As a season ticket holder, I already knew this about Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz. Nice of the CJ to catch up:

 Louisville’s Jeff Walz is the best active women’s basketball coach to have not won a national championship. It’s time he’s recognized as such.

That may sound like a dubious honor, to be the best at something that hasn’t been accomplished. But four Final Fours and two appearances in the title game sounds exactly like the kind of accomplishments that elevate programs from good to great.

UConn’s Geno Auriemma, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and LSU’s Kim Mulkey are the only active coaches with more Final Four appearances than Walz.

That trio has won multiple national titles, which could be why when the coaching greats of women’s basketball are discussed, Walz isn’t always in that conversation. 

But he needs to be.

Four Final Fours is Hall of Fame quality work. I was at the 2018 Final Four in Columbus, and was heartbroken by this game:

There was a bad call against Sam Fuehring that eliminated her from the game. I’m sure Louisville would have won if it wasn’t for that. Not to mention the missed layup and tip by Myisha Hines-Allen and Jazmine Jones in the final seconds of the fourth quarter that would have gotten them in the championship game. To top it off, the eventual national champion was Notre Dame, a team Louisville beat twice during the season. That year was the best chance they had at winning a national championship.

So, I look forward to the coming contests. New faces, new team, same coach.