Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz discusses upcoming season
Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz says he’s excited about the upcoming season with his offseason additions to the team.
Sam Upshaw Jr.
A youthful Louisville women’s basketball team will begin the season ranked 17th while Kentucky’s first season under Kenny Brooks begins with a No. 22 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25, which was released on Tuesday.
U of L had a 12-year streak of being ranked in the preseason polls (the AP and coaches poll) snapped last season when it was unranked to start the 2023-24 campaign. Its best ranking during that time was garnering the No. 5 spot four times (2020, 2018, 2016, 2013) in the AP Top 25 and ranking fourth in the 2018 preseason coaches poll.
It is UK’s first preseason ranking since 2021 though the squad has made the preseason top 25 in 11 of the past 15 seasons.
The Cardinals’ roster includes eight freshmen for one of head coach Jeff Walz’s youngest squads in more than a decade. Despite the influx of younger players, the squad benefits from returning experienced players in forwards Olivia Cochran and Nyla Harris as well as guard Jayda Curry.
Louisville opens the season against No. 5-ranked UCLA as part of the Oui-Play event on Nov. 4 in Paris, France.
Brooks was hired to lead UK’s squad after the school fired Kyra Elzy. He came to Lexington after transforming the Virginia Tech women’s basketball program. Under Brooks, the Hokies accomplished a number of firsts: winning an ACC tournament title and reaching the Final Four in 2023 and pocketing the league’s regular-season championship in 2024.
Brooks has a 517-204 (.717) career record in 22 seasons as a head coach, which includes a 180-82 mark at Virginia Tech.
Guards Saniah Tyler and Cassidy Rowe were the lone two holdovers from last year’s Kentucky squad while star guard Georgia Amoore and center Clara Strack came with Brooks from VT.
In her four-year career at Virginia Tech, Amoore finished as the program’s all-time career leader in assists (656) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). She and All-American center and three-time ACC Player of the Year Liz Kitley, the 24th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, were the Hokies’ 1-2 punch during their time together. At the end of the 2023-24 season, Amoore was named a John R. Wooden All-American and earned a spot on the All-ACC first team for the second straight year. Strack came off the bench for the Hokies last year, playing behind Kitley.
Kentucky begins Year 1 under Brooks by hosting USC Upstate at 5 p.m. Nov. 4.
Prince James Story contributed to this report.
Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.