LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville women’s basketball team has made another adjustment because of issues created by the novel coronavirus.
Head coach Jeff Walz said Wednesday that his program has been asked to cancel a trip to Brooklyn to play national power Connecticut at the Barclays Center.
“(The event organizers) said it could be difficult to get much of a crowd (because of COVID-19),” Walz said.
Walz said the plan was to reschedule the game for the 2021-22 season. He also said he was close to reaching an agreement with another program for a replacement game that would be a bus ride of roughly 3 1/2 hours away.
Walz did not name the program, but Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois and perhaps even Tennessee would be reasonable fits in that parameter.
In other scheduling news, Walz said the Cards would play only one road game that required a flight: a Nov. 28 trip to Fort Worth to play TCU in the Maggie Dixon Classic.
Walz said the Cards were booked for a game, likely against Valparaiso, at the Genesis Convention Center in downtown Gary, Indiana. Louisville point guard Dana Evans, a national player of the year candidate, grew up in Gary and played for West Side High School.
The Cards will also play at Western Kentucky and Cincinnati, which are easy bus trips.
With financial concerns a significant issue because of the pandemic, Louisville will likely take more bus trips than it has in recent seasons.
At one point, it was suggested that team might bus any trip that was eight hours or less. If that becomes the guidepost, that would result in bus rides to North Carolina State, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech.
Walz also said that he was finished recruiting for next season, with a class that features three top high school players as well as national junior college player of the year, Ahlana Smith, who also played one season at UCLA.
“I’m expecting (Smith) to come in with a lot of maturity,” Walz said. “How to do things. The level of intensity. How to attack a practice.
“She’s got skills. There is no question about that. You aren’t named junior college player of the year by accident.”
Walz said that he was encouraged by the conditioning work that his players were doing at home, even though several do not have access to workout facilities or gymnasiums.
Some have filled milk jugs with water to serve as weights or carried chairs while running hills.
“They’re just doing what they can at home,” he said.
He said he has tried to remain optimistic that players will be permitted to return to campus soon.
“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. “As more states open up, you just hope that things go well.”
Walz also responded to a question that was posted on one of his team’s social media sites about picking a starting five from his coaching era.
Walz selected these players in this order:
Monique Reid; Asia Durr; Angel McCoughtry; Shoni Schimmel and Myisha Hines-Allen.
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