It turns out seniors Shay Doron and Aurelie Noirez won’t be the only ones leaving the Terrapin women’s basketball team after all.
Yesterday afternoon, Louisville announced that Jeff Walz, an assistant coach here since 2002, will take over the Cardinals head coaching job next season.
It was only a matter of time before Walz, 35, found a head coach position he liked. Instead of jumping at other offers, the Kentucky native stayed patient and landed a job at a Big East school in his home state.
He takes over for Tom Collen, who led Louisville to its third straight NCAA tournament appearance before leaving for Arkansas.
Walz did not return multiple phone calls.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the addition of Jeff to our athletic family,” said Tom Jurich, Louisville vice president and director of athletics. “This addition gives us long-term stability with our rising program in one of the finest conferences in the nation.”
Walz had previous assistant jobs at Minnesota, Nebraska and Western Kentucky, and he played for Northern Kentucky from 1990-93.
While head coach Brenda Frese took care of most of the recruiting, Walz was more of an X’s and O’s coach for the Terps. He often ran practice when Frese was on recruiting trips and was very vocal throughout games.
Walz doesn’t have to worry about rebuilding as he and Frese did when they came to this university. The Cardinals were a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament this year, reaching the second round before losing to Arizona State.
Collen left Walz a team with both youth and experience that will return four starters next season.
“I’m ecstatic for him,” Frese said. “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. Just patiently waiting for him and he’s going back to home roots of Kentucky. … Patience paid off. He could have taken any job at any point, but he wanted to make it the right fit.”
Oftentimes, assistant coaches suffer when their teams go deep in the postseason because teams with job openings aren’t willing to wait to make their hire. Walz may have run into that situation last year with the Terps in the final four, but the early exit this season gave Louisville plenty of time to discuss terms with him.
With Walz now at Louisville, the Terps are on the lookout for potential coaches to hire to fill his void.
“We’ll go through the normal hiring process,” Frese said. “Look for someone with a wealth of experience, and we can take time and go on a national search. It’s a very attractive job to come here.”
Although Walz has been Frese’s right-hand man for six years, the Terps’ head coach said she is not concerned about any negative effects his absence might leave.
“Change is always for the positive,” Frese said.
For Walz, who gets to return home and lead his own team for the first time, that statement could not be any more true.
Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.
