University of Louisville guards Tajianna Roberts and Imari Berry keep stacking preseason recognition.
The junior backcourt duo was named Thursday afternoon to the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Watch List, according to the Atlanta TipOff Club and Naismith Awards. Both players had already landed on the Preseason All-ACC team earlier in October, and Roberts picked up another preseason nod earlier this week when she was added to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List. For Roberts, it’s the second straight year she has appeared on the Naismith Trophy watch list.
Roberts enters the season after leading Louisville in scoring last year at 11.5 points per game. She also posted a team-high 25 games with at least 10 points.
In ACC play, she paced the Cardinals with 3.5 assists per game and was one of four Louisville players to average double figures, finishing at 10.1 points per game. She recorded multiple assists in 14 of 18 ACC games, including a career-best seven in the road win over Miami.
She also had four or more assists in 10 of those 18 conference games. After the regular season, the league’s coaches named her First Team All-ACC.
Berry comes into the year as the reigning ACC Sixth Player of the Year after a strong sophomore season. She led Louisville in ACC scoring with 11.4 points per game and was one of four Cardinals to average 10 points or more across the season.
Her biggest night came Jan. 17 in an 88-80 overtime road win at NC State. Berry erupted for a career-high 33 points, with 25 of them coming in the second half and overtime after Louisville had fallen behind by 13. That was the most points by a Louisville player all last season and the most by a visiting player at Reynolds Coliseum since 2018.
Louisville now turns to its season opener Monday, November 2. The Cardinals host Bellarmine at the KFC Yum!
Center, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. ET.
The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
In Other News...
Louisville Fans Get More Bad News On Two Key Fronts
Louisvilles recruiting push took a hit when top-10 prospect Reese Alston chose LSU, leaving the Cardinals without a five-star addition in the 2027 class. It was another reminder that even when the basketball program is building momentum on the floor, the fight for elite talent keeps getting tougher, especially against a national brand that can close late.
The news did not stop there for Louisville fans, either. On the football side, the Cardinals will be without wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for Week 9 against Stanford because of injury, removing another option from the lineup as they prepare for a game that already carries plenty of importance. Taken together with a preseason basketball stretch that was unbeaten but still revealed issues in turnovers and perimeter shooting, it has been a rough few days of developments for a fan base looking for cleaner signs of progress. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville May Be Losing Ground In A Massive 5-Star Battle
DeMarcus Henrys impending decision has become one of the biggest recruiting storylines on Louisvilles radar, and the Cardinals remain firmly in the mix for a player who could change the outlook of the 2027 class. The five-star small forward is set to announce his commitment on Oct. 30, 2026, with Pat Kelseys program among four finalists alongside Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina.
The challenge for Louisville is that the race appears to be tilting elsewhere as the decision date nears. Recent reports and predictions have pointed to North Carolina as the likely landing spot, a development fueled by a Crystal Ball projection and a recruiting push that has reportedly included Michael Jordan, leaving the Cardinals in the spot no staff wants this late in a battle of this size. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Chance To Fix One Problem Against Stanford
Stanfords reboot under a new head coach and Andrew Luck as general manager has come with the expected growing pains, and one of the clearest signs has been a defense that has too often surrendered chunk plays. That gives Louisville a chance to clean up one of its own lingering issues, because the Cardinals offensive line has been uneven all season and needs a steadier showing if the offense is going to settle in and stay on schedule.
The other side of the matchup offers Louisville a separate test, though, with Stanfords Micah Ford coming in hot and needing to be accounted for on every snap. If Louisville can keep Ford from dictating the game and find a more reliable push up front against a defense that has not been getting many sacks or tackles for loss, it could be the kind of afternoon where one problem starts to look a lot more fixable. [Read more 🡒]