This week high school seniors were able to sign their Letter of Intent and commit to play basketball at the next level. The University of Louisville Women’s Basketball program signed another highly ranked class. To introduce the ladies of the class of 2016 to the rest of Card Nation, the coaching staff put together a pretty creative video. Great to see the personalities of the coaches on display.
You may never listen to Adele the same way.
I’m away this week at church camp, but have been keeping up with Syd through her social media feed – primarily Facebook and Instagram. She posted some cool pictures on Instagram and it seems like she is relating well with the people there, despite the language barrier. Not sure how much Spanish she knows as she took French in high school.
I screen shot these from her Instagram account. Looks like she is fairing pretty well. Thanks everyone for continued prayers.
This was captioned “Honduran church service”
The caption for this one was “the ninos loved seeing their pictures”
This caption was in Spanish – “nuevos amigos en todas partes vamos”
My last post about Syd’s trip generated quite a bit of traffic, so I thought I’d share a quick update. The group has occasional WiFi connection, so Syd has put a little bit on her Facebook and Instagram.
They arrived safely after a few flight delays. Syd posted a pic and a video on her Instagram which showed some of the kids they have served through the shoe ministry. The picture to the left was sent through email giving a quick update on the group. The message said they were celebrating one of the group member’s birthdays. Looks like all is well!
Thanks to all who have been praying for the group. Below is a group pic.
For most of the summer Syd has been on campus at Louisville taking classes, working out and doing rehab on her knee. She took a break this week to go on a mission trip to Honduras with her mother’s church. They will be doing construction work and providing a shoe ministry.
The Courier-Journal, a newspaper in Louisville, ran an article on her trip. I thought that was great that they would take the time to promote Syd and her fellow travellers in this ways – until I looked at the title of said article – Sydney takes “a risky ministry trip.” Not the thing that parents want to read about.
This is a good opportunity for her and I know she is excited to be able to participate. Here’s the text of the article. I’m sure all those who are taking part in the trip and their family members back at home would appreciate prayers while they serve in Honduras.
At the time of year most teammates are on campus and focused on basketball, Louisville women’s player Sydney Brackemyre on Friday left for a city often referred to as the murder capital of the world.
The Ohio native’s home church raised $10,000 to build a worship space in a small town outside of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and with it the group took hundreds of shoes for children in the impoverished Central America nation.
“My family has just always been about service, and it’s something really important to me,” said Brackemyre, who redshirted her freshman season at U of L after suffering a preseason knee injury. “In high school, I was always so busy and working hard. I never got to go outside the country. So when this came up through my home church…I really just couldn’t turn it down.
“Coach (Jeff) Walz has been amazing letting me go because this is the time everybody is getting better. But he’s letting me go and get off campus, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Brackemyre’s trip will tally nine to 10 days, with a week in Honduras bookended by lengthy travel there. Inspired by her grandfather, who has ministered in South America and Asia, the 6-foot-1 forward said her group from Countryside Church of the Nazarene will construct the first such facility in the area.
“It’s somwhere where they really need a church,” she said. “We want to show them love and compassion — reach out to them and know this church will be available to them.”
Mostly, Brackemyre plans to work with area children, who attend a half day of school and will then open up their days to the Countryside Church group. That’s where the 500 or so pairs of shoes come in. Brackemyre and other ministers will wash kids’ feet and gift what, for some, my be their first pieces of proper footwear.
She also has planned games and activities, one in which the former five-star recruit may get to show off a bit.
“My goal is to do a sort of basketball camp,” Brackemyre said. “We’re going to take a ball and see if there’s a rim or court around there. I’d love to show the kids and teach them. I know resources are slim, but that’s something I’d love to do.”
Brackemyre still has an eye on the upcoming season. She passed a number of clearance tests the last two weeks toward a return to full playing strength back from a torn ACL and meniscus in her left knee.
“My trainers have done a really good job making sure I’m equipped to go and won’t be losing anything while I’m over there,” she said. “When I come back, I should be ready to go.”
This past Sunday, the Louisville Women’s Basketball team overcame a 10 point deficit and a bunch of turnovers to defeat #17 ranked North Carolina. It was televised on ESPN2 and showed what a great program Louisville has. There were over 13,000 at the KFC Yum! Center to watch the game and cheer on the Cards. It’s a great environment for basketball.
The team responded well in the second half and were led by one of the freshmen, Mariya Moore. She had a great game and scored a season high 28 points. ESPNW featured Mariya and the team on their Weekend Wrap. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the article, you can see it on the ESPNW Weekend Wrap.
Tonight the University of Louisville Women’s Basketball Team will be a part of ESPN’s Big Monday. They are playing at Duke and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Normally I follow the games on my SportsCenter app which is a convenient way to keep up with the score, but it’s not the same as watching it live. Of course, I would love be at Cameron watching the game, but it’s pretty exciting they will be on ESPN.
ESPN also featured a great article on the women’s program at Louisville. They are doing well in their first year in the ACC, but play both Duke and Notre Dame this month, which will both be good games. This article talks about the growth of the program and where they are headed. Click on the link to check it out: Louisville coach Walz masters art of succession
While we are still waiting for a second opinion on whether Sydney will undergo surgery, it appears that her freshmen season at U of L will be interrupted. She has been having some soreness in the repaired knee and experienced some pain while landing in practice a couple of weeks ago. She had a scan done and it seems that surgery is in her near future.
Coach Walz made mention of it on his radio show last week and the news took to Twitter and other social media. I was a little surprised that our local newspaper, the Wilmington News-Journal, picked up on it. They talked about Syd in an article which featured another Clinton County athlete who is looking to take the next step of playing football after college.
Mark Huber’s article was well-written and pointed to Syd’s faith as she moves toward potential surgery and rehab. Here is a portion of the article that appeared in the November 14, 2014, edition of the News-Journal.
I also ran across a nugget from the Louisville Courier Journal, via Google-alert, that reported Sydney Brackemyre will miss the upcoming college basketball season because of a knee injury.
The LCJ story reported Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said during his radio show that Brackemyre may not have had a major impact on the Lady Cardinals season in 2014-15 but the knee injury and subsequent surgery puts an end to her season before the first official game.
Brackemyre, a 6-1 forward, is a 2014 graduate of Clinton-Massie High School.
Both of these athletes have a strong faith in God and even though their news is on opposite ends of the spectrum, you can be certain both will take the news in stride — the good for Rollins who will not take anything for granted and keep working just as hard and the bad for Brackemyre who will likely work harder to return to form — and continue on the path they believe God has set for them.
I just saw a tweet with a link to an article on GoCards.com.
The article lists the various games that will be broadcast. There are a few games on ESPN2 and ESPN3. So, if you can’t make all the games during the season (like me), there will be some opportunities to watch at home! Go Cards!!
Here’s a copy of the article:
The University of Louisville women’s basketball program is gaining additional coverage for the 2014-15 season. The Cardinals are slated to have 22 of their games available either on television or online.
On Wednesday, it was announced that five of Louisville’s home games were selected to be broadcast on ESPN3. Games also are available on the UofL Sports Radio Network produced by Learfield Sports, including locally on WKRD (790 AM) in Louisville.
Since the 2010-11 season, Louisville has appeared on ESPN’s family of networks 45 times, including 21 last year.
The Cardinals’ contest against in-state foe Western Kentucky on Nov. 25 is the first to be produced on ESPN3 followed by the Dec. 4 matchup against Iowa, which serves as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Louisville’s next game, a Dec. 7 tilt against Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass, also will be featured on ESPN3. It marks the 50th meeting between the two programs since women’s basketball became a varsity sport at Louisville in 1975.
The other two additional games available on ESPN’s digital platform come during league play. Entering their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Cardinals’ league opener against Georgia Tech on Jan. 2 as well as the Jan. 14 game against NC State both will air on ESPN3.
Prior to the announcement, seven of Louisville’s regular-season contests were tabbed for television in addition to an ESPN3 broadcast at Florida State on Jan. 22.
The Cardinals are scheduled to make two appearances on ESPN2’s Big Monday, first at Duke on Feb. 2 and then at Notre Dame on Feb. 23 in a Play 4Kay contest. Contests against Virginia (Jan. 18), Miami (Fla.) (Jan. 25), and Virginia (March 1) are slated for RSN/FOX, and the home game against North Carolina on Feb. 15 will be broadcast on ESPN2. Louisville’s road trip to Cal on Dec. 21 was picked up to be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Louisville’s nine home games not selected for television coverage will be available to CardsTV subscribers through GoCards.com.
Louisville, ranked 12th in the Associated Press preseason poll, opens the 2014-15 campaign on the road at IUPUI on Nov. 14 before five-consecutive games at the KFC Yum! Center, beginning with UT Martin on Nov. 16.
Yesterday was Media Day for the University of Louisville Women’s Basketball program. Various members of the media were present to conduct interviews and to take picture.
There was a good interview with Coach Walz as he gave an update on where he sees the team and the things they need to do as they prepare for the start of the season. He spoke specifically about the returning players and the five freshmen that are a part of the team this year. He talked about the development that is happening with the freshmen class and speaks specifically about each individual.
I’ve listened to several interviews of Coach Walz over the past few seasons. He always has interesting things to say and includes humor in his responses. I loved this quote as he talked about recruitment: “If you are a good coach with bad players, you are a bad coach. If you have really good players, you look like a good coach.” You can watch a video of the interview on the Women’s Basketball page on gocards.com
There is also a Photo Gallery from Media Day on the website. The picture above is from the gallery. I like the ones below as well.
Looking forward to a great season!
Since the first part of June, the U of L women’s team has been conditioning and practicing getting ready for the school year and the start of the season. Coach Walz held a press conference today giving an update on the team. With the recent success of the team and the departure of several seniors, he talked about where the team is going next in light of joining the ACC this season.
There is a video of the press conference and some cute pics of Coach Walz’s little girl on the Courier-Journal site.
The Courier-Journal posted this article today.
Louisville’s women’s basketball team faces a major task in 2014-15: Replacing several major pieces of a team that reached the Elite 8 a year after making the national championship game.
On Tuesday, U of L coach Jeff Walz said his program is on task and headed in the right direction, despite the challenges presented by the departures of WNBA All-Star Shoni Schimmel, standout forward Asia Taylor and two other key seniors.
Having five freshmen ready to play is a big factor in that transition, Walz said.
“I’m really excited about where they are now and even more excited about where they’ll be in two or three months,” Walz said.
The freshman class is built around wing Mariya Moore, a McDonald’s All-American who will play for the USA under-18 team this summer. Walz is an assistant coach for that team.
Moore and fellow freshmen Sydney Brackemyre, Arica Carter, Ariana Freeman and Myisha Hines-Allen join a returning core of seniors that includes forward Sara Hammond and guards Jude Schimmel and Bria Smith.
Louisville is losing four of its top five scorers from last season, but Hammond (10.4 points per game), Smith (7.6) and Schimmel (5.6) scored their share. Hammond was the second-leading rebounder on the team; Schimmel was second in assists.
“I’m expecting more of them,” Walz said of his seniors. “I’m really excited to see what our returning players are going to do.”
Hammond in particular will play a key role this upcoming season. The 6-foot-2 post won the FIBA 3-on-3 world championships this summer, and Walz hopes that experience will translate to a larger leadership role at U of L.
“She learned to play quicker,” he said, noting that the 3-on-3 shot clocks are 12 seconds. “It really worked on her in terms of the speed of things. She’s going to have to be a leader for us. She’s got everything you need in that role.”
Walz said guards Starr Breedlove and Monny Niamke decided to transfer, though they haven’t found landing spots yet. Neither played major roles on last season’s team.
He also said Louisville’s nonconference schedule includes matchups at California and at home against Kentucky, in addition to games against Iowa, Western Kentucky and Belmont.
That slate precedes Louisville’s first season in the ACC, which Walz called, “top to bottom, without a doubt the best league in the country.”
National runner-up Notre Dame is the team to beat, with Louisville, North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse each possessing programs that regularly challenge for league titles.
But joining a new league won’t change what U of L does, Walz said, whether it’s on the court or recruiting prospects.
“It’s going to be fun,” Walz said. “It really makes for an enjoying X’s and O’s time … You’ve got to come to play every night in the ACC.”
Thoughts from a Hoosier Fan in the Buckeye Land 