The Kentucky women’s basketball program is entering a brand new era under head coach, Kenny Brooks, who has brought in a slew of new talent for his first roster in Lexington.

With these new additions to the team, analysts across the country are taking notice. ESPN and On3, both national ranking services, have given their thoughts on Kentucky.

ESPN Ranking: 23rd Nationally

ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme released his early preseason Top-25 rankings where he tabs the Wildcats as the 23rd ranked team in the country.

“The Kenny Brooks era begins in Lexington with a complete reset,” writes Creme. “The 2024-25 roster features 11 new players, led by All-American point guard Georgia Amoore and 6-5 Clara Strack, both of whom followed Brooks from Virginia Tech. A manageable November and December schedule will allow Brooks to build chemistry before the rigors of the SEC begin on Jan. 2.”

On3 Ranking: 8th in the SEC

In addition to ESPN’s, On3.com released their new SEC rankings, where writer Talia Goodman is a little lower on the Cats, tabbing them as the 8th best team in the SEC.

“Former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks took over this off season and brought All-American point guard Georgia Amoore (18.8 ppg, 6.8 apg) with him from Blacksburg,” Goodman writes. “But beyond that, there’s still a lot of uncertainty on this roster. Transfer additions in Penn’s Jordan Obi (14.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Oregon State’s Dominika Paurova (5.5 ppg) are both out indefinitely with injuries, and Charlotte point guard transfer Dazia Lawrence (18.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg) will likely have to play out of position, assuming she earns a starting role.”

As fans, we already know that the Kentucky women’s basketball program is on the rise under the tutelage of Kenny Brooks, but now it’s obvious that the talking heads are taking notice of it as well. Despite the team navigating a couple of injury issues, the talent level seems to be significantly higher than it has been in recent years and there is a lot of cause for excitement if you’ve got your eye on this rising program. Some people are higher on the Cats than others, which is to be expected with a brand new coach and roster.

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