Louisville's expectations for the 2022-23 season have been greeted by disappointment after a 5-4 start to the season. To make matters worse, the program just lost former five-star recruit Payton Verhulst, who announced she is transferring to Oklahoma.

Cardinals head coach Jeff Walz elaborated on the situation after the team's 67-49 loss to unranked Middle Tennessee.

“She was just looking for some more opportunities to play and then just decided to transfer,” coach Jeff Walz told reporters after the game. “I’ve never been one to force some kid or try and force them to stay. I wasn’t going to do it. We wished her absolutely the best and hope she has great success.”

Verhulst hasn't received as much playing time as she envisioned coming into the program. This season, she is averaging 6.4 points and 1.5 rebounds while playing 15 minutes per game. Verhulst will not be eligible to play for the Sooners this year but gets a chance to restart her college career in the 2023-24 season.

This season has been rough for Louisville, who behind Hannah van Lith entered the year as the Associated Press' No. 7 ranked team in the country. They have now fallen out of the top-25 all together since.

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“It’s not much fun to be sitting here 5-4,” Walz told reporters on Sunday. “So, we’re just going to have to get back to work and keep grinding. It’s going to be a year if we want to be successful that we’re going to have to grind it out and get really tough.”

Louisville's next game is tomorrow against Bellamine.