Rumors Swirl Around Softball
Cardinal Couple tends to avoid commenting, or covering, mere rumors, but as we start to get some confirmations we will talk about them, with the caveat that nothing official has been announced yet. Today is one of those situations.
It appears as if Holly Aprile will be the next head coach of UofL Softball. Aprile will be leaving Pitt after being selected as the 2018 ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to the Coastal Division title within the ACC and meeting the eventual National Champions, Florida State in the ACC Championship game. She is also responsible for growing the program from essentially a non-entity, to advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in 2015.
Holly has been the head coach at Pitt since 2009 after being elevated to the position after her stint as an assistant that began in 2004. The Panthers finished last season 16-6 in ACC play, and 33-18 overall.
Prior to her time at Pitt, Aprile was an assistant coach at South Carolina for 9 years. She brings to Louisville solid experience with ACC play, having been with Pitt since the school joined the ACC at the same time Louisville did, and her experience in the Softball powerhouse SEC conference when she was at South Carolina can only be considered a positive as well.
Aprile played ball at UMass as a pitcher and outfielder, and was selected as a first team all conference player in the A-10 all four years she played, as well as being selected A-10 player of the year twice. Her senior year at UMass, she lead the team to the WCWS. She was a member of the US National Softball team from 1993 to 1999.Academically, she received her Bachelors in Sports Management from UMass, and earned a Masters in Political Science at Eastern Illinois where she was a graduate assistant coach.
All in all, I think it will be a great hire for UofL Softball to bring in a successful coach, that knows the ACC and has succeeded in it, to a school that is hungry for post-season success, and an Administration that has already demonstrated support for all sports, including Softball.
It is interesting that a tweet making the statement about Aprile did include a link to pittsburghpanthers.com. Following that link, though, revealed that the link was no longer available....producing one of those "404 - It looks like you're lost" responses. One might speculate that they are waiting for Louisville to make the official announcement, and that would make sense.
You can go to: https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2018/07/08/report-pitt-loses-softball-coach-to-louisville/ though. They seem to think it is a done deal. We've also received confirmation from a former associate of the Softball program. We'll wait and see.
We'll offer a "Welcome to the Ville" congratulations to Holly, if, in fact, it is a reality.
It is interesting that a tweet making the statement about Aprile did include a link to pittsburghpanthers.com. Following that link, though, revealed that the link was no longer available....producing one of those "404 - It looks like you're lost" responses. One might speculate that they are waiting for Louisville to make the official announcement, and that would make sense.
You can go to: https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2018/07/08/report-pitt-loses-softball-coach-to-louisville/ though. They seem to think it is a done deal. We've also received confirmation from a former associate of the Softball program. We'll wait and see.
We'll offer a "Welcome to the Ville" congratulations to Holly, if, in fact, it is a reality.
There is no word, yet, on when Aprile will be officially announced at UofL.
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JMcA
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