The big change Kenny Brooks has brought to UK women’s basketball? One look reveals it

The impact new Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks will have on the Wildcats win/loss record in 2024-25 is still to be determined, of course. But already very much in evidence is the influence the ex-Virginia Tech head man has had on Kentucky’s roster construction.

Brooks’ first UK team is tall — really, really tall.

Of Kentucky’s 13 players, eight stand 6-foot-1 or taller; four are at least 6-3; and two are 6-5 or taller.

Last week, during UK women’s basketball media day, Brooks shared that he had recently tried out a lineup in practice that surrounded 5-foot-6 All-America point guard Georgia Amoore with the 6-3 Amelia Hassett and 6-4 Teonni Key on the wings and the 6-5 Clara (pronounced Clair-uh) Strack and the 6-7 Clara (pronounced Clarh-uh) Silva as posts.

“That’s a really tall team for a lot of men’s mid-major programs,” Brooks said. “So for us to be able to put that out there, have that capability, it’s a lot of fun.”

For longtime observers of Kentucky women’s basketball, it is disorienting to see so many tall players on a UK roster. Across the years, the Wildcats have had persistent difficulty recruiting taller players. Given that reality, former Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell ultimately oriented his program around guard-centric rosters that pressed full court.

Largely thanks to his role in developing the 6-5 Elizabeth Kitley into an All-American at Virginia Tech, Brooks has recruiting access to talented bigs that UK has never before consistently had.

Strack followed Brooks to UK from Virginia Tech. Pressed into a starting role at Tech for last season’s NCAA Tournament after Kitley was sidelined by a torn ACL, Strack averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and three blocks in the Hokies’ two March Madness contests. She made 13 of 15 shots in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think she’s continued on that stretch,” Brooks said of Strack, a sophomore from Buffalo, N.Y. “… I just have to see it consistently.”

A native of Faro, Portugal, Silva averaged 18.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and two blocks while playing for her home country in last summer’s FIBA Under-18 Women’s EuroBasket tournament.

“She had a tremendous summer. She played international basketball, was voted one of the top players in her age group,” Brooks said. “There’s been plenty of websites who said if she was American she probably would have been a top-10 player coming out in (the 2024) high school class.”

Reputed to be an offensively skilled big herself, Silva said one of her basketball role models is the 6-11 Kevin Durant because “he’s so tall and he can do everything.”

Asked what she is seeking to develop in her game as she transitions into American college hoops, the willowy Silva said, “I need to be more physical.”

Brooks said patience will be required as Silva makes the adjustment to both life in the United States and college basketball.

“But she’s as skilled as any player that I’ve ever had at that position. She’ s taller than any player I’ve ever had at that position,” the Cats coach said. “She’s one that if we get her talking a little bit of smack, everybody (else) is going to be in trouble.”

In the brave new world of UK women’s basketball, even the wings are long.

Freshman Lexi Blue has received ample early attention because her name is about as perfect for a Kentucky Wildcats athlete as is imaginable.

When people comment on that, Blue said she takes it as “really welcoming because it feels like I’ve found someplace that’s really my home. So it’s fun.”

With injuries having sidelined incoming transfers Jordan Obi (Penn) and Dominika Paurova (Oregon State), the 6-2 Blue — from Orlando, Florida — will likely be asked to play a major role for UK from the start.

“Because of the injuries … we need a little bit more from her,” Brooks said. “… Her attitude has been tremendous, so we’re going to continue to thrust her into situations and make her feel a little bit uncomfortable so she can become comfortable later on.”

For Saniah Tyler, the 5-6 junior guard who is one of only two holdovers from Kentucky’s 2023-24 team, being on a roster with so much size stokes the imagination.

“Having those taller people on our team will just result in rebounds, quick runs and scoring easy baskets in transition,” Tyler said. “Also, (the greater size will help) guarding guards on the perimeter who can shoot the ball.”

Kentucky becoming a team with bountiful height is “going to be huge,” Tyler said.

Whatever else happens in the coming season, we know one narrative from Kenny Brooks’ first year as Kentucky coach will be a “tall tale.”

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