University of Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz took a jab at Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin on Twitter last month after he congratulated the University of Kentucky men’s team for making it to the Elite Eight and failed to mention the U of L women.
On Wednesday, Bevin – who hours after Walz’s tweet sent out one of congratulations to the Cardinals for making the Elite Eight – took a jab of his own. In an interview with Terry Meiners on 840-WHAS, Bevin said Walz was “outcoached” by Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma in a season-ending loss.
“I feel bad saying this, but it’s true,” Bevin said. “If he’d been a little more focused on game strategy and coaching that weekend, and a little less on this kind of silliness, the better team would have won. We got outcoached, straight up.
“We were expected to beat Connecticut and we should have beat Connecticut and its disappointing because our women’s team at Louisville was phenomenal.”
Bevin said he has tweeted about the U of L women’s team “every single year” since he has been the Governor and noted he tweeted after Louisville beat Oregon State to move into the Elite Eight but “apparently didn’t do it in a timely enough manner.”
Bevin said he has not spoken with Walz since the incident. Louisville was the No. 1 seed in the Albany, N.Y., Region and lost to No. 2 seed Connecticut in the Eight Eight.
“I have never met Jeff in my life and I wouldn’t honestly know him if I ran into him,” Bevin said. “Nor has he ever met me. It was an odd thing.”
Louisville’s women’s team beat Oregon State just a few minutes before Kentucky beat Houston in the men’s Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament. Bevin sent out a tweet about the UK men but it wasn’t until later the next afternoon – six hours after Walz sent a Tweet – that Bevin congratulated the Cardinals.
“I’ll make sure to let my players know you said congrats!” Walz tweeted to Bevin.
Bevin said he wishes Walz, who just finished his 12th year at U of L, would have been more focused on the game. U of L has been to nine Sweet Sixteen rounds of the NCAA Tournament since Walz took over the program.
“This kind of silly distraction was an unforced error on the coaching staffs part that in hindsight they should be regretting,” Bevin said. “Let me just say this, how many texts did you see that weekend from Geno? None.”