Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir says Josie Gilvin will bring toughness to Kentucky WBB

When Josie Gilvin entered her name into the transfer portal this offseason, she was just looking for an opportunity to showcase her skills at a Power 4 program. Of course, that program would end up being Kentucky, but the transfer portal process in itself was a doozy, to say the least.

KSR talked with Gilvin’s high school coach, Donna Moir, about her portal process and what she can bring to Kentucky now that she’s here.

Moir, who has been at the helm of Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville since 1991, has led the Valkyries to eight state titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). In her playing days, she also captured a state title back in 1976. Gilvin was a part of the 2021 and 2022 teams.

When Gilvin made the decision to see where else she could play, Moir was one of the first people she contacted.

“She called by daughter, Mackenzie, who is really good friends with Josie,” Moir explained. “Josie called us and said she was going to put her name in the portal — just kind of a heads up. Would we help her — all that kind of stuff.”

According to Moir, Kentucky assistant Josh Petersen is the one who initially made contact with Gilvin’s camp. However, there were many high-profile phones inquiring about the 2024-25 All-CUSA star.

“Josh at UK reached out to my assistant, Matt Carson, and I know they reached out to Josie,” Moir mentioned. “Florida State called me, Clemson called me, Virginia Tech — a lot of SEC schools — Alabama, they were all trying to get a visit. Josie put her name in the portal, and the next day, she was at UK.”

When Gilvin heard from the Kentucky staff, she knew she had to had to get a visit in as soon as possible. After all, she grew up a proud member of Big Blue Nation.

“She has family [close to Kentucky], and she grew up a UK fan,” Moir said. “She’s got family in Lexington. She’s a Kentucky girl. I think she wanted her family and friends to be able to see her play, and I think she just loved Kentucky. She’s a perfect fit for that type of style, the type of athletes and Coach [Kenny] Brooks.”

Josie Gilvin on Instagram:

“Always will be a Kentucky Girl 💙🐱” pic.twitter.com/NARXv9rcdJ

— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) April 5, 2025

So, what can we expect from Gilvin now that she’s a Cat? Outside of the counting stats — which are impressive enough when you really crunch the numbers — Moir tells KSR that the former KHSAA Sweet 16 MVP will bring toughness to Kentucky.

“You don’t realize how tough Josie [Gilvin] is,” Moir noted. “I got to see Josie play a lot of different sports, and she was a standout cross country runner. She would run so hard she would throw up at the finish line. She would give everything she had in the tank.”

“The cool thing is, Josie grew up in a very athletic family,” Moir went on to add. “She’s the oldest of four kids. Her younger sister and her younger brother are both standout high school basketball players right now — she had to set that example. I’ve never seen everybody do just everything. You could play kickball and Josie would win. Capture the flag, she would know how to do it, and she was going to play to win. If she was going out to do a trail run, she was going to do it to win.”

Moir also admits that Gilvin was a big, big part to Sacred Heart’s success on the hardwood when she was there. She had certain intangibles then that will make her valuable at Kentucky now.

“When we got her at Sacred Heart, it was just taking her ability and molding it with other players and creating a winning atmosphere,” Moir recalled. “Josie was a huge part of our success — our standards, her character heart, the culture. She’s a very caring person, but she wants to beat you, which made it a lot of fun.”

“From day one, Josie came in and started,” Moir continued. “Just from the beginning with Josie, she was a four-year starter, state MVP. She just helped lay the culture and the standard for what Sacred Heart is.”

On top of that, Gilvin is someone that little girls in the state of Kentucky can admire and aspire to be like. They know that they can achieve their dreams if they put in the work. As Moir told KSR, “the little kids are going to look up to her”.

“She’s a good role model because she’ll put in the work and she doesn’t complain. She does it with a smile on her face,” Moir said. “When you watch her play, she has fun. It’s hard to play college basketball and do everything you got to do, but she embraces it and she loves it. She’s not going to back down from anything hard. If she makes a mistake, she’s going to own it. She’s a great teammate, and she’s coachable. I haven’t seen her and Coach Brooks interact, but he can push her, and she’s going to embrace everything about being being a good leader and teammate. She’s gonna wear the jersey proud.”