Kentucky Governor Congratulates Louisville Women's Team After Jeff Walz Calls Him Out

Gov. Matt Bevin initially appeared to overlook the women's team while praising Kentucky's men's team for the same accomplishment.

Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz made sure to remind Kentucky governor Matt Bevin of his team's achievements on Saturday.

Walz called out Matt Bevin after the governor took to Twitter on Friday night to congratulate the Kentucky men's basketball team on its trip to the Elite Eight but overlooked Louisville's similar accomplishment. The Cardinals are one win away from the Final Four after beating Oregon State 61–44 in the Sweet 16.

Elite 8! Congratulations to the @KentuckyMBB and #BBN

— Governor Matt Bevin (2015-2019) (@GovMattBevin) March 30, 2019

"Thought you might want to know you have a group of young women that will be playing in the Elite 8 Sunday also," Walz directed at Bevin in his own tweet. "I'll make sure to let my players know you said congrats!" 

@GovMattBevin thought you might want to know you have a group of young women @UofLWBB that will be playing in the Elite 8 Sunday also. I’ll make sure to let my players know you said congrats! 🤦🏻‍♂️

— @coachjeffwalz (@CoachJeffWalz) March 30, 2019

While Bevin did not acknowledge Walz's tweet directly, he did later praise the Cardinals.

Congratulations to a great team @uoflwbb, as they advance to the Elite 8!
So happy for my good friend @UofLPresNeeli and for all of Cards Nation... https://t.co/qXB8qUudQv

— Governor Matt Bevin (2015-2019) (@GovMattBevin) March 30, 2019

"I was just trying to be helpful," Walz said on Saturday. "I mean, you know, it's our second year in a row. We went to a Final Four last year, and I'm not sure he knew there was a women's basketball team at Louisville or in the state."

"He was tweeting at Kentucky men for advancing, and I didn't say anything last year, and that's fine," Walz added. "But I thought, you know what, these young women are pretty impressive, and I think as our governor, if you're going to tweet at a men's basketball team at any school, you should at least have someone hopefully letting you know that, hey, there are women that play, too, and you've got a pretty good program at Louisville that advanced to the Sweet 16. I saw today he did tweet our president, which was very nice of him, to congratulate us on getting to the Elite Eight."

Louisville will take on UConn on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.