NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Kentucky men’s basketball’s inconsistent season away from Rupp Arena
By Tyler Russell sports@kykernel.com
Layout by Cameron Holmes
The Kentucky Wildcats have built a reasonable resume heading into tournament season, beating eight opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 while currently maintaining a 21-10 overall record and a 10-8 SEC record.
A knock on the Cats has been that they have been extremely inconsistent this season, and their home, away and neutral records project a paramount example of that.
The Cats built a really strong home record, going 15-3 while only losing to No. 4 Alabama, Arkansas and No. 1 Auburn in Rupp Arena.
While playing in Lexington, UK was able to ground four quadone wins, beating Louisville, No. 6 Florida, No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 5 Tennessee, heavily improving its attempt to get a solid seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Cats' tournament resume, they have heavily faltered in games outside of Lexington this season, structuring a 4-6 true road record and a slightly more positive 2-1 record at neutral sites.
Kentucky dropped four true road games to unranked opponents, with the other two losses coming to ranked teams at No. 25 Ole Miss and No. 4 Alabama.
Against the Rebels, the Cats put on an extremely worrying display, surrendering 54 points in the first half alone en route to a 98-84 loss. Prior to those contests, Kentucky
began its true road journeys on Dec. 3 in Clemson, South Carolina, with a 70-66 loss to the Clemson Tigers, the team’s first road test of the Mark Pope era.
The subpar performance in the “Palmetto State” foreshadowed how Kentucky’s games away from Lexington would unfold, as it has been unable to play its own style of basketball, consisting of a quick pace with tons of 3-point attempts being put up.
In UK’s first neutral site game, however, it earned arguably its most impactful win of the season back on Nov. 12 when it beat No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta. Currently, the Blue Devils have just three losses and one of them being to Kentucky makes the Cats’ resume look even stronger.
The other neutral site win for Kentucky came in Seattle on Dec. 7 when it beat the No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs 9089, overcoming a deficit that was as much as 18 points in the second half.
Kentucky was able to win its next two games at Rupp Arena before its luck at neutral sites drained out as the third and final neutral site game it played resulted in a 20-point blowout loss to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic back on Dec. 23 in New York City.
UK put up a low shooting performance against the Buckeyes, shooting just 29.8% from the field and 18.2% from deep, making just four of its attempted 3-point shots.
Kentucky’s problems away from Rupp Arena have popped up as a major concern to BBN, as most have trouble fathoming how such a poor
road team can go on a tournament run away from home.
However, the more positive news is that both the SEC Tournament
and NCAA Tournament are hosted on neutral sites where the Cats, for the most part, have played appealing basketball.
MATTHEW MUELLER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats forward Brandon Garrison (10) fouls Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) during the basketball game vs. Gonzaga on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. Kentucky won 90-89.
With SEC Tournament on the horizon, a banner seems as important as ever
By Cole Parke sports@kykernel.com
With the regular season concluded, Kentucky has one more stop on the way to its record 62nd NCAA Tournament appearance: the SEC Tournament.
For years under former Head Coach John Calipari, Kentucky fans were told that the SEC Tournament simply wasn’t of much importance and was merely an appetizer to the far more prevalent NCAA Tournament— though, after 2015, it’s hard to say “Cal” had much success there either.
Calipari echoed this sentiment last season after the Cats lost to Texas A&M, a bubble team in the NCAA Tournament prior to the win, in its first game in Nashville, marking the second year in a row that UK had fallen in its first game, bringing its SEC Tournament record to 1-5 in its last six.
“We’ve got some stuff to figure out,” Calipari said after the loss. “Now the real stuff starts next week.”
There was one problem with Calipari’s approach, however, Kentucky fans do care about the SEC Tournament.
The Wildcats, once the clear best team in the conference, have won the SEC Tournament 33 times, winning their first in 1921 and their last in 2018. In fact, when the Cats fell in 2019, it ended a four-year SEC Tournament championship streak.
Every year hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Kentucky fans flood Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, often having more representatives than much closer institutions like Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Fans even packed out Amalie Arena in Tampa in 2022.
Year after year those fans who spent plenty to travel with their Cats were sent home disappointed and, often, rather quickly.
With the Cats now under the leadership of Mark Pope, UK’s new man in charge, he hopes to end that streak of disappointment.
Acknowledging the elephant in the room, it’s a tall task with star NBA prospect Jaxson Robinson and backup point guard Kerr Kriisa done for the season and other squads in the conference, such as No. 1 overall Auburn and the nation’s leading offensive unit Alabama, having lifted their programs to Kentucky’s level. In fact, the SEC is on pace to set an NCAA record by getting 12-13 teams of the
conference’s 16 in the field.
Regardless of that, however, winning banners, or at least showing heart and fighting as if the banners matter, was something Pope promised as early as his introductory press conference in April 2024.
“We don’t (moderate expectations) here at Kentucky, I understand the assignment. We are here to win championships,” Pope said. “We’re here to win banners in Nashville. Our assignment is to win banners in the Final Four and National Championships.”
While the Wildcats have taken losses, ending with a record of in a stacked SEC, the heart Pope promised from his players has been seen all throughout the year.
Pope promised in his introductory press conference that his players would play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back, saying “Our players are gonna learn they’re not doing those jerseys a favor by letting them clothe them.”
When reflecting on his college journey ahead of senior night vs. LSU, veteran Ansley Almonor exemplified this sentiment to a tee.
“The payoff is going to be something you can’t even comprehend,” Almonor said of coming to Kentucky. “At this point last year I wouldn’t be able to even comprehend that I was here and what I’ve gone
through so far. It’s the mecca of college basketball and you’re gonna play for the best fans. If you have this opportunity, I would take it for sure.”
With a plethora of seniors — Almonor, Robinson, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams, Koby Brea and Lamont Butler — ready to begin their last ride in Kentucky blue and plenty more players fighting for a program that took a chance on them, the 2025 SEC Tournament is sure to mean more to Kentucky men’s basketball than it has in years. Kentucky’s road to attempt to break its five-tournament championship drought will begin against the winner of Oklahoma and Georgia on Thursday, March 13, from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The game will tip off 25 minutes after the conclusion of game seven and air live on the SEC Network. (*Kentucky has made the NCAA Tournament 62 times, but Eddie Sutton’s trip in 1988 was vacated by the NCAA because Eric Manuel was found to be academically ineligible.)
(** The 2020 SEC Tournament was canceled due to the onset of Covid-19, which prematurely ended the college basketball season. No SEC Tournament champion was crowned that season and only first-round games were played. Kentucky was the No. 1 seed.)
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9 Blazer Dining University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506 On the front cover:
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Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach Mark Pope celebrates with the fans after the basketball game vs. Texas A&M on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
MEN’S BASKETBALL BEAT PICKS: 2025 Men’s SEC Tournament
By Tyler Russell and Isaiah Pinto sports@kykernel.com
Layout by Cameron Holmes
With the SEC regular season coming to a close on Saturday, March 8, all eyes turn to Nashville for the 2025 Men’s SEC Tournament.
Kentucky earned a No. 6 seed in the tournament, granting the Cats a firstround bye but dropping them short of the highly sought-after double-bye.
With all 16 teams now knowing their matchups or matchup potentials, Kentucky will face the winner of No. 11 Georgia and No. 14 Oklahoma inside Bridgestone Arena in the eighth game of the tournament.
If the Cats are victorious, they will book a date for a rematch against No. 3 Alabama, a team that swept UK in the regular season.
Looking closer into the bracket, the men’s basketball crew for the Kentucky Kernel sought to break down all the biggest questions for UK in the country music capital of the world:
Who do you see coming out of the first-round matchup between UGA and OU?
Russell:
I see Georgia coming out on top in the first round. The Bulldogs started the season 12-1 in non-conference play before falling to just 8-10 in SEC play.
However, the good news for Georgia is that it closed out the regular season winning four of its last five games and in the postseason, momentum is everything.
The Bulldogs lost to No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 22 before beating No.
3 Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Now, the Bulldogs are putting up 75.5 points per night, slightly less than the Sooners’ 78.7, however, Georgia allows less points per night than Oklahoma does.
Georgia beat Oklahoma 72-62 when they last played on Jan. 11 in Athens, courtesy of a team-high 15-point performance from freshman Asa Newell, who is averaging 15.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Another key contributor for Georgia has been Silas Demary Jr., a 6-foot5 sophomore guard who is putting up an average of 13 points and four rebounds per game.
If these two can find their rhythm, it will surely be a fun night in Nashville for all Georgia fans who are excited to see one of the program's more well-rounded squads compete in the postseason.
I think Georgia will continue to ride its wave of momentum and derail the Sooners 84-79 and face UK in the second round.
Pinto:
Georgia has really found its groove in the final games of the season, winning four straight games with a massive win over No. 3 Florida.
Prior to SEC play, the Bulldogs had a strong start to their season by going 12-1 with a loss to No. 15 Marquette that was responded to with a victory over No. 22 St. John’s.
To begin in-conference play Georgia lost to No. 24 Ole Miss, but had huge back-to-back ranked wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma before going on a 1-5 skid. That six-game stretch included four losses to top-six SEC teams.
Although the Bulldogs have a 4-10
record against ranked opponents, they have won games they should have over opponents like South Carolina and LSU. Additionally, they’ve played competitively against No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 1 Auburn.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma has struggled in the SEC, going 4-8 to close its season. Oklahoma was able to pull off three ranked wins in that stint, but the Sooners had also lost by 20 points or more and lost to a lowly LSU team.
For that reason, I believe Georgia should handle Oklahoma just fine, especially considering the Bulldogs handed Oklahoma a double digit loss in January. Georgia appears to be more battle tested while turning it on at the right time to close the season.
What are Kentucky’s odds against either firstround opponent?
Russell:
I believe Kentucky will have a strong showing against either team. Although new, this Kentucky squad understands the significance of the SEC Tournament and has the tools to beat either side that it faces.
With that being said, in the regular season, UK lost to Georgia in Athens, and I believe that Kentucky will come out seeking revenge when it matters the most. UK lost that game 82-69 when Newell caught fire with a teamhigh 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the field and 2-5 shooting from deep.
Kentucky barely knocked off the Sooners back on Feb. 26, winning by just one point as Otega Oweh scored 21 of UK’s final 23 points. There was some trash-talking and boiled blood on the court after that game, including between UK’s
Brandon Garrison and Oklahoma’s freshman guard Jeremiah Fears.
Now, I believe that if Kentucky plays Oklahoma in the second round, the roles will be reversed and Oklahoma will come out hungrier. Kentucky has to get past its first game in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments no matter what, and the players know that they have to do so as well.
Whichever side the Wildcats see in the second round, they definitely have what it takes to execute, but the question, like in all previous SEC Tournaments and NCAA Tournaments still remains: Will they?
Pinto:
Regardless of who the Wildcats play, it will be their game to lose.
Kentucky narrowly beat Oklahoma in Norman 83-82 thanks to Oweh’s late game heroics against his former squad.
While Kentucky is looking to get its revenge over Georgia after losing 82-69 in Athens, which could be viewed as the Wildcats’ worst SEC loss of the season, the Wildcats have unequivocally struggled on the road this season, going 4-10 in the regular season.
However, Kentucky has played strongly in neutral sites, upsetting No. 6 Duke and No. 7 Gonzaga, two massive wins. In my eyes, those wins makeup for a horrible 85-65 loss to Ohio State in New York City.
Mark Pope and company should have plenty of confidence against either Georgia or Oklahoma, they should have plenty of pride in their neutral site victories and beating eight top-15 opponents.
How do you feel about Kentucky’s chances in a rematch against Alabama?
Continued on page 5
Russell:
Against Alabama, at a neutral site where Kentucky has played some of its best basketball, I believe the Cats will shape up fairly well.
UK kicked off its most recent contest with Alabama on a 20-9 run before falling 96-83 in Tuscaloosa, playing Bama fairly well up until around the midway point of the second half.
Now, on a neutral court in Nashville, I believe the Cats would be able to hang in there again if the opportunity presented itself.
I’m not saying the Cats will come out and blister the Tide with made shots, however, if Kentucky’s defense, which has played better since the return of point guard Lamont Butler, continues to close out shots, I believe it's offense will be able to stay efficient enough and give Bama a run for its money.
Andrew Carr would have to lock up Alabama’s Grant Nelson, who helped lift the Tide to the Final Four last season. Nelson is currently putting 11.7 points per game but recently put up a team-high 23 points en route to helping Alabama pick up a 93-91 overtime win over No. 1 Auburn on March 9.
Again, it all comes down to which Kentucky Wildcat team decides to show up as the Cats have also been very inconsistent throughout the regular season.
Pinto:
The Wildcats will be packing their bags after playing Alabama.
Losing Jaxson Robinson is major and Mark Pope will have to turn to someone in the backcourt to save the day for Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide’s Nelson and Mark Sears gave Kentucky 49 points in their first matchup in Lexington. In the second, Sears went off for 30 points with three other Alabama players scoring in the double digits, none of which were Nelson.
The Wildcats have not been a
good defensive team all season. Losing Robinson in the backcourt hurts badly because it places a lot of pressure on Butler to step up defensively.
Meanwhile, I don’t believe Koby Brea, Trent Noah, Collin Chandler or Travis Perry is going to be able to play catch-up with Sears scoring in Robinson's absence.
Furthermore, Sears has nine games with 24 points or more. Two of them have come against Kentucky. Nate Oats has done a spectacular job with Alabama and this team will make it far in March because of
its versatile ability score.
All in all, how deep does Kentucky go in the 2025 SEC Tournament and what does it need to do to get there?
Russell:
I believe that Kentucky can make it as far as the championship game before likely running into Auburn.
If Kentucky takes care of business against Oklahoma/Georgia and Alabama, it will then most likely run into the Florida Gators, who it already beat
106-100 in Rupp Arena back on Jan. 4. That game would be a real barn burner as both sides are top-ten in the nation for points scored per game with UK (third) averaging 85.6 points per game compared to Florida’s (ninth) 84.3.
The Gators’ Walter Clayton Jr. is a serious threat as he is currently averaging a team-high 17 points a night while also coming off of a regular-season closing 23-point outing in Florida’s 90-71 win over the Ole Miss Rebels.
All in all, Kentucky cannot skip a beat and come out lackadaisical because any SEC team can beat anyone on any given night.
UK’s offense will need to be strong, but its defense will need to be stronger. Koby Brea, Butler, Oweh and Amari Williams will all do their things and, if the defense can stay knotted as a whole, UK may be able to dance on a little further in what should be one of the best SEC Tournaments in recent memory.
Pinto:
Kentucky will lose to Alabama in the quarterfinals.
However, if it wins, it will likely face Florida.
In the pair’s lone matchup this season, Kentucky narrowly beat the Gators 106-100 in the SEC opener, which featured Brea playing his best game of the season.
A lot has changed since that game. Florida has emerged as a powerhouse in the SEC with notable wins over No. 1 Tennessee, No. 1 Auburn, No. 7 Alabama and No. 12 Texas A&M. I don’t see Kentucky beating Florida twice this season.
It would require monster games from Oweh, Williams and either Butler or Brea to outscore the Gators. That will have to carry over for the championship game, too.
The bench will have to play strong and outscore its opponents’ reserves to take some pressure off the primary scorers.
MATTHEW MUELLER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) jumps to dunk the ball during the basketball game vs. the Alabama on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Alabama won 96-83.
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CARA RAIFORD | STAFF
University of Kentucky Wildcats guard Dazia Lawrence (10) shoots the ball during the Kentucky vs. LSU women’s basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
CHRISTIAN KANTOSKY | STAFF
Georgia guard Trinity Turner (0) shoots the ball during the Kentucky vs. Georgia women’s basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
SYDNEY YONKER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats guard Dazia Lawrence (10) and guard Georgia Amoore (3) celebrate during the Kentucky vs Texas women's basketball game on Thursday, Feb.13, 2025 at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
SYDNEY NOVACK | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats guard Georgia Amoore (3) celebrates after making a three point shot during the Kentucky vs. Tennessee women’s basketball game on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
Layout by Sarah Reed
MATTHEW MUELLER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats Andrew Carr (7) jumps to catch a rebound over Colgate players during the basketball game vs. Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
CHRISTIAN KANTOSKY | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats forward Andrew Carr (7) dunks the ball during the basketball game vs. Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
MATTHEW MUELLER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats guard Collin Chandler (5) watches Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) sit on the bench after he fouled out during the basketball game vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Layout by Sarah Reed
Grading Mark Pope’s and Kenny Brooks’ first seasons at Kentucky
By Cole Parke and Jenna Lifshen sports@kykernel.com
Layout by Sarah Reed
With the men’s and women’s college basketball regular seasons concluded, both Kentucky squads completed their first years under new management.
The women, with former Virginia Tech Head Coach Kenny Brooks, and the men with former BYU Head Coach Mark Pope, each recorded monumental victories during their first campaigns while also taking some headscratching losses.
As the postseason either continues on or gets ready to kick off, the Kentucky Kernel brought out the report cards to break down how each coach did in their respective role.
Mark Pope: B
Pope’s first season is truly hard to grade. By all means, it had some extremely high highs, but it seems destined to flame out far earlier than it should for reasons entirely out of his control.
Taking over a program that had zero scholarship players returning after John Calipari’s exodus to Arkansas, Pope had a massive task in building a roster entirely from scratch that could compete in what would become the best conference, perhaps in college basketball history.
Bringing in players that would quickly become fan favorites, the highs for this team were through the roof. A win over Duke in Atlanta, a herculean comeback against Gonzaga in Seattle, a regular-season sweep of Tennessee and big successes on the recruiting trail to keep in-state talent.
On the other end, however, a blowout loss to Ohio State with the entire team healthy, a complete collapse at Texas, one of the most lopsided losses in recent history inside Rupp Arena against No. 1 Auburn and an embarrassing loss to Calipari and Arkansas left a sour taste in some fans’ mouths.
With that being said, one can’t speak of Pope’s first year without addressing the elephant in the room: injuries.
When healthy, Pope’s squad showed it
had the ability to down the likes of Duke and Gonzaga, but it hasn’t been fully healthy since the latter.
Kerr Kriisa’s season-ending foot injury, Lamont Butler missing multiple games with his shoulder, Andrew Carr being far from 100% because of his back, Amari Williams having some scares with his legs and Jaxson Robinson’s wrist injury that would ultimately cut his season short have all severely lowered the season of this Kentucky unit.
While not entirely his fault, Pope’s first season at UK gets a B, though there is confidence he can secure an A plus next year if things go his way.
Kenny Brooks: A with five big booms
When Kenny Brooks arrived in Lexington, he faced the challenge of rebuilding one of the SEC's worst women's basketball programs. Like Pope on the men's side, Brooks needed to assemble an almost entirely new roster just months before Big Blue Madness with only two returning players.
Brooks immediately turned heads by bringing over several recruits and roster members from Virginia Tech, including two of his star players, Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack.
Since then, Amoore has earned the 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year award, been selected to the All-SEC First Team and been a top-five finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, recognizing the country’s best point guard.
Strack emerged as one of the nation's best centers and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, making both the SEC AllDefensive and All-SEC second teams while being a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, recognizing the country’s best center.
Brooks' first season was not without adversity. Before the season began, two expected starters, Jordan Obi and Dominika Paurová, experienced seasonending injuries. However, he found a way to fill the gaps with his tremendous recruiting in the transfer portal.
Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach Mark Pope hugs Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler (1) after the basketball game vs. Florida on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
Brooks proved his ability to win big games, specifically against long-time rivals. He led Kentucky to victory over No. 18 Louisville, snapping a seven-year losing streak against the Cardinals.
A few months later, he guided the Wildcats to a historic blowout over No. 11 Tennessee, marking the largest margin of victory over the Lady Vols in program history.
Even in losses to powerhouses like No. 6 South Carolina and No. 7 LSU, Kentucky proved it could compete at an elite level by keeping top-ranked teams within singledigit margins.
Brooks' only real struggle this season came on the road, the most painful loss came at Texas A&M, which has since finished last in the SEC and will not compete in March Madness.
However, considering the season's
overall success, it is easy to overlook the few road losses, considering that this was Brooks and the majority of the team’s first time playing consistently in SEC environments.
Beyond the wins and losses, Brooks has completely changed the culture surrounding the program. Kentucky women's basketball sold out four home games this season and for the first time in a long time, the program is drawing five-star recruits nationwide.
There is no hesitation in giving Kenny Brooks an A for his first season as head coach. In only a year he has turned one of the SEC's worst teams into one of the best and will undoubtedly be in serious contention for a national championship within the next few years.
CHRISTIAN KANTOSKY | STAFF
Is Kentucky women’s basketball capable of March Madness glory with Kenny Brooks?
By Jenna Lifshen sports@kykernel.com
Kentucky women's basketball has finished the regular season but its time on the court is far from over.
Just a week from now, the nation will eagerly await one of the most anticipated nights each year in college sports: the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket reveal.
Across the Bluegrass, all eyes are on Kenny Brooks and his team and whether or not they can rise to the occasion in March Madness.
The Brooks era has proven far more successful than anyone could've imagined in year one. He led the Wildcats to a 22-6 record and an 11-5 SEC record, the most regular-season wins for the program since 2019-2020.
Brooks also led Kentucky to impressive victories over its two biggest rivals: No. 18 Louisville and No. 15 Tennessee.
He also curated a nationally recognized roster, including future WNBA first-round pick and Nancy Lieberman Award finalist Georgia Amoore who was recently named the SEC Newcomer of the Year and selected as All-SEC first team.
He also found a star in Clara Strack who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and selected for the SEC All-Defensive first team and All-SEC second team.
Despite a season filled with triumphs, last week's bitter defeat against Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals left a lingering sense of doubt heading into March Madness.
This season has been a year of firsts for Brooks, who is navigating the SEC, which is considered to be one of the toughest conferences in women's basketball history.
While Brooks has had success against SEC teams in the past — boasting an 8-4 record during his time at Virginia Tech — he has never faced top-ten teams back-to-backto-back like he has this season.
Luckily, he is now tasked to compete in something he has become very familiar with throughout his 22 seasons as head coach: The NCAA Tournament and March Madness.
Between 2003 and 2016, Brooks coached at his alma mater, James Madison, where he
became the winningest coach in program history and was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame.
More importantly, Brooks began to build a postseason resume, guiding JMU to six NCAA Tournament appearances and, in 2013, its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1991.
Brooks' resume grew when he moved to Virginia Tech in 2016, leading the Hokies to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
His greatest achievement came two years ago when he led Tech to its firstever ACC Conference Championship and a historic Final Four appearance defeating Chattanooga, South Dakota State,
Tennessee and Ohio State.
Brooks is not the only Wildcat chasing another historic run in March Madness.
Amoore, who starred under Brooks at Tech, led the Hokies’ Elite Eight victory over Tennessee with 29 points and five assists. She also holds the NCAA Tournament record for most 3-pointers made in a single tournament, with 23, breaking the record in the Final Four against LSU.
Strack also had her moment in the postseason spotlight, stepping up to the challenge when it mattered the most and filling in for Tech's future WNBA secondround pick after she suffered a torn ACL in the team's regular-season finale.
The Buffalo, New York native stunned
the nation in the first round of March Madness with a perfect 7-7 shooting performance and 17 points in her first-ever collegiate start. While the Hokies would fall short to Baylor in the second round, Strack recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.
With their eyes set on securing a spot in the top 16 to potentially host the first two rounds of the tournament at Historic Memorial Coliseum, Brooks and his Cats, led by his two former Hokies and a team of talented players, are more than capable of a historic run in March Madness and bringing a first NCAA Tournament victory to Kentucky since 2021 and possibly a first second weekend since 2016.
SYDNEY YONKER | STAFF
Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach Kenny Brooks and guard Georgia Amoore (3) watch free throws during the Kentucky vs. Mississippi State women’s basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
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