LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — An already loaded Louisville women's basketball roster just got a little stronger, thanks to the latest round of fifth-year eligibility movement in college sports.
LSU transfer forward Amiya Joyner has committed to Louisville, according to multiple reports Tuesday. Her representative, William Clay of Diamond in the Rough Sports Management, confirmed the decision to On3.
Joyner, a 6-foot-2 forward, would give coach Jeff Walz another experienced and productive frontcourt option for a Cardinals team already carrying high expectations into the 2026-27 season, if she remains eligible through fifth-year eligibility court proceedings.
She averaged 9.2 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game for LSU last season, appearing in 34 games with 19 starts. She also led the Tigers with 100 offensive rebounds and finished the season with nine double-doubles.
But Joyner's most productive college season came the year before at East Carolina, where she averaged 15 points and 9.2 rebounds as a junior and earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. She had 15 double-doubles that season, including a 19-point, 20-rebound performance against North Texas.
Over four college seasons, Joyner has averaged 11.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. She has 50 career double-doubles — 41 at East Carolina and nine at LSU — and owns three of the five highest single-season rebounding totals in East Carolina history.
Under normal circumstances, her college career would have ended with LSU last season.
These are not normal circumstances.
Joyner was among 30 athletes granted temporary relief by a Louisiana state court, opening the door for them to pursue another season of NCAA eligibility and enter the transfer portal.
Louisville moved quickly. The addition gives the Cardinals another proven rebounder with considerable college experience. Joyner was the AAC Freshman of the Year in 2023, earned third-team all-conference honors that season and developed into a first-team selection two years later.
She also provides Walz some flexibility in the frontcourt. Joyner has done much of her damage around the basket but has shown the ability to score with her back to the basket or facing up. She has 1,516 career points and 1,158 rebounds, along with 155 blocked shots and 136 steals.
Most importantly for Louisville, she's another proven player joining a roster that already had plenty of them.
The increasingly chaotic fifth-year eligibility landscape has created plenty of uncertainty around college basketball this summer. It also has created opportunity.
Walz took advantage of it.
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