Cardinals getting a tutorial on the Flyers
Louisville picking up tips from former Dayton recruit.
ALBANY, N.Y .— As they watched their side of the NCAA Tournament bracket unfold, the Louisville players admit they were not contemplating a matchup with the seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers today.
“Honestly, we were more excited to get a chance to play Kentucky again,” freshman forward Sydney Brackemyre said of their instate rival, which had beaten them 77-68 in early December.
“But then when Dayton advanced, I was equally excited. I know the Flyers.”
A Clinton Massie High School graduate, Brackemyre said she grew up going to UD women’s games with her parents. She knows many of the Flyers and was heavily recruited by Dayton.
She didn’t play this year because in the preseason she had reconstructive surgery on the same knee in which she tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus as a high school junior. She’s spent the season rehabilitating and cheering her team on from the bench and now she’s become the No. 3 seed Cardinals’ biggest resource when it comes to all things Flyers.
“They’re all great girls — I know most of them,” the 6-foot-1 Brackemyre said as she sat in the Louisville dressing room at the Times Union Center on Friday. “I played against Kelley Austria in AAU and against some of the younger girls, too.
“And Ally Malott was my host when I was recruited there. I liked Dayton because it was close to home and Jim Jabir is just an amazing coach. I loved his staff, too, and the campus is beautiful.
“Dayton was in my top three. So was Michigan. But I chose Louisville because it seemed like a better option for me. I wanted a chance to play for a national championship.”
Over the past seven years, Louisville has played in the national title game twice and last year went to the Elite Eight.
Yet, when asked if that gave his team an edge over the Flyers, who are playing in their first Sweet 16, Cardinals’ coach Jeff Walz shook his head:
“I don’t think it’s that big of an advantage. Eight years ago when we went to our first Sweet 16, we were fortunate enough to play in New Orleans against North Carolina and we actually led most of that ballgame.
“When you get to this point in time I don’t think your kids even know what round they’re playing in. It’s just the next team you have to face.
“The ball is the same size, the court is the same length, everything is the same. And that’s why I think (today) is going to be a great game between two great teams.
“They shoot the ball extremely well. They’ve got great size, great guard play. We know we’ll have our hands full.”
Walz said in some ways the Flyers remind him of Villanova because of the number of 3-point shots (16.5 per game) they take:
“Now they play a lot faster (than Villanova) and we’ll have to locate all five of their kids in transition. With them you can’t run to the paint and work your way out. You have to work yourself to the 3point line and then work in. You’ve got to make them put the ball on the floor and go to the basket, even though they’ve got players that are very capable of doing that.
“But if you allow them to get their feet set and stand behind the 3-point line, it’s normally not going to be a good day for you. We know we’ll have to play at the highest level against them or we’re the ones who will be going home.
“Trust me, we all understand how talented Dayton is.”
And if they didn’t before, thanks to Sydney Brackemyre they do now.