LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Jeff Walz does not want his University of Louisville women’s basketball players to treat their trip to Louisiana State for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament like a January trip to Clemson or Boston College.
“Have fun with this,” he said.
The fun began Tuesday night with a team dinner at Volare Italian Restaurant in Louisville. Instead of eating at the team hotel on Wednesday evening, the Cards will celebrate another team dinner with some Cajun cuisine in Baton Rouge.
He wants them to enjoy a public 90-minute practice at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Thursday before they hunker down for their final preparation to play Middle Tennessee State during a real practice in an auxiliary gym.
“I actually love this,” Walz said. “It’s an exciting time of year. Now you’ve had a chance when the draw comes out to see who you’re playing and go back and get to watch film and get a look at things. Where are the matchups?
“And Middle is great. They’re really well coached and they’re going to do some really good things. So it’s fun when you’re out there and you know we’re not just going to be able to do one thing …
“On a regular road trip you normally just eat in your hotel. You fly in there. You get in at 6, you go to the hotel, you eat, you watch a little film, you go to bed, you wake up, you go to shootaround, you play the game, you go home …
“… we’ll make sure they get the experience of the NCAA Tournament.”
There’s one more group that needs to have fun with this:
You.
The University of Louisville women’s basketball fan.
Has this been one of Walz’s top five teams with the Cards?
Nope, not by the regular season record.
Is this a Walz team that appears to be positioned for a deep tournament run?
No, not with the Cards given a No. 6 seed and being directed to begin the tournament away from home.
Have the Cards alternated between a loss and a victory while going 5-6 over their last 11 games?
Yes, they have.
Understand this: Typically when circumstances align against a coach and a program the way they have against the Cards this season, the result is an NCAA Tournament whiff.
No bid. No juice. No hope. Perhaps even a losing season.
Remember, Louisville lost 76.5% of its scoring and 86.7% of its rebounding from last season’s squad that lost to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Elite Eight.
Off season ahead, right?
Wrong.
For Walz an “off” season results in 24 victories, a tie for fifth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference and another trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The Louisville men’s basketball program has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2017 or crashed the Sweet Sixteen since 2015.
The Louisville baseball program missed two of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
The Louisville football program won 10 games this season but wobbled for a spell under Scott Satterfield and Bobby Petrino.
Jeff Walz does not wobble. He does not miss the NCAA Tournament. Jeff Walz figures it out.
On Friday at 1:30 p.m. when the Cards play MTSU, it will be his 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 seasons (no event in 2020, remember).
I’ll allow you to research how many coaches have gone 14-0 in first-round games, 12-2 in second-round games, 8-4 in Sweet Sixteen games and 4-4 in Elite Eight games.
That is the Walz record during the three weeks of the season that matter most.
His teams are 31-5 when they are the higher seed, as they will be Friday when the Cards (a 6-seed) play No. 11 Middle.
His teams are also 9-7 when he has the lower seed, as he would be Sunday if Louisville wins its opener and gets its shot at defending national champion Louisiana State, the tournament host.
Walz competes with as much as adrenaline and tenacity as anybody brings to the tournament. But when he says that he plans to have fun and that he wants the fun to spread across his locker room, it’s not a blast of bluster,
“It’s fun also when you see players that haven’t had the opportunity to play in (the tournament,” Walz said. “Especially now with the transfer portal.
“You’ve got players who have never played in a post-season play in the NCAA Tournament. They’re getting to do it for their first time in their lifetime. It’s a lot of fun.”
Jeff Walz makes it fun. He also makes it successful. It can be done.
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