Louisville Women’s Basketball: A Look Ahead at the 2024–25 Team
LOUISVILLE, KY: The prognosis for the Louisville women’s basketball team’s 2024–25 campaign has changed somewhat in a little period of time.
Even though our last post was only two and a half weeks ago, the Cardinals have been actively managing their roster and acquiring talent. During that time, Louisville has added a high school prospect, acquired another player, and lost one to the portal.
Due to this, Louisville currently has 14 scholarship players, one fewer than the 15 scholarship players for women’s basketball that the NCAA has allotted.
While UofL continues to actively search the web for more players to maybe fill the final position, let’s look at the present makeup of this team for the time being.
Arrivals and Departures
After former Miami guard Ja’Leah Williams committed to the Louisville Cardinals on April 16, one of the best defenders in the ACC was signed by Louisville last week, strengthening their backcourt. She averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field in her 30 games played, 18 of which she started. She was excellent and led the Canes with 1.67 steals per game.
It goes without saying that the portal both gives and takes. On April 18, exactly one week ago, guard Eylia Love made the decision to return to the transfer portal. She began her career at Georgia Tech then transferred to Louisville in the middle of the 2022–2023 campaign. She made 31 bench appearances last year, averaging 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds.
However, the fireworks arrived early during Thunder Over Louisville this past weekend, as the Cardinals responded to Love’s departure by bringing in one of the top high school players in the 2024 class. Imari Berry, a McDonald’s All-American and five-star prospect out of Clarksville High School in Tennessee, verbally committed to and ultimately signed with the Cardinals.
Chart of Projected Depth
Here’s a preliminary look at Louisville’s depth chart for the upcoming season based on what we currently know about the team:
- Point Guard: Jayda Curry, Izela Arenas
- Shooting Guard: Ja’Leah Williams, Imari Berry, Tajianna Roberts
- Guard/Forward: Merrissah Russell, Mackenly Randolph, Reagan Bender
- Power Forward: Nyla Harris, Anaya Hardy
- Center: Olivia Cochran, Elif Istanbulluoglu, Isla Juffermans, Eseosa Imafidon
While losing both of your normal starting backcourt players in Taylor and Rickards is obviously devastating, Louisville will have some guard continuity coming into the upcoming year in Jayda Curry and Merrissah Russell. Curry showed that she could be a dependable scorer, passer, and three-point shooter while serving as Louisville’s go-to bench option in the backcourt and as their sixth player overall. All she needs to do is focus on getting better at shooting overall and reducing turnovers. Russell is a major deal, even though her season-long stat line might not catch everyone’s attention. Not to add, she has good potential for scoring and grabbing rebounds.
Following those two are three extremely gifted freshmen: Tajianna Roberts, Imari Berry, and
As of this writing, Louisville’s wing has several questions as well as promise. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Russell play some at the three in some smaller lines after Love was lost to the portal. However, Reagan Bender and Mackenly Randolph, two extremely gifted freshmen alternatives for Louisville at the wing, are similar to those in the backcourt.
Randolph, a McDonald’s All-American who averaged a double-double as a senior, is ranked No. 21 by ESPN HoopGurlz. She is the one who will likely receive regular early playing time among Louisville’s incoming freshmen. Bender, a contestant for Miss Basketball, might also establish herself early due to her strength as a rebounder and three-point shooter, but she probably has longerOlivia Cochran and Nyla Harris, two important players back for Louisville in the front court, will probably be their biggest assets going into the upcoming campaign. Cochran, who is returning for one more season, is the Cardinals’ co-leading rebounder, scoring runner-up, and leader in blocks from the previous campaign.
He will probably be the focal point of any effort to lead Louisville back to a deep March run. She will, however, need to reduce her turnover rate, as it was a team issue in 2023–2024, just like with Curry. Harris made significant progress this season after establishing himself as an X-factor in the 2022–23 starting lineup. She changed from being a standout performer in areas that don’t appear on the stat sheet to a steady low post.
