Looking at how the Louisville women’s basketball roster is shaping up for the 2021-22 season
After how the 2020 season came to an end, there were high hopes for the 2020-21 Louisville women’s basketball team going into the season. With a preseason ranking of sixth, and a loaded recruiting class coming in the Cardinals had championship aspirations. There was a lot to be excited about going into the season.
Everyone wanted to see how transfer Kianna Smith would factor into the roster. The whole fanbase was ecstatic over the signing of McDonald’s All Americans Hailey Van Lith and Olivia Cochran. All of Cardnation was ready to see Dana Evans get her Player of the Year recognition she deserved. The atmosphere was buzzing around the program.
Smith, Van Lith, and Cochran all lived up to the hype plus some. They were all leaders on the floor, and gave Evans much needed help. After a fourth straight regular season ACC championship, the Cardinals had a heartbreaking loss in the ACC tournament. Even with that loss it had seemed the stars were aligning when Louisville saw their favorable tournament draw. After the deflating Elite Eight loss to eventual champion Stanford, Head Coach Jeff Walz moved quickly to start repairing the roster.
Let’s take a look at some key departures and key additions to the 2021-22 roster and see how it is shaping up so far.
The departures from the Louisville women’s basketball team
The Lone Senior
DANA EVANS
In an article on key departures, I have to start with the biggest one, and that is senior Dana Evans. If there was a picture by the term work and determination in the dictionary, it would be a picture of Evans. As a top 10 recruit coming out of high school and McDonald’s All American, Evans came to Louisville to shine. Evans showed what a team player while she sat behind ACC Player of the Year Asia Durr waiting for her turn. When Evans finally got her turn, she took full advantage of it as she gained multiple honors. Evans would get ACC Sixth Person of the Year, and back to back ACC Player of the Year honors.
The Transfers
Nyah Green
Nyah Green came out of high school as the number 6 guard, and number 23 player in the 2019 class. Green earned McDonald’s All American honors her senior year. Green came to a loaded Louisville team, and redshirted her freshman year as she tried to make her transition to the college game. Coming into the 2020-21 season everyone was hopeful she was going to turn into the player she was in high school. Unfortunately for Green that never happened, and she never really found her spot in the rotation. I believe this led to her decision to transfer.
Malea Williams
The next departure is Malea Williams, a member of the 2020 recruiting class. The 6’4 forward out of Scott County came to Louisville as one of the top girls basketball players in Kentucky. Williams’s length and shooting ability was suppose to bring a different look from the Louisville team. The plan from Coach Walz was to red shirt Williams to let her develop for a season before throwing her in the rotation. When Green opted out and entered the transfer portal that changed that whole way of thinking, and Williams had to play this season. Williams played a small role for Louisville, but made the most of her minutes.
Elizabeth Balogun
The biggest name of the Louisville transfers to enter the portal is Elizabeth Balogun. Balogun played a huge role in the Cardinals success early on in the season. Balogun transferred in from Georgia Tech for the 2020 season with teammate Liz Dixon. At 6’1 with a long wingspan, Balogun was a great defensive player that could guard multiple positions. Balogun played in 29 games this season for the Cardinals, and averaged 19 minutes per game. Balogun averaged 5.8 points per game, and 3.8 rebounds per game. The junior was also a very capable three point threat shooting 32% from behind the arc.
The recruiting class
With only one senior on the team, Louisville had a small class to sign for 2021. The team signed 2 recruits that came in as the number 20 class in the nation. Now let’s take a look at the two recruits coming in next season.
Payton Verlhust
First up is the higher-ranked of the two, and that is Payton Verhulst. Verhulst coming from Bishop Miege High School in Kansas was the number 4 guard and number 12 player in 2021. Verhulst led Bishop Miege to a state title in her senior season. In Verhulst’s senior campaign she averaged 20 points per game, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.5 blocks per game. All of this earned Verhulst the honor of Kansas Player of the Year by MaxPreps. Verhulst earned the honor of being a McDonald’s All-American and was also a finalist for National Player of the year.
Sydni Shetnan
Sydni Shetnan comes to the Cardinals from Washington High School in South Dakota. Shetnan comes in as the mnumber 10 post player in the 2021 class. At 6’5 Shetnan brings some much needed size to the Louisville basketball team. Shetnan led her team to a state championship, and was named South Dakota AA Player of the Year. The senior broke the Washington school record with 81 blocks in her senior year, and 186 in her career. Shetnan will be a two sport athlete at Louisville as she will also play on the volleyball team.
The incoming transfers
On April 1st the Louisville women’s basketball team announced the addition of two transfers for the 2020-21 season. Let’s take a look at the transfers and what they will bring to the team next season.
Emily Engstler
The first transfer Louisville added was Syracuse junior Emily Engstler. Engstler was a star player for Syracuse and earned ACC Sixth Player of the Year honors last season. The junior averaged 10.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in the 2020-21 season. Engstler came to Syracuse as the number 2 wing, and number 9 player in the 2018 recruiting class. Engstler also earned McDonald’s All American honors in her senior campaign.
Chelsie Hall
The other transfer Louisville added was Vanderbilt grad transfer, Chelsie Hall. Hall was named to the SEC All-Freshman team her freshman season and became a 1,000 point scorer in her senior year. Hall was the number 22 point guard in the class of 2017 and adds the veteran leadership on the court that left with Dana Evans.
What to expect from the rest of the off season
As of now, the Louisville women’s basketball season is sitting with 13 scholarship players on the roster. Personally, I do not think the additions and subtractions are over yet. There is a chance you could see a player like Merissah Russell possibly transferring out to find more minutes at another school. I also believe Coach Walz will be looking at the transfer portal to add much-needed depth to the post position.
At this point, Louisville is ranked number 6 in the way too early preseason polls. With the roster as it is constructed I believe that is a reasonable ranking. I can see there being as much hype and excitement about next season’s team as there was this past season.
