UK Athletics Photo
Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir wants Kentucky fans to understand just how special she thinks Josie Gilvin, who won two state tourney titles and was state tourney MVP in 2021, is now that she has transferred to UK after spending three seasons at Western Kentucky.
“She is really long at 6-1 and is just a great defender. She loves to compete,” Moir said. “Kentucky fans are going to love her. She is so good with young kids and people are going to embrace her and her style of play. She never stops.
“She wanted to stay close to home and stay in state. She didn’t go visit anywhere else other than Kentucky. Western Kentucky coach Greg Collins did a really good job with her and she was torn about leaving. He was such a good mentor but she wanted to play on a bigger stage and she wanted to get to the NCAA Tournament. Getting an opportunity to be in postseason play was a big thing for her.”
Moir said a lot of coaches — Florida State, Virginia Tech, Alabama and more — called when Gilvin entered the transfer portal after averaging 13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per game last season. She shot 53.2 percent overall from the field and 41.3 percent from 3-point range.
“She was one of the top players in the portal,” Moir said. “She had really worked on her 3-point shooting for three years. She is so competitive. If you go in the backyard and play capture the flag, Wiffle ball, soccer or anything else, she doesn’t like to lose.
“Whatever it is, she will go hard because she loves to win. She was third in the state cross country meet her senior year and ran the 800 (meter dash) in track. She had two games in high school with triple-doubles for me. She is going to put her mark all the way across the stat sheet. She’s very unselfish and whatever it takes to win, she’ll do it.”
