Bow before Jeff Walz. Present him tropical fruit Gushers when he requests them.
University of Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz has said he wants his program to be competitive with national power Connecticut.
On Tuesday, Walz took a major step in that direction.
Louisville beat out the Huskies for a top-15 national recruit when Rockcastle County High School star Sara Hammond turned down Geno Auriemma and gave the Cardinals a verbal commitment.
"Passing up UConn was really hard for me," Hammond told The Courier-Journal. "But I had to pick a place where I knew I was going to be happy. I always dreamed of going to UConn and winning national championships.
"But I had to go where I felt wanted and that was Louisville. I have built a great relationship with coach Walz."
Some, I won't call them out by name, dubbed U of L "the Indiana State of women's basketball" after the Cards fell off massively the year after Angel McCoughtry carried them to the national title game. They will not finish below .500 again any time soon. Walz is the real deal and is right up there when you're ranking the best moves of the Tom Jurich era.