Louisville lands major five-star recruit for 2024-25 season
22/04/2024 03:38
The 2023-24 season was an overall solid one for the Louisville Cardinals, until they got to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals finished the season with an overall record of 24-10 and a 12-6 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play. But when they reached the NCAA Tournament, they were eliminated in the first round in an upset by Middle Tennessee. But help is on the way for the 2024-25 season for Louisville in the form of five-star recruit Imari Berry.
Imari Berry, a five-star recruit from Clarksville High School in Tennessee, announced her commitment to Louisville via a social media post. Berry had originally been committed to Clemson but ultimately withdrew her commitment.
Berry was recently named a McDonald's All-American and was also considering Kentucky and North Carolina. Berry chose to de-commit from Clemson when they let go of head coach Amanda Butler.
Louisville has been a strong women's basketball program in the ACC for the past several years. With a top incoming recruiting class coming in for this upcoming season, success should be on the table for the Cardinals.
Imari Berry highlights a strong 2024 recruiting class for Louisville.
Imari Berry's recent commitment to the Cardinals may have been their biggest name yet for their 2024 class, but they had a strong group set to arrive on campus before that. Louisville secured commitments from MacKenley Randolph and Izela Arenas. Teammates in high school at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, CA, Randolph is the daughter of former NBA player Zach Randolph while Arenas is the daughter of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas.
In addition to those three, the Cardinals have three other players coming in for their 2024 class in IMG Academy's Tajianna Roberts, Anaya Hardy from Detroit Renaissance, Reagan Bender from Sacred Heart and Isla Juffermans from Australia.
The newcomers will replace a few key departures for the Cardinals from this past season. They lost the graduate senior trio of Kiki Jefferson, Nina Rickards and Sydney Taylor. All three played pivotal roles on last season's team and Jefferson was recently selected in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx.
Louisville is also losing three players to the transfer portal. Departing the program are Alexia Mobley, Hennie von Schaik and Eylia Love. Mobley recently committed to Florida. Cardinals head coach Jeff Walz has done a good job pulling in players from the transfer portal the past couple of seasons, but now he's going to have a younger roster to work with.
Returning players Olivia Cochran, Jada Curry and Merissah Russell will give the team some veteran leadership.
Jeff Walz to continue excellence at Louisville
Under Jeff Walz, the Cardinals have been a force in college basketball. This past season notwithstanding, they've been an NCAA Tournament staple making several deep runs. Walz has been the head coach of the Cardinals since 2007 when they were still in the Big East.
Over 17 seasons at the helm, Walz has amassed a record of 464-135. He's led the Cardinals to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances during that time which includes two appearances in the national championship game.
The post Louisville lands major five-star recruit for 2024-25 season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
