When Louisville women's basketball tips off its NCAA Tournament opener at noon Friday, Jeff Walz will be watching in a "place that serves good brunch."

That's because the Cardinals coach can't be on the sidelines when his team takes on Robert Morris at the KFC Yum Center. Walz is serving a one-game postseason suspension for criticizing the officials during last year's tournament.

"With it being noon, I’ll probably have to find a place that serves good brunch, sit there and get a good meal and watch the ballgame," he said.

The longtime Cardinals coach had a sense of humor about the punishment Monday, likely as a result of his team's preparation since the ban was handed to him nearly a year ago.

The NCAA announced last May it suspended Walz after he "directed inappropriate comments and profane language toward committee members and NCAA staff seated at the scorer’s table" during a Final Four loss to Mississippi State two months prior.

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Walz apologized. And then knowing he would miss the Cardinals' 2019 NCAA Tournament opener, he opted to have associate head coach Stephanie Norman lead the team during one of their non-conference games earlier this season.

Norman will again be holding the clipboard for Louisville on Friday.

"We have gone through a walk-through, per se, in our non-conference," Walz said. "So I think Steph is prepared for it, the entire staff is prepared for it. I’m just more concerned for a player like (sophomore guard) Dana (Evans), who is used to looking over to the bench and seeing this good-looking face. And now, I’m hoping we have some Fatheads or something because I know that’s what inspires her.”

Evans, the ACC Conference's sixth player of the year, said Walz' absence won't "be that big of a deal."

"I think we’ll be fine cause they’ll have a good game plan for us," she said.

Walz is still involved with that game plan. He got a jump start on it Monday after the bracket was inadvertently leaked on national television hours early. He had already watched half of a Robert Morris game by the afternoon.

He called the Colonials a really good basketball team, and specifically commended the team's 6-foot-2 center, junior Nneka Ezeigbo, who averages 12.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game.

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But he said he ultimately was blown away by the team's depth — Robert Morris has six underclassmen averaging between 6 and 8 points a game.

"It’s a real balanced team," Walz said. "They’re extremely young. They play with a lot of confidence. They don’t want it to be up tempo, so we don’t want to get caught playing their pace. We’re going to have to try and speed things up.”

Louisville senior guard Asia Durr said the players would likely start planning for Robert Morris by Tuesday morning. She said nothing would change without Walz because the players trust the whole staff, and vice versa.

"It’s not just about one coach, it's not just about one player," Durr said. "It’s about the whole coaching staff and the whole team.”

Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; jsayers@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/justins.