Louisville women’s basketball players make multiple preseason lists
Coming off of his fourth Final Four in 15 years, Coach Jeff Walz enters a new era with the Louisville women’s basketball program. Louisville lost three starters to graduation, and 2 more role players to transfer. Not phased by this in the slightest, Walz locked up a stocked four person freshman class, and also adds three more grad transfers. While we aren’t sure what the future holds for this team, we know the ACC, and national media has taken notice. Let’s get into some of the pre season accolades for the Louisville women’s basketball team this season.
Josie Williams named to Lisa Leslie Award Watch List
Grad senior transfer Josie Williams has been named to the Lisa Leslie Award watchlist. Williams comes to Louisville from Utah Valley State where the 6’5 senior had a very solid career. Williams averaged 17.3 points and 12.4 rebounds in her career with the Wolverines. During her junior and senior season, Williams was named All-WAC First Team. Williams also set the schools single season record for double-doubles her senior year. Louisville fans are looking for Williams to come in and make an immediate impact down low for the Cardinals.
Olivia Cochran named to the Katrina McClain Award Watch List
Louisville junior Olivia Cochran has been named to the Katrina McClain Award watchlist. With senior Josie Williams transferring in Cochran gets to move to a more natural power forward position. The national media has taken notice of the move and added Cochran to the watchlist. Cochran, a top 20 player out of high school, has had a solid career for the Cardinals playing out of position. Cochran has averaged 8.6 points, and 5.1 rebounds while guarding players 2-3 inches taller than her. The junior has played very good defensively against the bigger players, and I look for her to make even more of an impact as she moves away from the basket.
Morgan Jones makes Preseason All-ACC Team and Cheryl Miller Award Watch List
Louisville fans are all too familiar with Morgan Jones. The grad transfer comes in from conference rival Florida State. Cardinal fans remember Jones from her huge game she had against Louisville last season. Jones comes in averaging 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in her career with the Seminoles. Jones is a two time WBCA All-American Honorable Mention, and All-ACC First Team selection. It doesn’t come as a shock to anyone that has watched Jones play that she comes in with these accolades.
WATCH: Off The Walz at Louisville Women’s Basketball Media Day (Interviews with HVL, Olivia Cochran, and many more)
Hailey Van Lith makes Preseason All-ACC Team and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List and Second Team All-American
To no one’s surprise, Louisville Junior guard Hailey Van Lith makes her presence known on the preseason lists. Van Lith, a former top 10 player, is the unquestioned leader of this years Louisville team. HVL comes into this season averaging 14.4 points and 3.6 rebounds for her career with the Cardinals. Van Lith has also been named as a Second Team All-American ahead of the 2022-23 season. Van Lith made the ACC All-Freshman team and ACC All-Academic team two years ago. Last season HVL was named to this same Watch List, All-ACC First Team, and Wichita Region Most Outstanding Player. Van Lith is expected to take more of the on court leadership role this season as you have seen from the likes of Dana Evans and Asia Durr in the past.
Chrislyn Carr named to Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List
Grad transfer Chrislyn Carr makes the Nancy Lieberman Watch List for outstanding point guards. Carr comes to Louisville from conference foe Syracuse. This will be the second year in a row Coach Walz has taken a grad transfer from Syracuse, and the last one worked out pretty well for the Cardinals. Carr comes to Louisville averaging 14.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists for her career with the Orange. Carr is a change of pace guard that will be getting the ball up the court quick and bringing the uptempo game to the Cards. I am looking for a very solid season from Carr this year, and she may fly under the radar a little bit like Chelsie Hall did last season.
Preseason Team Rankings
After losing three starters, I wasn’t real sure how the conference and national media would rank the Cards. To my surprise, they have dealt the Cards a pretty good hand in the preseason rankings. Louisville comes in at #7 nationally, and picked to finish first in the conference. Apparently the conference and national media are as pleased with the rebuild job Coach Walz did as the fan base.
The Louisville women’s basketball team kicks their season off on Monday Novel her 7th at 5pm against Cincinnati. The game can be seen on ACCN. To keep up to date with all Louisville women’s basketball news you can follow me on Twitter at @BTrent_OTW, and you can also listen to my podcast the Off The Walz Podcast presented by the Sate of Louisville Podcast Network. Off The Walz can be found on Apple and Spotify.
