Tag: Kenny Brooks

Kentucky women’s basketball is named a dark horse by ESPN’s Holly Rowe

Kentucky women’s basketball was named a dark horse team by ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

Kentucky women’s basketball has suffered through a couple of tough seasons, but went out and hired a top notch new head coach in Kenny Brooks. He came over from Virginia Tech, where he has had quite a bit of success.

When Brooks came over, he brought with him a couple of terrific players in Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack. Amoore, in particular, was a huge addition, bringing experience and a proven record of solid play. Most considered the Wildcats to be a team with a bright future.

Related: Georgia Amoore named a top 100 player

One analyst thinks Kentucky could compete sooner than expected. While on Good Game with Sarah Spain, ESPN’s Holly Rowe had plenty of praise for Brooks and the Wildcats. She had this to say about the new-look Kentucky team:

I don’t know how dark horse this is, but Kentucky. They have a new coach. Kenny [Brooks] is there, he came from Virginia Tech. He got Virginia Tech to the women’s Final Four, and they have a transfer in Georgia Amoore who was one of the key point guards in that run that helped them get to the Final Four.

The season started off with a bang for Kentucky, as they blew out SC Upstate. It’s too early to tell how they’ll do as the season goes on, but fans certainly hope Rowe is right about the Wildcats.

Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack transfer to Kentucky to follow Kenny Brooks

Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks lands transfers Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack

New Kentucky Wildcats women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks didn’t take long to begin making his mark on the team. On Thursday, former Virginia Tech players Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack announced they will be joining their former coach in Lexington.

Amoore was one of the nation’s best players last season, averaging 18.8 points and 6.8 assists per game. She was honored as a third-team All-American as well as first-team All-ACC. Her ability to both score and pass made her one of the best transfer signings of the year.

Strack is a 6’5″ center who was a Freshman with the Hokies last season. A former top 100 recruit, she averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game off the bench. However, in the NCAA Tournament, she averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, along with 3 blocks in two games as a starter.

Both players chose to follow Brooks from Virginia Tech to Kentucky, and both will likely figure heavily into the team’s plans next season. They’re great additions to the team, and fans should be excited to have them.

The Kenny Brooks era has only just begun, but it’s off to a great start, and things should only get better.

Kentucky hires Kenny Brooks as next women’s basketball coach

Kentucky hires Kenny Brooks as next women’s basketball coach

There has been a lot of drama lately with the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team and the coaching situation. However, there has been some uncertainty around the women’s team too.

After a rough season that ended with a 12 – 20 overall record was the end of coach Kyra Elzy’s time with the Wildcats. She was relieved of duty, and the hunt for her replacement began.

On Tuesday, Kentucky found its coach. Kenny Brooks began his head coaching career at James Madison in 2002. He would lead them to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances before taking the job at Virginia Tech in 2016.

In eight seasons with the Hokies, Brooks led them to a 182 – 80 record, and they made the tournament each of the last four seasons. They made the Final Four in the 2023 edition of March Madness.

Now, he takes over a Kentucky program that has missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. Brooks is a proven commodity, and fans should be excited about the hire. He’ll have his work cut out for him, but has shown he has what it takes to make a difference.

Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks talks Notre Dame ahead of rematch

See what the next opposing coach had to say about the Irish.

After Notre Dame defeated Louisville in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Virginia Tech beat Miami, 55-47. That sets a semifinal rematch between the Irish and top-seeded Hokies after the teams met in South Bend only a week ago. The Irish won that game, so the Hokies will be out for revenge.

The big question surrounding the Hokies is the health of three-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who was injured in the Hokies’ regular-season finale at Virginia and didn’t play Friday. In fact, she won’t play at all in this tournament.

Hokies coach Kenny Brooks was asked about the upcoming rematch in his postgame news conference and said the following:

“Bruh, can I just enjoy this one for a second? Notre Dame is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. We experienced it last week, their physicality – they’re a little bit different than they were last year. They’re tenacious on the defensive end, obviously with the addition of (Hannah) Hidalgo.

They got off to a great start today. And bless his heart, I’m in my locker room, and I think we’re on like a three, four, five-second delay in watching the game and what happens, and Jeff Walz gets thrown out. He gets thrown out, and two seconds later, boom, my door flies open, and it’s Jeff Walz.

I did thank him for their comeback and making Notre Dame play harder down the stretch, to be able to do that.

They’re playing well. They’re playing extremely well. Hidalgo really makes them go. (Sonia) Citron – I’ve said it before – is one of my favorite players. She just doesn’t get rattled. (Maddy) Westbeld is playing really well right now. They don’t play a lot of people, but the people who play are playing well.

We know it’s going to be a tough task. We’ll get back, and we’ll figure some things out, and we’ll try to see what happens.”

This shows the Hokies won’t take the Irish lightly, so the Irish better be ready to play whether Kitley is available or not. Whatever the case though, it should be a good game.

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Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks gave Carmelo Anthony credit for championing women’s basketball in tear-jerking speech

Kenny Brooks stifled back tears as he found the words to tell those around him why women’s basketball matters.

The importance of women’s basketball is known to hoopers and their fans, but with the sport’s tremendous growth over the past several years, its impact has become hard to ignore by those who may not watch the sport as closely. It’s why coaches like Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks get so choked up when speaking about just how important women’s basketball is and its trajectory.

Women’s basketball is more than a moment. It’s an undeniable movement. The passion that women’s basketball stars play with is infectious, which keeps arenas nationwide frequently sold out. Ballers are everywhere, from Caitlin Clark to Angel Reese to Kamilla Cardoso to Georgia Amoore. Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks is already aware of how fantastic women’s basketball is and has been waiting for everyone else to see why he loves the game so much. (See the clip below and the 5:53 mark of the YouTube video.)

(Warning: NSFW language.)

Following the end of Virginia Tech’s regular season, Kenny Brooks poured his heart out to the media:

“In every sense, I have been fighting for respectability. Every one of the kids I coached has worked their [expletive] off for me, and I watch the women’s game get disrespected by people who have no idea how much work these kids put in…

I saw something the other day, and Carmelo Anthony was talking about the women’s game. And he talked about [how] the women’s game is its purest in its form because they play the right way. When you got one of the greatest of all time to ever say that, it makes fools on Twitter look silly.”