The final word on WBB Big East 2012 Tourney...Yelin to Buffs...Scholarships...

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

Julie Hermann attends
 a lot of women's sports
events at UofL each year.

-We hear from Julie Hermann

-Leonid Yelin to Colorado

-Would Pitino's 'walk-on' move been duplicated by Walz?

Julie Hermann is the Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Louisville. She's also a pretty friendly and interesting person to talk to if you run into to her at a UofL women's athletic event. Chances are you will, she attends 100's of them every year. Her recognition by Cardinal fans is nearly
100%...we asked 12 random Cardinal fans a few months ago..."Have you heard of Julie Hermann" and 11 of them were correctly able to identify her. The
lone 'unable to identify' guessed she was a UofL women's basketball recruit. Yep, we're all ate up with this UofL women's basketball team...for sure.

We posed a question to Julie last night about the confusion over the 2012 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament...via e-mail...and had our answer within two hours. Pretty impressive stuff, Ms.Hermann...It takes Paul longer than that to spell check and re-write a three paragraph article.

Here is the final and definitive response to the question. We'll let nature take its course from here and see what the BIG EAST decides on. Julie writes:

"Paul...the associate commissioner misrepresented the process that started the confusion. She has since corrected it on the original blog. Believe me, if Tom (Jurich) could host it or was given that opportunity, we would ABSOLUTELY be "ready" thanks to our fans and the KFC YUM!"

So, there you go. We're still going to prognosticate that it'll be held in Hartford...but we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised by different news on the subject. We'll update your here at CARDINAL COUPLE on further developments and we thank Julie for her timely, informative and clear response.

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Looks like retirement didn't set too well with former UofL Volleyball head coach Leonid Yelin. Word comes out of Boulder, Colorado  that Yelin has been named an assistant coach for the Colorado Buffaloes volleyball program. Liz Kritza, head volleyball coach at Colorado, comments:

Gwen Rucker is a stand-out
volleyball player at UofL and
will be coached by Anne Kordes
this year.

"Adding a coach of Leonid's caliber and experience is a significant step for this program. The success he has had at every stop and the wealth of experience he has in building programs into national contenders will be integral to the future success here at CU."

Yelin, who was the head coach at Louisville for 15 years, recorded a 366-112 record at Louisville. The Cards made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances during his stay here. He had this to say about his new job:

"I am very happy to be a part of the University of Colorado athletics family. Coming to a great school with a strong academic reputation as well as a very respectable athletic tradition is something I am very excited about. With the move to the Pac-12, the best conference in the nation, I feel a new era is dawning for all the athletic programs here, especially for women's volleyball."

We wish Yelin all the success in his new job with the Buffs and thank him for his years of hard work and contributions to the Cardinal volleyball program. Although we're not quite sure that the Pac-10 is "the best conference" in Volleyball..especially considering the successes that Penn State has had in the Big 10...we're certain that Yelin will attempt to help the Buffs improve upon the 13-42 record they've complied in the past two years.

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Rick Pitino announced yesterday that three Cardinal men's basketball players would give up their scholarships and take the role of "walk-on" players to help the men's basketball team meet the requirements of only 13 scholarship players on a squad. Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith and Elijah Justice...all key contributors for the Cards last year...assume the new classifications.

It led us to start thinking about the situation with the women's basketball program at UofL. Jeff Walz has assembled a large and quality group of Lady Cards for the 2011-12 season. 15 players and 15 schollys available. We have to think, though...what if there hadn't been transfers out of the program this spring?



Would Shelby Harper been a candidate for walk-on status or a red shirt?



WE see it as Walz having several options. He could have followed Pitino's suit and ask a couple of the ladies to be walk-ons. He could have a couple of them take a red-shirt year.  We don't envision any more transfers out of the program this year....three of those have occurred already (Rachel Story, Polly Harrington and Nikki Burton).

An interesting situation ahead for the Lady Cards and a far cry from just a couple of seasons ago when Walz's team was vastly depleted in the ranks of healthy players and had to accept former player Brandie Radde's offer to come back onto the roster and delay Gwen Rucker's full-time status as a volleyball player for a year.

15 for 40. We like the ratio.  

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Walz not slowing down

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-Settlement in the Banker suit vs. UofL

-Angel never rests...

-Neither does Jeff Walz

Jeff Walz has saddled up Ol' Paint and is out on the recruiting trail again..days after landing Rockcastle County star Sara Hammond. Walz, pictured right, knows that you can't rest on your laurels and is wisely using this time to make those contacts with the future stars of women's college basketball...before scheduled practices start for his Lady Cards.

Walz recently was in Oregon, getting in face time with talent in the area and also had time to attend the Hermiston Roundup rodeo while visiting. Hmmm...seems to me there's another Schimmel up in those parts. Jude Schimmel, talented point guard and younger sister of Cardinal freshman Shoni Schimmel begins her senior season of hoops for Portland Franklin High School soon and it's rumored that the siblings wouldn't mind playing a few years of college ball together.

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Angel just goes and goes...along with several of the Seattle Storm players. After completing the WNBA finals...McCoughtry packed her bags and headed to the Czech Republic to participate in the World Championships for Team USA. She flew over with USA assistant coach and head coach of the Atlanta Dream...Marynell Meadows. The Americans begin play today against Greece. Swin Cash and Sue Bird were a couple of others who did the pack the bags and go routine as well...after their Seattle team defeated the Dream in the WNBA finals. Those three are joining fellow teammates Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Diana Taurasi, Asjha Jones, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, Lindsay Whalen, Candace Dupree and Jayne Appel.

Geno Auriemma coaches...wonder if he can manage to get cooperation from the six former and current Connecticut Huskies on the squad? They picked the right jockey and horses for this race....Auriemma and the Huskies are winners and "Big Syl" is simply a beast on the boards. Angel isn't too shabby, either. Bring it back to the USA, girls.

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Former University assistant track and field coach Mary Banker has been awarded $371,875 by a Jefferson County (KY) jury...finding that she suffered retaliation after she alleged a hostile work environment. Banker claimed that she was treated differently because she was a woman and subsequently terminated from her job after complaining.

The University of Louisville is reviewing the civil-rights case's verdict and will make a decision on what to do next after the verdict is finalized. Banker was employed by UofL in September 2007 as a recruiting coordinator for both the men and women's track and field teams.

Banker had a meeting with senior associate athletic director/senior women's administrator Julie Hermann in February 2008 to discuss some issues and in April 2008 Hermann was informed by head track and field coach Ron Mann that he had decided not to renew Banker's contract. Mann told Banker in May 2008. She sued Cardinal athletic director Tom Jurich and the athletic department in August 2008. Jurich was dismissed as an individual defendant before the case went to jury...after a judge found insufficient evidence that he had personally retaliated against Banker.

Questions surfaced about her ability to do the job. Mann informed both Jurich and Banker that he was not satisfied with her job performance. Banker failed to sign a single scholarship athlete in her time on campus and Mann had to reassign most of the current athletes under her direction to other coaches.

It happens. Sometimes employees just don't work out. The sides differ on whether harassment and discrimination were a part of Banker's reason for poor job performance...but thanks to a jury of her peers...Banker won't have to worry about how well or poor she does anything for awhile. She has stated she'd like to get back into coaching eventually.

Good luck with that one...how many companies want to hire a sales person who can't sell and complains? Banker is currently employed as a waitress. She just got a huge tip, courtesy of the University of Louisville.