Dana Evans and Kianna Smith leading teammates with work ethic
The two captains for Louisville women’s basketball earned their titles by their effort.
Dana Evans and Kianna Smith impress their teammates and coaches with their work ethic.
Louisville head coach Jeff Walz says Evans, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, loves to work.
“One thing I never have to question is her skill, her work ethic, her mindset,” Walz said.
Evans proved her work ethic leads to results.
She became the first player in ACC history to go from Sixth Player of the Year to ACC Player of the Year in consecutive season. Evans averaged 18.0 points and 4.2 assists as Louisville won the regular season league title outright for the first time in program history.
Smith averaged 8.6 points and 4.8 assists and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in her first year of collegiate basketball. As a sophomore, she scored in double figures 14 times.
Walz called the redshirt year one of the most challenging years for players. He said players have varying mindsets with the thought that they don’t have to play during the year.
Smith, who transferred from CAL last year, had the right mindset when she arrived at Louisville.
The 6-foot guard didn’t want Walz to file a waiver to the NCAA to grant eligibility for the 2019-20 season because she wanted to use last year as a time to improve her game.
“I think her teammates were able to see that day-in and day-out, how she came to practice and competed,” Walz said. “She was trying to help them get better and she was working on her own game. I think it was more so what she did last season that really impressed them.”
With limited availability to athletic facilities, Evans and Smith have organized weekend activities for the team to avoid high-risk outings that could lead to exposure to COVID-19
“The have really done a good job of keeping everybody organized,” Walz said. “We get in here an hour on the weekend, and then the rest of it is theirs. It’s free, those are the times you are going to worry.”
