247Sports Lists Louisville Among Top Ten Women's Basketball Portal Classes
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Football isn't the only athletic program at the University of Louisville that has been killing it in the transfer portal this offseason.
Head coach Jeff Walz and the women's basketball program have also done a tremendous job when it comes to attracting high impact playmakers via the portal, and those efforts are starting to garner national attention.
247Sports recruiting analyst Brandon Clay recently ranked the top ten transfer portal classes in women's basketball, and placed the Cardinals at No. 5 on the list. Clay put a lot of stock in landing high-ranking transfers, using 247Sports' top-40 transfer prospects as a basis.
Louisville's two highest-ranking portal commits, Cal guard Jayda Curry and James Madison guard Kiki Jefferson, were the No. 8 and 12 players in the transfer portal, respectively. The Cardinals were one of three schools on the list to land multiple transfers inside the top-15, joining LSU and Texas A&M.
"The Cardinals suffered a major setback when Hailey Van Lith transferred out after the season ended," Clay wrote. "Jeff Walz's staff rebounded in a major way, grabbing a commitment from Jayda Curry who will be a major piece to replacing Van Lith’s numbers at the guard spot. Coupling Curry with Jefferson gives the 2023-24 roster an infusion of almost 37 points a game of production during the 2022-23 season. If Curry and Jefferson can come close to matching those numbers, there won’t be much drop off at all."
As of this writing, Louisville is bringing in six transfers for next season. On top of Curry and Jefferson, the Cardinals are welcoming Georgia Tech guard Eylia Love, Cal State Bakersfield forward Hennie van Schaik, Florida guard Nina Rickards and UMass guard Sydney Taylor. These six transfers combined to average 76.6 points, 31.6 rebounds and 12.3 assists per game at their respective schools last season.
They are part of a massive roster overhaul that Walz and his staff are having to undergo heading into next season. The program graduated six seniors, and five more players - including All-Ameican guard Hailey Van Lith - entered the transfer portal. Louisville is in line to return just four players: forwards Olivia Cochran, Nyla Harris and Alexia Mobley; and guard Merissah Russell. They have just one Class of 2023 commitment in Andover (N.H.) Proctor Academy center Eseosa Imafidon.
Louisville went 26-12 overall for the 2022-23 season, experiencing their first double-digit loss season since their 2011-12 campaign. Despite having a "down year" by their typically lofty standards, the Cardinals saved their best basketball for the postseason. They made the ACC Championship game as a No. 4 seed, then clinched their fifth-straight appearance in the Elite Eight before falling to national runner-up Iowa in the NCAA Tournament.
(Photo of Jeff Walz: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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