The Kentucky Wildcats Women’s Basketball program received a major overhaul this offseason, adding a new head coach as well as practically an entire new team. This comes at the same time as Memorial Coliseum finishing its renovations, making it a state of the art arena in women’s college basketball. The sport is growing in popularity as we speak, so to say the least, these are exciting times for this program.

The roster has been almost entirely revamped with new talent, and there are a ton of new faces for the BBN to get familiarized with. To start out, we’ll take a look at our new coach, and get to know what projects to be the starting five for this squad.

Head Coach: Kenny Brooks

After a handful of disappointing seasons from previous coach Kyra Elzy, Kentucky decided to swing for the fences, targeting a very successful ACC coach in Kenny Brooks. Brooks was having a ton of success at Virginia Tech, winning the ACC regular season championship in 2024. A year prior, Brooks led the Hokies to an ACC tournament championship and a one-seed in the NCAA tournament, where his Virginia Tech team made it to the Final Four.

Prior to his time at Virginia Tech, Brooks spent thirteen seasons as the head coach at James Madison, his alma mater. He is the all-time leader in regular season wins at James Madison.

Brooks boasts a career record of 517 wins and 204 losses (.717) across 22 years of coaching experience. His other accolades include nine total CAA titles, two total ACC titles, and ten NCAA tournament appearances.

Georgia Amoore, Senior Point Guard

Georgia Amoore is the name the BBN probably will want to familiarize themselves with the most. Amoore is coming off an incredible season with Virginia Tech, and decided to follow her coach to Lexington.

Last season, Amoore averaged 18.8 points and 6.8 assists per game for the Hokies, making her one of the best players in the entire country. She was a third team NCAA All-American and made the All-ACC first team twice while at Virginia Tech.

Georgia Amoore looks to be an extension of Kenny Brooks on the court, and will likely be the sure-fire leader for this team. She is a dynamic scorer and playmaker, and a lot of the Cats’ success will depend on her.

Dazia Lawrence, Senior Guard

Dazia Lawrence is another experienced transfer that Kenny Brooks brought into the program. She played for Charlotte previously, and like Georgia Amoore, she’s coming off a great year.

Last season at Charlotte, Lawrence averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, which earned her First Team All-AAC recognition. She tallied a total of 1,170 points, 287 rebounds, 162 assists, and 133 steals in her four year career with the Miners.

Lawrence is a player with a ton of college experience, and was one of the best players in the AAC over the last couple seasons. She will be a great bucket-getter alongside Georgia Amoore, and we should see a lot of points between the two of them.

Jordan Obi, Senior Guard

Jordan Obi is yet another transfer portal addition for Kenny Brooks’ first roster in Lexington, and she adds another dynamic scorer to the lineup.

Obi was a four year contributor at the University of Pennsylvania, and she’s coming off her best season as a college player, where she averaged 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. She was named to the First Team Ivy League after last year, and earned Second Team Ivy League honors in the two seasons prior.

Jordan Obi provides tough bucket-getting and rebounding for this team, and with the two elite scorers already in the backcourt, she may be able to take advantage of having less defensive attention on her.

Amelia Hassett, Junior Forward

Amelia Hassett was a great find for Kenny Brooks and his staff, snagging her from the Junior College ranks. Hassett stands at 6’3, giving her solid size at the Power Forward position. I’m not 100% certain that she will start, but she makes the most sense in my opinion, at least at the beginning of the season.

Hassett spent the last two seasons at Eastern Florida State, where she started 65 games for the Titans. Last year, she averaged 19.0 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game, making her one of the most dominant players in all of JuCo. She was named to the Third Team National JuCo team, and led Eastern Florida State to the Junior College tournament semifinals.

Hassett gives this Kentucky team a dominant post scorer and rebounder, and her rim-protecting abilities will be very valuable for Kenny Brooks.

Clara Strack, Sophomore Center

Clara Strack decided to follow her coach, Kenny Brooks, and her point guard, Georgia Amoore, to Lexington. She played last season as a freshman for Virginia Tech, where the 6’5 center made an impression in the playing time she was given.

Strack was the backup Center, sitting behind an All-American in Elizabeth Kitley. When Kitley went down with an injury, Strack stepped in, averaging 9.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in that five game stretch to end the season. Strack gained some solid experience in the NCAA tournament, tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Hokies second round loss to Baylor.

Strack has the familiarity with Kenny Brooks, who clearly wanted her to follow him to Lexington, and the chemistry with point guard Georgia Amoore. She spent her freshman season learning behind one of the best centers in the country, and will look to break out in her sophomore season.