Breaking”, Louisville’s women’s basketball program Eylia Love is not expected to play for the team because of
It’s the biggest roster turnover yet for University of Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz.
After finishing 26-12 and advancing into the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight season – the most of any program in the country – the Cardinals roster is going to look a whole lot different moving forward.
U of L was already losing six players to graduation on the season and the Cardinals didn’t sign any high school seniors in the Class of 2023 in the early signing period. But prior to the NCAA Tournament, U of L also lost freshmen Jalyn Brown and Zyanna Walker announced they were headed into the transfer portal. The Cardinals also lost Imani Lester, who didn’t play a game this season, to the portal, and then star Hailey Van Lith announced in early April that she was leaving and will play her final season at LSU.
Walz and his staff have already added California guard Jayda Curry, Cal State Bakersfield forward Hennie van Schaik, James Madison guard Kiki Jefferson, Florida guard Nina Rickards, and UMass guard Sydney Taylor out of the transfer portal.
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“I thought we did an outstanding job, my staff did a great job of getting into the portal and filling needs, and that’s what it’s all about,” Walz said. “We’re always going to continue to recruit freshmen, trying to make sure we have a good balance. But this year’s just the first year, I think ever, that we have not had a true freshman come in out of an early signing class, so we had to go to work and figure out exactly what needs do we need.”
The Cardinals also have picked up two late additions in Eseosa Imafidon, a 6-foot-5 post player originally from Nigeria, and Turkish center Elif Istanbulluoglu.
Louisville currently has 12 scholarship players on the roster for next season and four spots open. Walz has said a number of times in recent months that he would not use the allotment of 15 scholarships for next season. He said recruiting is “never finished” but unless something crazy happens the roster is complete.
Here’s a closer look at the roster:
