University Of Louisville’s Women’s Basketball Head Coach Jeff Walz was named as one of the top 100 most influential people in Women’s College Basketball in 2020 by Silver Waves Media yesterday.
Silver Waves Media presents: 100 Influential People in Women’s College Basketball. https://t.co/c8w8ZSaqW7
— Silver Waves Media (@SilverWaveMedia) July 20, 2020
Coach Jeff Walz took the head coaching job at UofL in 2007, just one year after being an assistant coach at Maryland when they won the 2006 NCAA Women’s Championship. Coach Walz also had stints at WKU, Nebraska, and Minnesota before landing at Maryland and then, of course, Louisville.
In his short 13 years here at Louisville, Coach Walz has turned the Cards into a national powerhouse and must see TV. Coach Walz has been very successful at Louisville; he’s currently holding a 360-103 win/loss record (.778) and has led Louisville to five elite 8 games, 3 final fours, and was the National runner up twice. Coach Walz has also coached Louisville to multiple 30 win seasons, a team that had never won 30 games in a season prior to his arrival.
Part of what makes coach Walz so special and so influential is the mark that he is currently putting on the women’s game. His style of play, attention to detail, his innovative thinking, play designs and sets, and the way he coaches the game; only a few have done it as good as coach Jeff Walz. Coach Walz has had multiple players drafted to the WNBA: Asia Durr, Shoni Schimmel, Antonita Slaughter, Myisha Hines-Allen (WNBA champion), and Angel McCoughtry just to name a few.
He’s also starting to branch out his coaching tree with former assistant coach Samantha Williams, who recently led one the biggest turnarounds in D1 basketball in her first year as head coach of EKU. Former player Becky Burke was named as the head women’s basketball coach at USC Upstate and then her former teammate and Louisville Cardinals forward Candyce Wheeler (formerly known as Candyce Bingham) was named an assistant coach at Bellarmine.
Coach Walz has also left his mark on the National scene as well. In 2008, Coach Walz lead the USA U18 to a 6-0 finish and a gold medal. In 2019, he was named USA Co-COY and he also lead USA U19 to a 7-0 World Cup record in route to a gold medal. Coach Jeff Walz has been a head coach or an assistant coach on countless USA Women’s teams and has won multiple medals.
That list also includes a few notable names and organizations, along with a few not as familiar names and organizations.
Familiar Names such as:
Muffet McGraw: 936-292(.772), 2 National Championships
Charlaine Vivian Stringer: 1041-421, multiple COY awards
Doris Burke: 1st Female commentator of NY Knicks
Ramona Shelburne: Senior Writer for ESPN, NBA Insider
Geno Auriemma: 35 yrs of coaching, 11 Championships
Becky Hammon: Won an NBA Summer league title
Hammon, who had a stellar 15 year WNBA career, in which she played for the NY Liberty and the San Antonio Silver Stars. Becky Hammon, who was affectionately and deservedly nicknamed “Big Shot Becky,” will most likely be the first female head coach in the NBA. She is currently serving and learning as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, under legendary coach Gregg Popovich. Coach Hammon is also the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs summer league team, where she has won an NBA Summer league title. Coach Hammon has been a proven success and leader wherever she has been and currently has her no. 25 jersey retired by the San Antonio Silver Stars.
Not as Familiar, but very important names like:
Tara Stanford: 42 years of coaching, 1094 wins
Vic Schaefer: Multiple COY awards
Barbara Stevens: 1039 wins 5 COY awards
Familiar Organizations like:
ESPN Hoopgurlz (Dan Olsen)
Blue Star Basketball
Nike EYBL (Jill Noe)
NYG Hoops (Joe Fenelon)
Boo Williams EYBL (Boo Williams)
Under The Radar, but important as well:
Sports City U (Bryce Mckey)
EOT Basketball
Premier Basketball Report
Peach State Basketball
World Exposure WBB (Donnie Woods)
WCG Hoops/Swish (James Parker)
In true Coach Walz fashion, I’m sure he’d like to thank all of his previous and current collegiate coaching staff as well as his Olympic coaching staff, all of players both collegiate and National, and I’m going to step out on a limb here and say he’d probably thank the fans that pack the YUM Center and travel to road games. Coach Walz is still extremely young and extremely motivated, it is only a matter of time before he captures UofL’s first NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. The lists of accomplishments and awards are very long for a such a young coach and you can only expect more to come his way. Congratulations Coach Jeff Walz.
