy return to the court.
In other news, Jeff Walz debuts his call-in radio show tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 680 AM in the Louisville area. Matt Andrews will co-host with the Coach.
Let's hope they review the seven words you can't say on the radio with Coach prior to broadcast.
Here's the Louisvillle SID release:
LOUISVILLE, KY. -HEAD COACH JEFF WALZ WILL BEGIN HIS WEEKLY RADIO SHOW ON ESPhereN 680 THIS WEEK. THE FIRST HOUR LONG SHOW WILL AIR ON WEDNESDAY, DEC 4 AT 6:00 P.M. THE CARDS PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER, MATT ANDREWS WILL HOST THE SHOW.
THE SHOW WILL RECAP THE PREVIOUS WEEK AND PREVIEW THE UPCOMING SLATE. FANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL AND ASK THE COACH QUESTIONS AT (502) 267-9680.
THE JEFF WALZ SHOW CAN BE HEARD LOCALLY ON ESPN 680 AM, STREAMING ON-LINE AT ESPNLOUISVILLE.COM OR VIA THE TUNE IN APP FOUND IN THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE.
THE DECEMBER EDITIONS OF THE JEFF WALZ SHOW WILL BE THE 4TH, 11TH, 18TH, AND 30TH ALL FROM 6:00-7:00 P.M.
So there you have it, Walz defenders and detractors. Your chance to call in and ask him the questions you bomb our e-mail box with. Maybe I'll use my Russian accent and call in to ask him if he would like Memorial Coliseum marked for razing. Or have the Cardinal Dames from our radio show give him a ring and invite him out for pastries, shots of bourbon and one-on-one hoops out on the driveway of their mansion in Goshen.
Let's hope he doesn't get a call from Don Paulie...
SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -Field Hockey routs Georgetown 8-1 -Softball sweeps two in exhibition -Soccer, Volleyball live action today! We worried a bit about Louisville Field Hockey's trip to Maryland to play Georgetown yesterday. Our worries were unfounded...as the Flock romped G'Town 8-1 to go 2-0 in BIG EAST play.
It looks like everyone scored except me, Jeff and Jenny in the rout.
Louisville said hello to Hoya goalie Rosalie Nolan right after the National Anthem...scoring less than a minute into the contest when Shannon Sloss took a feed from Elisa Garcia and put the scoreboard operator to work early. That lead was increased later in the half when a Garcia penalty shot was deflected and sent into the net by Becca Maddock. The Cards headed to the locker room at half with the 2-0 advantage.
Georgetown actually drew first blood with a goal three minutes into final half play. It was the last anyone heard of the Hoya attack during the afternoon.
Alyssa Voelmle sent a pass to Paige Monson...who made it 3-1 Cards around the 50:00 minute mark. About a minute later, Maddock connected for her second score...on a Voelmle feed.
The Cards pushed it to 5-1 when Michelle Amon connected on a pass from Erin Schneidtmiller. 120 seconds after that, Kelsey Rosenmeier tallied her first score of the season. That was followed by a second goal from Amon. Victoria Stratton finished the Cardinal scoring on an assist from Megan Anstotz with three minutes left to set it at an 8-1 Cardinals.
Louisville (7-2) outshot the Hoyas 24-4. The eight goals in second highest in UofL history...the Cards defeated Central Michigan 10-0 back in 2010.
Coach Justine Sowry was pleased with the win but also offered a few words of schooling:
"We need to continue to work on our discipline both on and off the ball in order to complete a solid game. Our depth proved to be the difference maker today." Louisville returns to action Oct. 1st with a non-conference matchup at Ohio State.
Fall exhibition softball is off and running...the Cards taking two at Bellarmine Saturday.
Louisville 8 - Bellarmine 0 Slow start offensive in this one...the squads going through three innings and failing to send a runner all the way around the bags. The Cards broke through in the top of the fourth...Hannah Kiyohara reaching on an infield single and junior transfer Brittany Duncan singling. The freshmen went to work after that...Kristina Dillard singling home Kiyohara and Rachel Houck's single scoring Duncan.
Louisville added four more in the fifth. Jordan McNary, Katie (Killer) Keller were on when Taner Fowler's grounder was misplayed...scoring McNary. Kiyohara cleared the bases with a double to make it 5-0 and then scored on a Dillard single.
The Cards added the final two in the seventh. Fowler reached on a error and trotted home when freshman Tierra Sanabria sent one over the left field fence. Caralisa Connell got the win...going four innings, striking out eight and allowing just two hits. Sanabria relieved...striking out three and allowing a single in three innings of mop up.
Louisville 8 - EKU 1 Louisville wasted no time introducing themselves to the Colonels...popping for four in the first. Killer's double sent Kiyohara and McNary home and Duncan and Fowler hits drove in two more runs. 4-0 after one inning.
The Cards completed their scoring for the day with four runs in the second. Whitney Arion and Kiyohara singled to start the inning and Keller singled home Kiyohara. Duncan followed to the plate and blasted a three run shot over the center field fence to make it 8-0 UofL.
Rachel Le Coq got the start and allowed an unearned run and three hits in four innings. Freshman Maryssa Becker finished it for Louisville...allowing one hit in the final three innings.
The Cards play two again today...Bellarmine again at 11 a.m. and Tennessee State at 1 p.m.
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Other events in town have the Women's Soccer Cards hosting Rutgers at Cardinal Park at 1 p.m. and Volleyball returns to the KFC YUM! Center for a 2 p.m. match with Temple.
(Staff Columnist Jenny O'Bryan discusses schedules for WBB today and rules from the NCAA.)
In the recent weeks many
teams have started to release their schedules for the upcoming basketball
season.The slow release usually starts
with the out of conference (OOC) slate followed by conferences releasing their
schedules.
To date Louisville Women’s
Basketball has not released an OOC slate nor has The American released their
conference schedules.The men’s schedule
has been released and message board fodder suggests the women’s schedule will
be released very, very soon.
In the meantime I have been
able to glean a few games on the schedule by perusing others’ releases.The women will open at YUM Center in the
preseason NIT.The first game against
Loyola University Chicago will be 11/8 with a guarantee of at least two more
matches.The Cardinals will travel to
Bowling Green/WKU to face former assistant Michelle Clark-Heard’s crew on
Thanksgiving Eve, 11/27.December 1
the Cards are back on the road to UK for the annual Battle of the
Bluegrass.
Additionally, ESPN has
announced their women’s basketball coverage and Louisville makes it on the big
screen twice, both times against Connecticut.February 9 the Cards travel to Connecticut and March 3 the Huskies make
the trek to The YUM Center.
For the full slate of ESPN
coverage of women’s basketball:
2014 ESPN2 Big Monday presented by Bud Light
Women’s Basketball Schedule
Jan 13, 7 p.m. Connecticut at Baylor
Jan 20, 7 p.m. Notre Dame at Tennessee
Jan 27, 7 p.m. Notre Dame at Maryland
Jan 27, 9 p.m. USC at Stanford
Feb _3, 7 p.m. Baylor at Oklahoma
Feb 10, 7 p.m. North Carolina at Duke
Feb 10, 9 p.m. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Feb 17, 7 p.m. Maryland at Duke
Feb 24, 7 p.m. Penn State at Nebraska
Mar _3, 7 p.m. Connecticut at Louisville
2014 ESPN Sunday Women’s Basketball Schedule
Feb _2, 2 p.m. Notre Dame at Duke
Feb _9, 1 p.m. Louisville at Connecticut
Feb 16, 1 p.m. Kentucky at Tennessee
Feb 23, 1 p.m. Duke at Notre Dame
Mar _2, 1 p.m. Duke at North Carolina
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As I have been known to do, I
wanted to touch base on recruiting.If
you listen to us on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, we are constantly bemoaning
the myriad of rules the NCAA has.
It appears there are some
changes in the rules as it pertains to recruiting.One of the biggest changes I am hearing about
is the important date of September 1.Historically, this date pertains to seniors; when coaches can call, text
and email seniors on an unlimited basis.However, new recruiting rules have backed this timeline up a full
year!As of September 1 coaches can now
have this unlimited access to juniors in high school, specifically this year,
the class of 2015.
This presents an interesting
balancing act on the coaches part, I presume.The class of 2014 is at a pivotal point in their recruitment.If kids are still uncommitted, and we know
Louisville is after a lot of kids in this class, they will be making their
official visits, home visits will be made, culminating in many signing in the
early signing period in November.All
the while, coaches will start courting the class of 2015.
There are two other rule
changes that I am aware of:
1) In-home visits can be made to recruits in the class of 2015 during
the month of September.This previously
happened with recruits in their senior year.(We are aware of a minimum of two home visits that are scheduled for
juniors, Asia Durr (9/25) and Napheesa Collier (9/27).Other big names in this class that are likely
to be visited (but that I have not found information about) are Te’a Cooper,
De’Janae Boykin and Katie Lou Samualson.All are in the top 25 of their class and have Louisville associated with
their name).
2) Official visits.We have
covered that a lot here at Cardinal Couple.Anofficial visit historically happens in the fall of one’s senior
year.It is paid for by the university
the recruit is visiting and the recruit gets a maximum of 5 official
visits.The change in this arena will
allow official visits to begin in the spring of one’s junior year, after the
National Championship game.The limit
remains 5, but kids can start making them in April.(For comparison sake, the current rising
senior class of 2014 is just not setting and taking their official
visits).
How all these rule changes
will impact recruiting depends on who you talk to.As a fan of the game with no previous
experience personally, the biggest drawback I see is the potential for earlier
commitments from kids.I personally find
this problematic.
As we all know Louisville was
on the unfortunate side of losing two elite recruits in the class of 2013 who
verbally committed to the program at the end of their sophomore year in high
school.As any parent of a teenager will
tell you, wait a minute, and you will get a different answer from a teen.Deciding one’s future, by way of choosing a
college that is responsible for their education and basketball career, at such
an early age I believe is most often times a mistake.
My concern with these new
rules is that it will lead to, if not encourage, earlier commitments.If that in fact happens, by nature of the
population one is dealing with, it will also likely increase
decommitments.Decommitments hurt the
university most, I believe.If one
believes they have a recruit, they will quit recruiting said position.A change of heart by the recruit leaves the
university vulnerable to not being able to fill their needs with a high quality
recruit, having lost out on prospects while they assumed their position was
filled.I understand a recruit having a
change of heart.What one may think they
want as a sophomore in high school can absolutely change by one’s senior year,
if for no other reason than maturation.Not to mention any number of other things that could lead one to change
their mind.It’s too risky for all
involved.I don’t like it.I would much rather my teenager make a
decision as late as possible to weigh all options fully and understand the full
impact of said decision.
I have also read several
opinions that these rule changes will change the very nature and meaning of the current
summer circuit of basketball
played by athletes and likely remove AAU coaches from the middleman role they
currently hold between coaches and athletes. (Under current rules if a coach
was interested in a young prospect that they could not yet contact, the AAU
coach would be contacted and word would be gotten to the athlete that a school
is interested.)Again, whether these
changes are good or bad, likely depends on who you ask.
As we look forward to this
fall and recruiting info on the class of 2014 and anticipate news from recruits
on U of L’s radar, the class of 2014 is far from in the books.
Meanwhile, a plethora of
names are dropping in the class of 2015 as their recruiting accelerates in to
full throttle.It looks like a fun
fall for recruiting junkies like me!
As you probably realize, here at CARDINAL COUPLE...we try to present UofL women's sports from a fan's perspective. The writers here at the site are all huge Cardinal Sports fans and have spanned the nation in our travels to watch University of Louisville teams play.
I once did a count of the states I had been to following UofL teams. The final number was 30. I'm sure my columnists here at the site have comparable numbers.
Several weeks ago, I began contacting Cardinal fans I've had the pleasure of meeting as a fan, as a writer...and posed a simple question to them:
What is a UofL fan? I got some great responses and, since things are a bit slow right now in Louisville as far as campus activity and games go currently, I decided to build an article around these responses. Got a take? Feel free to leave it in the comments section. Here we go.
-Cliff G: "For me, it's supporting the teams I follow with season tickets, away trips when I can go and following them on the computer, in the media and talking about them with friends and co-workers. I've had the chance to go to some wonderful places over the last 29 years and see some incredible games. I was in Dallas when Denny Crum won the 1986 NCAA College Basketball title. A kid, but I remember it very well. I've been to Arizona and saw Howard's team beat Alabama. Probably my favorite trip was this spring when I rotated back and forth from Atlanta and New Orleans watching the basketball teams. I represent with my voice, my attendance and my wallet." -Tom B:
"I think a Cardinal fan shows their choice by attendance, talking up the teams and wearing the gear. My wife says I have too many Cardinal shirts, hats and things. Each one holds a special memory for me though and I can't depart with them to the DAV or Goodwill. I still have a t-shirt that has the Final Four Participants from the 1980 men's basketball tournament. I have a football signed by every coach since Bob Weber. I have a picture of me and ex-womens' basketball coach Bud Childers. A lot of the older things I have stored away in boxes..but my den is a shrine to Cardinal Athletics. Framed prints, posters, newspaper headlines and other things I've collected since I was a boy and going to Freedom Hall to watch Butch Beard and Wes Unseld." -Cindy L:
"I just love UofL teams, especially the women's teams. I live out-of-town now butwhen I attended UofL, I went to women's basketball and softball games when I could. I was in St. Louis when Louisville women's basketball made it to the championship game and had classes with a couple of the players on that team. I'm married now, my husband is a big Illinois fan and sometimes that causes a little bit of a rivalry between us. We agree on several things though. We both like to see UK lose, when Louisville is on TV we watch and we'll never forget watching the women's basketball team beat Baylor because we were at the hospital with his sister who was in labor. She had a beautiful baby girl 3 hours after the Cards won that game. Wouldn't it be cool if she grew up to be a basketball player and went to UofL?" -Adam G:
"Football is what I love the most. The whole thing. Tailgating, the game, the fans. My dad took us out when we were kids and Louisville had just started playing in Papa John's. We made trips to Memphis, Michigan, Florida and St. Pete for bowl games. I actually quit a job a couple of years ago because my boss wouldn't let me off on Saturday's to go to football games. I get student season-tickets because I go part-time to UofL. My girlfriend's dad played football at UofL, so she's a big fan too. I go to men's and women's basketball too, and baseball. We also did a volleyball game last season and we'll most def be back this year. Go Cards!"
Cardinal fans. They represent, they display and they show up. I was recently in Gatlinburg, TN. on vacation. I counted over 20 people in UofL shirts or hats in the five days I was there. Only UT was better represented.
So, what is a Cardinal fan?
In short, they appreciate the players and the plays...no matter who makes them. They represent the school and own the praise or the blame for their conduct. They are slow to "boo" and quick to praise. They defend their choice in hostile territory. They may live far away from Louisville or five minutes from campus. They may attend hundreds of games a year or have never stepped foot on campus or the venues where the teams play.
They are toddlers, old men, construction workers, waitress and attorneys. They are black, white, short, tall, wear glasses, drink bourbon, eat wings, drive clunkers, live in mansions, shop at WalMart and none or all of the above.
And, in 2013...they are having the time of their lives.
