My thoughts on HVL

[phenderson]

1. She was leading (or 2nd Leading) scorer in ACC
2. She was honorable Mention All-American and 1st team all ACC
3. She did an excellent job for CJW and our program and she was an Excellent Ambassador for the ACC, Women's CBB, and the University of Louisville.
4. Some of us, myself included, were hard on her, because she not only shot the ball alot, she was very inefficient in her scoring and shooter at times... and she was very turnover prone.
5. I also realize she was very inefficient because she would draw opposing teams' best defender(s) and she was often times, our only "for sure" scorer and she was probably tired from carrying such a heavy load in scoring and defending.
6. You could count on HVL to score 20 points... as she was the most "for sure" thing on the court
7. At the end of the day, she just needed more help. She didn't have a Khianna Smith and Elizabeth Engstler this year... So she had no real interior defensive help or scorers around her.
8. That being said, she won't make or break our program.
9. EE, KS, Evans, Schimmel, Durr, MHA, etc.. left our program, all more decorated than the last... and NONE of them broke our program. At the end of the day, Jeff has averaged 1 Final Four Appearance for every senior class... over the last 12 years... which is PHENOMENAL!!!
10. The only person who could legitimately stop our moment, kill our status, or really freeze us up for failure would Jeff Waltz and his possibly leaving for greener pastures or due to a scandal

I really feel like we heading into a new Era of bball which is slowly pushing the "long haul" teachers and developers out into the cold on the men's side. Its because the NBA, NIL, and the new Transfer rules have made it so that a player who wants to get into the league or get better, or get more money FASTER, can move around.
On the women's side, its about money and exposure. Its just the honest truth, Women's CBB has the potential to generate more exposure and revenue for their players than WNBA, and its each of the programs have built-in fan bases from Football, Men's BBall... etc. A team like Iowa had starving fans... because their Football program was junk, and so was their men's. Women's bballl allowed their state pride to increase where the men's didn't.

NIL is big... so is social media. Its not necessarily about the fans having to pay through initiatives and groups, so much as it is about Corporations and Sponsors targeting Louisville and our players as a road to success increase in their own sales. Addidas is huge for this and will get bigger.

HVL will probably end up in Pullman or Seattle. I would not be shocked to see her head to Gonzaga... Or she could head to UCLA or USC... none of it would shock me. I appreciate her being here... and am not happy to see her go... This is probably how Damion Lee's former team felt when he left them...although under less successful circumstances.

Happy Travels HVL.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I can see her go out west to be close to her family, maybe playing in Washington during the tournament made her homesick. If it exposure and a good NIL deal she wanted she had that at Louisville. If she goes anywhere west of the Mississippi she will not have the same exposure she had at Louisville. Nobody east of the Mississippi watches PAC12 sports the timeframe is not friendly to viewers.

 

[Birdie King]

I can see her go out west to be close to her family, maybe playing in Washington during the tournament made her homesick. If it exposure and a good NIL deal she wanted she had that at Louisville. If she goes anywhere west of the Mississippi she will not have the same exposure she had at Louisville. Nobody east of the Mississippi watches PAC12 sports the timeframe is not friendly to viewers.

You are right Koz about lack of viewership for West Coast hoops and I doubt anyone out that way can improve her NIL deal. You left out Stanford which is a national brand in Women's hoops. Honestly, I'm still scratching my head over this.

 

[KozmasAgain]

Stanford is having their problems as well so there would be an opening but they wouldn’t be a title contender. They lost a lot last year and this past year. I read an article that was saying when Ole Miss beat them in the tournament it was no surprise to insiders. They had been struggling for a month prior to the tournament. On top of that they lost their 3 top players this year so they are in a rebuild mode as well.

 

[2330859]

Just an opinion, but HVL‘s decision to transfer was influenced more by her father. I think HVL (and her father) may discover they made a mistake if they expect that HVL will advance her own role, while at the same time playing for a NC contender. She might get one or the other, but I doubt she will obtain both.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I think HVL will be fine wherever she goes but if she goes to one of the programs everyone has been talking about she won’t get the royal treatment like she did here. I might be totally wrong but I think she will end up at Stanford. They have lost a lot of players the past 2 years and this year they lost their long time guard Hailey Jones. If so she is not going to a title contender.

I don’t know what is going on at Louisville that would make so many players transfer out. Maybe some of the players thought they were good enough to be playing more. If so you prove that in practice and not during the game. Maybe something is going on behind the scenes, we all thought there was a chemistry problem most of the year.

I did notice that CJW seemed abnormally stressed most of the year but he lightened up a lot in our tournament run. He has added a couple of good additions from the transfer portal but we still need a couple of more moving parts. I would love to see CJW put everything together and make a deep run next year. That would really be a slap in the face of the ones who left.

 

[PushupMan]

Interesting scuttlebutt from Seedy K (cardchronicle contributor) about HVL, copied from his latest article:
———

Like you may have already heard what I’ve heard about She Who Is Known By HVL Alone.

There are a couple of hundred weigh-ins by the commentariat the post at CardChronicle about her transfer portal intentions. Didn’t read ‘em.

This comes second or third hand.

I’m advised the Ms. Van Lith made inquiries at the start of the school year, about what she needed to do to graduate early?

Which says — to me anyway — she’s been planning her escape for awhile.

I’m also advised she was, let us say, less than an ideal teammate as the season progressed.

 

[Birdie King]

OK, our man Seedy just threw a few more logs on the fire Also, I think Jeff knows a lot more then he is telling us. We probably won't hear any more from him until Haley announces her decision. Hopefully then he will spill his guts.

 

[KozmasAgain]

If this is true her teammates did a good job not showing it. During the course of the whole season I watched videos of HVL and her teammates smiling and celebrating with on another after the games were over. The one thing I noticed that stood out to me was Louisville vs Iowa game. HVL scored the 1st 8 points of the game and CJW took a quick timeout. He took HVL to the side and talked to her, after the timeout HVL didn’t shoot the ball for awhile. I thought then that’s not going to sit well with HVL and her father.

 

[Bardman]

I think HVL was a great player for is. However, she thinks she is an Alpha and CJW treated her like one…she isn’t. She is, IMO, a phenomenal #2. Yet, she wants the ball and wants to shoot the ball. That doesn’t make her a bad player or bad teammate. I still believe there were times she was left in the game when others got burned by something she didn’t do - like call out a screen, a switch, etc. To me, that would set off her teammates.

 

[2330859]

It’s time for me to let HVL go; she decided to leave UL, so I have decided to leave HVL. Go Cards!

 

[KozmasAgain]

I didn’t know you could enter the transfer portal and then come back, I also read you could transfer one time with no restrictions. However if you transfer more than once you have to sit out a year I guess Celeste Taylor who went from Texas to Duke who is now in the transfer portal will have to sit out a year at her next school.

 

[Birdie King]

If this is true her teammates did a good job not showing it. During the course of the whole season I watched videos of HVL and her teammates smiling and celebrating with on another after the games were over. The one thing I noticed that stood out to me was Louisville vs Iowa game. HVL scored the 1st 8 points of the game and CJW took a quick timeout. He took HVL to the side and talked to her, after the timeout HVL didn’t shoot the ball for awhile. I thought then that’s not going to sit well with HVL and her father.

 

[Birdie King]

In Seedy K's most recent article he said a friend of Jeff's stated that HVL's father was with her when she dropped the bombshell on Jeff. The timing of the meeting was not mentioned

 

[phenderson]

Interesting scuttlebutt from Seedy K (cardchronicle contributor) about HVL, copied from his latest article:
———

Like you may have already heard what I’ve heard about She Who Is Known By HVL Alone.

There are a couple of hundred weigh-ins by the commentariat the post at CardChronicle about her transfer portal intentions. Didn’t read ‘em.

This comes second or third hand.

I’m advised the Ms. Van Lith made inquiries at the start of the school year, about what she needed to do to graduate early?

Which says — to me anyway — she’s been planning her escape for awhile.

I’m also advised she was, let us say, less than an ideal teammate as the season progressed.

So we all could see issues at the beginning of the year between her and CC. It was rough watching CC, HVL, Olivia, and Jones on the floor at the same time.
There was even a rumor about HVL making a ton of NLI money, etc... and others getting jealous.
Take it from me, nothing breaks a team like jealousy. If there is no "Gel u see" then that is because there is "Jealousy".

The rumor, from the other board is that she is transferring to LSU.
I would hate that... and it would be devastating, not just for our fan base, but for Walz as well. It would cast a dark light on his coaching. She probably has many reasons why she is doing it though. I am guessing (just a guess) that sometimes women like being coached by women. Yes, I know Gino is the exception to the rule. But I think, tides are changing a bit... It will be interesting.

Its just not a good look, when you are a high profile program, with a high profile coach, and your best player leaves.. and if it is for LSU, will be because she is so competitive that she is like a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan type, who wants to play with elite players and win championships. Its in her DNA.

Someone, in another thread on another message board talked about her not being an Alpha even though Walz treated her as one. Let me tell you something... HVL is a pure Alpha. I remember watching her play, with Bueckers and Boston, and a whole SLEW of HS all-stars, in the World Games 19 and under... FINAL... it was the title game... and she literally made her mark on the game, over and over again... with rebounds and SUPER tough layups and shots at the end of regulation...
Again, she was on the floor with Naj Hillman, Caitlin Clark, Alliyah Boston, and Paige Bueckers (yeah, I know a miss-spelled a lot of names).

The point of the matter is that you could tell that HVL was not happy with the quality of play from her team mates. She wanted more... And, sadly enough, I just don't think Jeff owned up to the recruiting part these past 2 years. Its been more misses than hits. If we are all being honest, and if we take a few steps back, we would realize that we will never win titles without a loaded roster. Thats how it is in the women's game. We could get close. But you need a transcendent star just to get into the title game. I think HVL is not a transcendent, "generational" talent like some say she is, and like she hopes she is. But she definitely top 10, all time, for us... if she heads to LSU, she will be a leader, with Reece, there... she will be called upon to lead and guide younger players... just like the transfer from Missouri did, along with Reece.

I hate that she is gone. But she probably wants to go out on top with her career. It also weighed heavily on her being the heavily lifter. Yes, Mykassa was golden for us. But nobody else on the team could put things together. Jones, CC, they did ok... but never had consistent complete games. Cochran... she was and is what she is. Her game has stayed the same since her arrival. We could go through the whole list, but honestly, if you don't have a roster full of draftable players, its like you are asking to be 2nd, 3rd, or 4rth place in all things...

Hopefully, Walz understands and this lights a fire in him...on the recruiting trail, for NIL, and coaching...

 

[Birdie King]

You nailed it when you stated " If you don't have a roster full of draftable players..." Recruiting definitely needs to pick up or ELITE 8s will be our ceiling. The face of our program leaving before her Senior season certainly doesn't help. 🥺
.

 

[KozmasAgain]

We are going to have to step up recruiting and NIL money will be a main factor. I have one question if she put out to all the other teams do not contact and she knows where she is going how come it has been announced yet?

 

[Birdie King]

The suspense is building 🙃. By the way, when is the deadline for transfer portal announcements?

 

[KozmasAgain]

May 11 I believe

 

[2330859]

Disagree about any decision that HVL makes about LSU reflecting on Walz; Jeff will survive this, as well as other player developments that exceed his influence.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I wonder who reached out to HVL or did she reach out to them. If a school reached out to her I think it is a violation. I would like to know if her or her dad reached out to another school. If so I think she betrayed CJW for everything he did for her. HVL could have been one of the all time greats in Louisville basketball men’s or women’s now she will just become a footnote.

 

[phenderson]

I wonder who reached out to HVL or did she reach out to them. If a school reached out to her I think it is a violation. I would like to know if her or her dad reached out to another school. If so I think she betrayed CJW for everything he did for her. HVL could have been one of the all time greats in Louisville basketball men’s or women’s now she will just become a footnote.

Seeing how competitive she is... It would not shock me to know that she was contacted by a former team-mate somewhere, or by a company, creating back channels for her. Its a slippery slope. I don't know if it was this summer, or at the beginning of the year during conditioning and player development, but HVL probably made up her mind after seeing this team get torn down and rebuilt. It should have been a no brainer... we bring back A Smith, and some of the others and just replace EE, and take steps to move forward. But we seemed to stip a lot of parts out... which means lack of continuity... and almost rebuilding...

In Seedy K's most recent article he said a friend of Jeff's stated that HVL's father was with her when she dropped the bombshell on Jeff. The timing of the meeting was not mentioned

One thing I keep wondering about is that in his post game interview, Jeff said, 2 or 3 times, there was 1 fan behind the bench who was being a jerk.... (I am using milder words) but I wonder if that was her dad. Her Dad, and mom, look weird to me. They don't look like positive people to me. I know I am using vague words... but if you told me her dad was a belligerent cocky such-in-such, I would not be shocked. And if you told me her mom was a snobby such-in-such, I would not be shocked... But if you told me they were the 2 greatest people in the world...i would appreciate it... because we are certainly not supposed to judge books by their covers.

Disagree about any decision that HVL makes about LSU reflecting on Walz; Jeff will survive this, as well as other player developments that exceed his influence.

All I am saying is that Anyone can understand Aneesha Morrow being in the portal. She plays on a crappy team, in a crappy 1 horse conference. She wants to play at the highest level and play for titles. HVL is basically saying she wants the same thing. She is literally sending a message "I don't like how I am being coached, and I don't see this going any further if I stay here, therefore, I want to play somewhere where I can play with the best of the best against the best of the best and win a title". So the message she is sending is that Jeff is not enough. Jeff knows this, College world knows this. She has money, fame, and fortune. She has fans... She wants more and does not think she can get that at UofL. She is also sending a message that she wants to play with other Alpha's, and not be the complete center of attention both on the court and off the court. She wants to be a respected leader... and, honestly, we saw bursts of it here... and then we saw it suppressed to where Jeff made Kassa the leader, because neither HVL or CC could put aside their own differences and best interests. Its like Kasa became the mediator and guiding hand for the whole team.

No joke... it sucks but SEC is where its all at for Women's BBall, Baseball, Softball, and Football. ACC has a more top to bottom, established conference, but once McGRaw stepped down, hate her guts if you want to, but she was our own version of a Tara Vandaveer... Someone who was able to compete and win, head to head, against Gino A and Patt Summit. We need that in our conference again... Jeff has not taken those reigns. We get 7-8 teams into the Big Dance every year... but nobody has ceased those reigns yet.
Where HVL goes... I will watch her, won't necessarily root for her...but be entertained by her, like the girl from Iowa.

 

[Birdie King]

We've beat this to death since it happened so all we can do is sit back and wait for the next shoe to drop with her big announcement and when it happens I have a feeling these threads on HVL will BLOW UP !

 

[KozmasAgain]

The thing the SEC is doing and the ACC needs to follow their lead is start paying out the money. If the ACC doesn’t they will be left behind. The big money for the colleges is in men’s sports but I think the women are starting to gain more interest. Within a few more years with more exposure the money from the women’s sporting event will be well worth the investment.

 

[KozmasAgain]

Jeff wasn’t talking about HVL’s Mom and Dad after the Texas game. HVL’s Dad is not a jerk he is just passionate about his daughters game. In regards to her Mom I don’t see the same thing you see.

 

[CardX]

So we all could see issues at the beginning of the year between her and CC. It was rough watching CC, HVL, Olivia, and Jones on the floor at the same time.
There was even a rumor about HVL making a ton of NLI money, etc... and others getting jealous.
Take it from me, nothing breaks a team like jealousy. If there is no "Gel u see" then that is because there is "Jealousy".

The rumor, from the other board is that she is transferring to LSU.
I would hate that... and it would be devastating, not just for our fan base, but for Walz as well. It would cast a dark light on his coaching. She probably has many reasons why she is doing it though. I am guessing (just a guess) that sometimes women like being coached by women. Yes, I know Gino is the exception to the rule. But I think, tides are changing a bit... It will be interesting.

Its just not a good look, when you are a high profile program, with a high profile coach, and your best player leaves.. and if it is for LSU, will be because she is so competitive that she is like a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan type, who wants to play with elite players and win championships. Its in her DNA.

Someone, in another thread on another message board talked about her not being an Alpha even though Walz treated her as one. Let me tell you something... HVL is a pure Alpha. I remember watching her play, with Bueckers and Boston, and a whole SLEW of HS all-stars, in the World Games 19 and under... FINAL... it was the title game... and she literally made her mark on the game, over and over again... with rebounds and SUPER tough layups and shots at the end of regulation...
Again, she was on the floor with Naj Hillman, Caitlin Clark, Alliyah Boston, and Paige Bueckers (yeah, I know a miss-spelled a lot of names).

The point of the matter is that you could tell that HVL was not happy with the quality of play from her team mates. She wanted more... And, sadly enough, I just don't think Jeff owned up to the recruiting part these past 2 years. Its been more misses than hits. If we are all being honest, and if we take a few steps back, we would realize that we will never win titles without a loaded roster. Thats how it is in the women's game. We could get close. But you need a transcendent star just to get into the title game. I think HVL is not a transcendent, "generational" talent like some say she is, and like she hopes she is. But she definitely top 10, all time, for us... if she heads to LSU, she will be a leader, with Reece, there... she will be called upon to lead and guide younger players... just like the transfer from Missouri did, along with Reece.

I hate that she is gone. But she probably wants to go out on top with her career. It also weighed heavily on her being the heavily lifter. Yes, Mykassa was golden for us. But nobody else on the team could put things together. Jones, CC, they did ok... but never had consistent complete games. Cochran... she was and is what she is. Her game has stayed the same since her arrival. We could go through the whole list, but honestly, if you don't have a roster full of draftable players, its like you are asking to be 2nd, 3rd, or 4rth place in all things...

Hopefully, Walz understands and this lights a fire in him...on the recruiting trail, for NIL, and coaching...

View embedded media

The word on the street is that HVL will be transferring to LSU. She and Mulkey have history, and LSU ponied up major NIL $$$. I'm hearing seven figures. The "closer to home" stuff was a smoke screen.

 

[Birdie King]

The word on the street is that HVL will be transferring to LSU. She and Mulkey have history, and LSU ponied up major NIL $$$. I'm hearing seven figures. The "closer to home" stuff was a smoke screen.

This, if true, makes me SICK 🤮

 

[KozmasAgain]

So did Mulkeybrecruit her off of our roster if she did I believe that is a violation

 

[phenderson]

The thing the SEC is doing and the ACC needs to follow their lead is start paying out the money. If the ACC doesn’t they will be left behind. The big money for the colleges is in men’s sports but I think the women are starting to gain more interest. Within a few more years with more exposure the money from the women’s sporting event will be well worth the investment.

SEC has more football money across the board, by a wide gap, than every other conference out there. Even several conferences combined. They are able to pour that money into other sports.
SEC has several FLAG SHIP or STATE sponsored programs. UT, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky. South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, LSU. They also have more exposure across ALL of their sports through the lucrative television contract called the SEC Network hosted on the ESPN family of networks.

AS FOR NIL
NIL collectives see the fan bases of those states. They have been watching them for YEARS, on television, as they flock to bowls. I was in California, in LA, at the National Title game between TCU and UGA. YOU could TELL TCU was maybe the 3 or 4th (between them and Baylor) fan base in the state of Texas. Their band was smaller, the fab base made up a little over a 3rd of the stadium. Certainly not HALF. If you are a player like HVL who has massive social media presence based on your relationship with Kobe Bryant and imagine going from 2nd in the state Fanbase of University of Ky, to a school supported primarily by the entire state, like LSU.

SEC FANS => SEC TV => SEC Football Dollars =>Vendor NIL's => More topshelf players.

So at the end of the day, HVL saw how much money USC-Jr girls were making from Collectives and NIL deals, she saw where they were all making that money, and not just 1 person. She knows women's Bball is only #1 when the football and baseball teams are not playing. She sees the facilities are not as lacking. She gets to play under a woman HOF coach. She gets more exposure and more money than she would make, even on WNBA level. Because she ahs the state of Louisiana behind her, make no mistake about it, this will translate into awesome, bigger corporate endorsements from bigger companies. I don't mince words on this one... She is more polished than Angel Reece. Reece is beautiful and an awesome person too. LSU is not as bad as folks think. But when it comes to HVL, when you take a step back and understand the media industry, and then look at her face, its not just that she is white, its that she is sort of palish white\tannish white, blond haired and blue-eyed with a pretty\Angelic almost cherubic face. Caitlyn Clark, don't look that way. Neither does Paige Bueckers. This will put her as the face of many things (products and services) on many billboards and in commercials.. because she truly does have a very "marketable" face. Think about the Havanaugh Twins... OK BBall players, not all conference in ACC or Big West\MWC... but millions of dollars because of the Social media presence and their faces... got them the social media presence

 

[TheRealVille]

HVL is no longer a Cardinal and I won't follow her one bit. It's been said many a time her motivation but I don't care. What she's doing is close to being unprecedented. A senior leaves after three elite 8's and being the teams best player? Imagine Peyton Siva leaving after the 2012 final 4.

It's definitely a negative reflection on Jeff Walz and many Cards fans are not happy about that. She can't blame him for not building a powerhouse. He thought he was replacing Emily with another top wing with Morgan Jones but that turned out to be a bust.

As the years go by and HVL moves on to pro ball wherever that is, there will come a time when she will stop playing basketball. When she looks back at her basketball past, I believe she will regret having left her coach, her teammates, and her fans hanging.

 

[KozmasAgain]

All that SEC talk and all their SEC money and their network only works for some in the SEC. Not all SEC schools are top dogs half of them don’t achieve elite status or even above average status.
I agree HVL is no longer a Cardinal so I have no interest in following her. Like I posted earlier she won’t be considered one of the great basketball players in Louisville history. She will basically become a footnote in our story. If the LSU destination is true I hope she enjoys that damp molding city Baton Rouge.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I know this doesn’t mean anything but I went to the LSU board and there was nothing on there about HVL hardly anything about women’s sports. The only thing on there was photos of their title game with Iowa but no article. I guess she better get ready to take a back seat to men’s sports. They don’t have a designated site for women’s athletics like we have.

 

[phenderson]

All that SEC talk and all their SEC money and their network only works for some in the SEC. Not all SEC schools are top dogs half of them don’t achieve elite status or even above average status.
I agree HVL is no longer a Cardinal so I have no interest in following her. Like I posted earlier she won’t be considered one of the great basketball players in Louisville history. She will basically become a footnote in our story. If the LSU destination is true I hope she enjoys that damp molding city Baton Rouge.

So the gist of it is that the bowl game money goes into a pool of money and the revenue is split evenly amongst the schools. The NCAA tournament money is split evenly. The College World series money, same thing. The women's tournament don't earn diddly squat. Not much to split.

Who sends more of their conference to bowl games, every other year? SEC.
Who gets the draw for the higher paying bowls? SEC
Who has their own channel deal with ESPN? SEC
Who gets most of their TV revenue? SEC
Where do you think a lot of the TV money goes? Split amongst the schools
The revenue is all split evenly...
You right, Vandy is not a top dawg...Arkansas, Missouri, they all sort of flounder and flag along. UK, Arkansas and Missouri are better basketball schools than they are football schools... for sure. But it is the flagship football conference.

As for HVL... she is top 10, easily in our BBall Program... probably top 5.

1) Angel
2) Schimmel
4) Durr
3) HVL
5) MHA

That has more to do with how down our program was before Jeff than it does in regards to HVL being some kind of Generational player.. She is good... But when I think Generational, I think Clarke, Reece... I don't even know if HVL would ever get drafted in 1st round...

SEC revenue spike nets $54.6M for each member

Excluding bowl expenses, each Southeastern Conference school will receive roughly $54.6 million after the league's revenue grew to $777.8 million during the 2020-21 fiscal year.

www.espn.com

Here is some more food for thought:
Jeff was really complaining about NIL or the Transfer portal throughout the season. His words were along the lines of "having to recruit players under NIL being very hard, because kids go to where the money is"...

I wonder if he, and most of the team KNEW HVL was earlier than we could know or imagine? Maybe leaving, at the beginning of the year, hence the bad chemistry throughout the beginning of the season...

 

[KozmasAgain]

I just listened to a podcast about HVL leaving and his speculation is HVL wanted to run the point and bring the ball up court but she wasn’t strong enough with ball handling. CC ran the point but not well but Mykasa ran it well, HVL thought she would be runnning the point next year but then we got Jayda in the portal and she would be running the point. So the podcast insinuated that the only shot HVL has in the WNBA is to be able to run the point. He played a video of HVL talking in a post game press conference that we are losing a lot of players through graduation and some in the portal so we are going to be rebuilding but we will be alright And then she leaves. I don’t. Tut everyone has a theory.

 

[TheRealVille]

HVL will be drafted in the 1st round. Her competitiveness alone will attract teams.

No one outside of her family knows for sure why she's leaving Louisville. It's all opinion with fans. I do now think maybe she had this in her mind at the start of the season.

It's just a part of the current times. Loyalty and honesty are not as important to young people as before. It's hard to really blame them because it's the adults around them teaching them with their own behavior.

 

[KozmasAgain]

The transfer portal and NIL means all good players are up from grabs from high school until their final year in college. The only good thing is since the pay scale in the WNBA is so low that they can’t raid the college ranks at the level they are in the NBA. Players can make more money playing college ball than they can playing pro ball if they’re good enough.

 

[phenderson]

HVL will be drafted in the 1st round. Her competitiveness alone will attract teams.

No one outside of her family knows for sure why she's leaving Louisville. It's all opinion with fans. I do now think maybe she had this in her mind at the start of the season.

It's just a part of the current times. Loyalty and honesty are not as important to young people as before. It's hard to really blame them because it's the adults around them teaching them with their own behavior.

Will be interesting to see. She is no where near the player Dana Evans was. The more she had the ball in her hands, the more turnovers she made. Even in the USA title game against Sweden, she had several turnovers, some during crunch time. She has an alpha mentality. She wants to lead, and be the loudest on the floor. But she does not always come through. When I watched that game, she took more shots, over the course of the final 2 quarters than Paige Bueckers and Rhine Howard... which was weird to me. And yes, even there, she missed a lot of shots. Watching how she plays, she is a floor leader, but not a floor leader... She is a shooter, but not a pure shooter. She is a ball handler, but not an elite ball handler. She is passer, but not an elite 1. She is not a super star Bball player in the sense of the word. She needs more talent around her... and when she has that talent, like she did in those World games... she does look as bad... I remember the announcer\CC guy raving about her in crunch time... but I thought to myself... she is taking most of the shots and bring the ball up the court.. as teams focus on either Howard, or Bueckers, or Boston... they are acknowledging her and the girl from Michigan as the poison they would rather take.

Everyone in WNBA is bigger and more athletic and faster than they are in ACC or SEC... Everything about HVL is elite.... HALFWAY. She is elite shot TAKER but shot less than 40% for major chunks of the year and was volume shooter, not maker like Clark. She is an elite free throw shooter. She is an ELITE defender when the player she is defending is the best on the opposing team, but not Elite or bigger than she is. She is an elite floor general in that she knows how to cheer, and shout at others (how many times did we see her brain freeze on passes out of bounds, bad passes to players, dribbles off her foot). She is very vocal... VERY competitive. But honestly, she comes off like Clark's mini-me. She struggles against taller longer defenders... Mightily. If there is not someone else running action on our team, she gets swallowed up by opposing defenders...

I am literally not trying to dog her... I am just calling out what I see as a non-casual viewer of her game. If the draft is weak.. yes, she will be a 1st rounder... but not in top 5... more like top 15 (there is only 16 in WNBA 1st round). If she thrives at LSU... will be interesting, is all I can say. She could go higher.

We all speculate... that is what we do on boards.
I can speculate that she probably looked around, in fall practice and KNEW this would not be Jeff's best team. And as I stated before... she is a competitor. That is one thing, above all else she does... is have a tremendous amount of heart and competitive spirit. Which is what drew Kobe Bean Bryant to her... I just think, she proved, to us, that she was not capable of taking a team, on her own, to the next level, like Clark did... Clark is generational. Call her Steph Curry and Larry Byrd. Clark has the exact same "Dawg" in her as HVL... its just she backs it wayyyy up. She, and Reese, feels like they will be the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson of the WNBA, taking them to all new heights and increasing marketing revenue. Because of that display in the NBA, ALOT of WNBA teams are chomping at the bit to get Clark. She has the potential to usher in a new era of Women's BBALL on the professional level. That is what it means to be generational (once in a generation) player...

 

[KozmasAgain]

I don’t care she is no longer a Cardinal the only time I will see her play is if LSU plays Louisville.

 

[uncle_D]

Evans is top 5. HVLs game doesn’t translate well to the WNBA. Too slow and her handles aren’t good either… good college player though.

 

[phenderson]

Evans is top 5. HVLs game doesn’t translate well to the WNBA. Too slow and her handles aren’t good either… good college player though.

1) Angel
2) Schimmel
4) Durr
3) Evans
5) MHA
6) HVL

These are the multi-year players...who have the numbers.