Louisville women's basketball adds Utah Valley State's Josie Williams from transfer portal

Louisville women's basketball has added depth to its front court with the signing of Utah Valley State center Josie Williams.

"We are thrilled to add Josie to our Cardinal family," Cardinals coach Jeff Walz said in a press release announcing the move Thursday morning. "She brings experience and depth to our front court. We are excited to get her on campus as soon as we can."

What did Josie Williams do at Utah Valley State?

Williams was a three-year starter at Utah Valley State and averaged 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists during her time with the Wolverines. The 6-foot-5 Utah native set a single-season school record with 24 double-doubles and ranked fourth in the country in rebounding this past year. Her 17.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 53% shooting from the field earned her back-to-back All-Western Athletic Conference first-team honors.

Utah Valley State finished 16-15 (10-8 WAC).

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What does Williams bring to the Cardinals?

The group will look to make up for production after losing guard Kianna Smith and forward Emily Engstler to the WNBA draft following its fourth Final Four run under Walz. Engstler and Smith were two of the team's three leading scorers with Smith averaging 12 points per game and Engstler contributing 11.9 points a game. Both were transfers and played one season with the Cardinals.

Williams' role will likely be to replace the production lost in Engstler, who led Louisville's rebounding effort with 9.4 per game, third-most in the ACC, to go along with a team-best 61 blocked shots and 93 steals on the year. Williams has a four-inch advantage on the current Indiana Fever player, making her the Cardinals' second player listed at 6-5 after Liz Dixon, who started two games last year.

If she does follow Engstler's path, Williams will be an immediate starter and contributor for the squad alongside the 6-3 Olivia Cochran, who started 32 of 33 games played last year and contributed 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.

On a team full of players with scoring ability, rebounding would likely be Williams' initial sweet spot after a season where the Cardinals had the eighth-best rebounding offense and third-best rebounding defense in the ACC. The Cardinals also had a +5.10 rebounding margin, which ranked fifth in the ACC.

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Who else have the Cardinals added for 2022-23?

Williams is the third transfer Walz has added this offseason, joining former Syracuse guard Chrislyn Carr and Florida State transfer guard Morgan Jones, who ESPN ranked as the seventh and fifth-most impactful transfers, respectively. Last month, ESPN also ranked Louisville ninth in the way-too-early Top 25 poll for 2022-23.

The Cardinals' incoming 2022 class also includes freshmen guards Jayln Brown and Zyanna Walker as well as forwards Nyla Harris and Imani Lester. 

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.