Jeff Walz named semifinalist for Naismith Coach of the Year award

Cardinals win first outright ACC regular season championship in program history

Jeff Walz was named as one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award by the Atlanta Tipoff Club March 4.

Louisville women’s basketball won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season championship outright for the first time in program history this year. The Cardinals (27-3 overall, 16-2 in the ACC) begin play in the ACC tournament Friday.

Coach	School
Jeff Walz	Louisville
Adia Barnes	Arizona
Lisa Fortier	Gonzaga
Nell Fortner	Georgia Tech
Kelly Graves	Oregon
Joe McKeown	Northwestern
Wes Moore	North Carolina State
Dawn Plitzuweit	South Dakota
Dawn Staley	South Carolina
Kim Mulkey	Baylor

Junior Dana Evans was named ACC Player of the Year while Kylee Shook was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year for Louisville earlier this week. Evans, Shook and Jazmine Jones were named First-Team All-ACC as well. 

The list of semifinalists for the 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Award includes nine contenders that would be first-time winners for their schools. Baylor’s Kim Mulkey is the only semifinalist to have won the award before.

“The competition for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Award intensifies as the regular season comes to a close,” Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, said. “It’s an incredible challenge for our voters to differentiate one coach from another, yet that’s something we have learned to expect every year as different teams and their coaches rise to the top.”

The list will be trimmed to four finalists March 19 and the winner will be announced April 4.