Louisville women’s basketball loses key player as March Madness begins

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March 20, 2026, 1:11 p.m. ET

Louisville will make its March Madness journey without reserve guard Skylar Jones.

Cardinals coach Jeff Walz announced on Friday, March 20, that Jones, a junior, is no longer with the team and will not play in any games for them in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Her bio page has been scrubbed from Louisville’s athletics site.

“She will not be participating,” Walz said. “She’s no longer with the team, so we’ve just parted ways. It’s best for both parties.”

A Chicago native, Jones transferred to Louisville last season after spending the first two years of her collegiate career at Arizona. She became a key piece of the Cardinals’ backcourt rotation, featuring in every game for the Cardinals and ranking seventh on the team with 16.6 minutes played per game.

Jones also averaged 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She had a handful of impressive scoring performances, putting up 21 points in a win over Colorado, 17 in an overtime victory at North Carolina State, 20 in a win over Ball State and 13 in a loss to Connecticut. Jones scored in the double figures 15 times this season.

Her playing time had diminished recently, as she played just five minutes in the regular season finale against Notre Dame, seven minutes in an ACC Tournament win over North Carolina and four minutes in the ACC title game loss to Duke.

“I think if you go back to the past month, it’s really not going to change much,” Walz said of his guard rotation without Jones. “We have plenty of players. I mean, at this time of year, look what Siena men did with five (players). You’re just putting your best ones out there. Unless they’re in foul trouble or they’re about to just keel over and die because they’re exhausted, you keep playing them. It’s not like you’re saving them for the next game.”

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