All Entries Tagged With: "Chauntise Wright"

Louisville Women’s Basketball Finale In Freedom Hall

Nostalgia doesn’t count for much on the scoreboard. 

The Freedom Hall farewell tour continues this weekend with the University of Louisville women’s basketball team taking on South Florida at 2 p.m. Saturday.

No happy ending for the Lady Cards. No chance of returning to the NCAA tourney, none. There’s the Big East Tournament, of course, but that belongs to UConn barring an implosion of epic proportions. The women’s NIT is a long shot at best. So the remaining challenge is to get to .500 on the season.

What fans will see is a team that has struggled with more than its share of injuries in getting to a 13-14 won-lost record. What will also be on display could be the nucleus of a future powerhouse. The only senior is Chauntise Wright who played  sparingly before the NCAA declared that her eligibility had expired.

Coach Jeff Walz has a top five recruiting class reporting next season to go with a group of seasoned veterans, including Dez Bird recovering from injuries.

For Sonja’s take on the Lady Cards’ legacy in Freedom Hall, go here.

Go Shelby.

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NCAA Ruling On Wright Possible By Friday

By Sonja Sykes

Bonus points for you if you noticed that Chauntise Wright was in street clothes during the University of Louisville women’s basketball team’s win over Providence Sunday. The reason, though, is not injury or discipline related. The NCAA is deciding whether Tise has used up her college eligibility.

Chauntise Wright

Wright came to Louisville in the fall semester of 2005 but wasn’t eligible to play until the second semester, seeing action in 16 games as a backup center. Still playing backup center in the 2006-07 season, Tise played in all 33 games, leading the team in field goal percentage while averaging about seven points a game.

Then Jeff Walz came to Louisville, inserting her into the starting lineup. She responded with 11.4 points a game and led the Big East in field goal percentage. It looked she was headed toward a banner senior year. But fate stepped in. She was hit by a car crossing Floyd Street in the summer of 2008. Although she recovered in time for fall practice, she blew out her knee in preseason practice. Out for the year, missing the 2008-09 season.

She returned this season but the NCAA made it clear that, in their eyes, she had only one semester of eligibility.  The Cards petitioned for the entire year and submitted almost 200 pages of documentation and precedents, seeking one more semester for Wright.

Regardless of what happens, Tise will get her degree and will have some great memories. One would hope the NCAA gives her the chance to end her career on the court and not on the bench.

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The Waiting Game Continues

No word of any preemptive news conferences this week so Tom Jurich is apparently keeping his word about waiting until after the season to make any pronouncements about Steve Kragthorpe’s future at the University of Louisville.

Actually, Jurich said he would “evaluate” after the season.  But his mind was set several weeks ago. So why wait? The delay only postpones the inevitable firing.

If Jurich has already picked a successor, the obvious reason not to name a quick replacement to Kragthorpe is that the next coach has another game or two on the schedule. No smart coach would want to hit his current players over the head with bad news until the season is done.

An early announcement of a firing, however, would be tremendous from a U of L fan’s perspective, giving one reason for hope and plenty of motivation to attend the 11 a.m. game against Rutgers this Friday.

But that’s not going to happen, and there will be a crappy turnout for the seniors. Just more ammo for Jurich when he meets with Kragthorpe to communicate why the dismissal is essential.

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Belated Happy Birthday wishes to Kenny Klein, sports information director, who turned one year older Saturday. Nice gift, that reported Lexus from Coach Rick Piino.

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Tise is back. Chauntise Wright, the big 6-foot-3 center for the Lady Cards, is rounding back into shape. Finally. She was a  force, tossing in 15 points and grabbing four rebounds in 16 minutes in U of L’s 85-54 win over Tennessee Tech. See Sonja’s account here.

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The Volley Cards are back, too, eliminating Notre Dame and Cincinnati over the weekend to win their third Big East Tournament in five years.  Big East Freshman of the Year Lola Arslanbekova racked up a conference record 25 kills.

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Ken Lolla’s soccer team is gone, falling short of expectations, dropping a 2-0 decision in NCAA tourney action to Indiana University, a team U of L had drubbed 4-0 two weeks ago.

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A Few Softball Questions For Jeff Walz

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Big Detour For The Tise

Much of the fun of attending University of Louisville women’s basketball games the last two seasons has been watching Chauntise Wright have her way in the middle. With her 6-foot-3 wide body, she is an intimidating force for opposing centers, doing the pushing instead of the relenting, a force with which to be reckoned Unfortunately for Tise and her many fans, Chauntise went down hard Friday, suffering a season-ending torn ligament, a major blow in the gut to the Lady Cards.

By Sonja Sykes

Things that stand out about Chauntise “Tise”  Wright: Off the court are her big smile and playful nature. On the court she is calm and businesslike, a warrior dominating the paint on both ends of the court. Tise will need all of those qualities the next few months as she goes through surgery and rehabilitation … not only to keep mind and demeanor in tact, but for the sake of her teammates who begin the season without her in six days.

For Tise, it’s just one more delay in her journey at the University of Louisville and hopefully not her final destination.  Tom Collen recruited the Forestville, Maryland high schooler to Louisville with hopes of turning her into the type of dominating center that top teams in women’s college basketball usually have on their rosters. Collen already had a pretty decent pivot player already in Jazz Covington but he envisioned a future battleship in the middle.

The first season was delayed, Tise becoming eligible only after the fall semester. There were things for her to work on — a tuneup, if you will, before she got on the road. Weight to be lost, conditioning to work on, defensive skills to be  improved. There were the shining moments, 23 points and  9 rebounds in one game, but she couldn’t keep pace in games against powerhouse schools.

Tise she continued to work on her game along with Angel McCoughtry, another Maryland freshman, seemingly too skinny to have much of an impact. Angel and Tise began together, and they would be counted on as the journey continued.

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