Kentucky women’s basketball a finalist for 2025 recruit Adelaide Jernigan. This is why.

One of the earliest memories Brian Robinson has of Kentucky women’s basketball target Adelaide Jernigan came about eight years ago during a kids’ camp.

Jernigan quickly separated herself from the other elementary schoolers, Robinson said, and gave everybody a memory they wouldn’t soon forget.

“The kids, they’re just trying to learn how to dribble and trying to learn how to get the ball to the goal,” said Robinson, who coaches Jernigan’s high school and summer ball teams in North Carolina. “And she had the ball and she flew down the floor, and all of her teammates were standing in her way and she said, ‘Get out the way!’ And they all moved and she laid the ball up.

“And I don’t know why that stuck with me, but I’m like, ‘You’re a fourth grader and you’re already directing folks and telling them what to do.’ That’s always stuck with me in the time I’ve known her these eight years.”

Fast forward to August 2024, and Jernigan is a two-time state basketball champion (2022, 2023) and a 1,500-point scorer with two summers of Team USA trials under her belt.

Last month, Jernigan listed Kentucky as one of three finalists for her college commitment. Ranked No. 58 nationally in the class of 2025, the 5-foot-11 guard is also considering North Carolina State and Michigan.

She just so happens to also be a golfer, a swimmer, a track athlete and a tennis player (the 2022 North Carolina high school girls singles runner-up, in fact) — “I love sports, no doubt about that,” Jernigan told the Herald-Leader.

Jernigan has found athletic success over the years not only due to her joy and work ethic, but her strength, coordination and natural athleticism. From competing with her older brother James to always wanting to beat the boys at school, Jernigan excelled in sports.

“The football coach at our school says she probably has the best arm in the school,” said Robinson, her basketball coach at Bishop McGuinness High School and with the Winston-Salem Stealers summer team.

Despite her love and aptitude for several sports — she also used to play lacrosse and flag football — Jernigan is fully committed to playing basketball in college, and admits she’s always liked it the best.

“I love the ways that I can be creative,” Jernigan said. “I can get to the basket, I can shoot it, I can pass to my teammates. There’s so many parts of the game that are different from other sports that I just love. And I just love being able to shoot it from deep, and that’s kind of what I have really gotten good at, and what I’ve expanded in my game and finishing. It’s just different than any other sport in the way that it’s a team, there’s only five people out there, but you’re using every player to score. It’s really interesting.”

Caitlin Clark, Hailey Van Lith influence Jernigan’s game

When Jernigan says she loves to shoot the ball from deep, she means it. A true shooting guard who Robinson will play at the 1, 2 or 3, depending on the situation, Jernigan is always a threat to hit big shots.

“I think the separator for her is her ability to shoot the ball from distance,” Robinson said. “I mean, she’s just not a player you should want at the 3-point line. She can step out 3, 4, 5 feet from the 3-point line and shoot it with ease and consistency. Which obviously spaces the floor out for a lot of people, and herself to create opportunities for others.”

Jernigan’s biggest basketball influences are two names quite familiar to basketball fans — former Louisville and LSU, and current TCU and Team USA Olympic 3-on-3 guard Hailey Van Lith, and NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer (Iowa) and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.

“I really liked Hailey van Lith because she’s a lefty, and I’m a lefty,” Jernigan said. “And she could shoot it, and she was a hustle player, and I feel like I’m a hustle player, too. … And then as time went on, I really liked Caitlin Clark. I know that’s cliché to say, but I can shoot it pretty well, and she obviously really can. So I watched her game a lot. … I love the ways that she shoots it and passes it. She has everyone involved.”

Robinson said Jernigan has worked hard to fine-tune her guard skills.

“She understood when she was younger the value of footwork and the value of handling the basketball,” Robinson said. “And as she grew and got stronger, then her shot obviously became her main focus, but yeah, she can handle the ball like a point guard. She’s just a really good athlete, a really good basketball player. And she’s gonna make some school very happy because she’s a really good person and obviously a really good player.”

What Jernigan wants in a college

It’s those skills, alongside her unselfish play, determination and positive attitude — “We don’t win if you’re negative or if you’re just beating yourself down,” Jernigan said — that brought her numerous Division I offers.

“Relationships on the team are really important because those are the girls that you’re going to spend your four years with,” Jernigan said of choosing from among UK, Michigan and N.C. State. “So the family atmosphere, which is somewhat cliché to say, but it’s really true for me. I ask myself, ‘If I was hurt, would I be happy in these three schools?’ And then obviously, academics. Student comes before athlete, so making sure I do well in the classroom was important to me and my family. And just somewhere where my skills can really help the team, like my shooting and passing, where would I fit in? And those three schools, we just talked about it a lot.

“And I want honesty, I don’t want coaches just to tell me what I want to hear. So they were really honest with me and told me what I need to work on, or what I need to do to really help the team if I was to go to one of those three schools.”

Michigan and N.C. State made the cut from an original top 10 that also included Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville, Tennessee, Villanova, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Iowa initially, Jernigan said, was in strong consideration, but she decided it was no longer the right fit following the retirement of longtime head coach Lisa Bluder in May.

So, when did the Wildcats come into play?

Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks, formerly at Virginia Tech, has been recruiting Jernigan since her freshman year of high school, and he called her shortly after his move to UK and offered her a scholarship.

“I just think he’s honest and really appreciates the hard work that you put in,” Jernigan said of Brooks. “And he’s just recruited me so long, very loyal. Right when he went to Kentucky, he was calling me. So I just think it speaks to his character and like how he really cares about his recruits.”

Comparing the finalists

Jernigan has taken unofficial visits to each of her three finalists, and plans to take official visits this September as she prepares to make a decision. She’ll be in Lexington the weekend of Sept. 6, following a trip to Raleigh. Jernigan plans to visit Ann Arbor after her UK official.

A popular destination for some of the country’s top talent, N.C. State and head coach Wes Moore are fresh off the program’s first Final Four since 1998, though it last missed the NCAA Tournament in 2016. Since then, the Wolfpack have reached the Sweet 16 five times and the Elite Eight twice.

Nine of the 13 players on the 2024-25 roster ranked within the top 75 prospects in their respective graduating classes, including guards Saniya Rivers (No. 3 in 2021) and Zoe Brooks (No. 9 in 2023). N.C. State is also about an hour and 10 minutes from where Jernigan grew up.

“That was a big aspect too, just closer to home,” Jernigan said. “And they’ve recruited me since ninth grade, just like these three have. And just like a good relationship with Wes Moore and the coaching staff, and I know that I’d be able to shoot it well under him.”

Michigan, now more than a decade under coach Kim Barnes Arico, has achieved several of the highest highs in program history since her tenure began in 2012 — including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances beginning in 2021, and a program-best trip to the Elite Eight in 2022.

Known best in recent years, perhaps, for current Atlanta Dream forward Naz Hillmon, a multiple-All-America selection and the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year, the Wolverines have signed not only one of the strongest recruiting classes in the country for the 2024 cycle, but the program’s highest-ranking ever, highlighted by 2024 Team Canada Olympian Syla Swords (No. 4) and five-star guard Olivia Olson (No. 20).

“I just feel like they are one of the three that really hits on that family aspect,” Jernigan said. “And then obviously a great education. And (Barnes Arico is) a hard coach, and I want someone that pushes me. I just like it up there.”

Though Jernigan has yet to take an official visit to UK, she took several trips to Virginia Tech and built strong relationships with not only Kentucky graduate transfer Georgia Amoore, who she feels comfortable texting with any questions, but also North Carolina natives — and beloved Hokies — Liz Kitley and Cayla King.

“I had a really good relationship with Liz Kitley and Cayla King because they’re only like 20 minutes from me, where they grew up (in North Carolina),” Jernigan said. “So Liz Kitley’s dad and Cayla’s dad came to my high school game and watched me. So I had good relationships with them as well. And it meant a lot that their dads would come to my game in a Christmas tournament that’s in Greensboro.”

Why Kenny Brooks?

When asked what it is about Brooks that made her consider playing for him at the next level, Jernigan cited not only the relationship they’ve built, but also his talent for development and how she may fit into the Kentucky system.

“He’s just someone that is really (about) player development,” Jernigan said. “I know if I went there, he would help me in all aspects of my game. And like, I would work really hard to play the style that they would want me to play. But I know that, you know, Cayla King was a big shooter. He’s told me a lot if I was to go there, I could kind of be like that position and shoot it really well.”

In five seasons with the Hokies (2019-24), King played in more than 150 games, making 121 starts. She ranks third all-time in 3-pointers made (293) and first in career assist/turnover ratio (1.8).

“I’m down to three schools, I’m excited to take officials and commit,” Jernigan said. “And then I’m just excited to have my senior year. … Good things are coming, and I’m excited.”

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