LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Following a stream of social media posts highlighting the disparities between how the men's and women's teams were treated by the NCAA before their respective tournaments, University of Louisville (UofL) Women's Basketball Head Coach Jeff Walz posted his own statement on Twitter Sunday.
"Throughout my career in Women's Basketball, I have witnessed many of the disparities still being experienced today," Walz said in a multi-paragraph post. Walz said, in his experience, the administration and staff at UofL are committed to consistently improving the experience for female athletes at the university.
However, he acknowledged that not all athletes have received that kind of support.
"The truth is, the experience the women on our team and our staff have at the University of Louisville is unfortunately not the norm," he said.
NCAA officials issued an apology after posts showing the differences between the weight rooms and food provided to the men's and the women's teams circulated on social media. Coach Walz called the situation a missed opportunity by the NCAA to show support for their female athletes.
"Our female athletes are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for fair and equitable treatment," he said. "Our female athletes deserve so much more than excuses, they deserve lasting change."
The UofL Women's Basketball team, a No. 2 seed, will play their first game Monday night at 8 p.m. against No. 15 Marist. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has asked the community to wear red on Monday to support the Cardinals.
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