Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kenny Brooks has revitalized the program in his first two seasons.

In his first season at the helm, 2024-25, Brooks led the team to 24 wins and a trip to the Round of 32, marking a dramatic turnaround for a program he inherited after UK fired former head coach Kyra Elzy. Last season really set the standard for what the women’s program is striving for, though: The Wildcats compiled 25 wins for the first time since the 2018-19 season, made the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years and saw four players (Teonni Key, Amelia Hassett, Tonie Morgan and Jordan Obi) get drafted into the WNBA.

Now, Brooks has his sights set on a colossal third year, and through the power of returning players, incoming freshmen, and the transfer portal, all signs point to a successful season.
The four returning Cats are senior center Clara Strack, senior guard Asia Boone, senior guard Gabby Brooks, and redshirt sophomore guard Dominika Paurová.

Strack, an All-SEC First Team selection, averaged a double-double per game (16.9 PPG and 10.1 RPG) last year; she is undoubtedly the most important piece on this roster. The Buffalo, N.Y. native scored 20-plus points in nine different games, two of which came during the postseason in Kentucky’s SEC Tournament wins over Arkansas and No. 22-ranked Georgia. Strack’s season-high on the glass came against South Carolina Upstate when she grabbed 16 rebounds; it was no fluke, though, as Strack grabbed 15 rebounds in six different games. She is the heart and soul of this squad.

Moving over to Boone, she averaged 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last season, shooting 36.5% from the field and 36.5% from downtown. Boone brings a veteran postseason presence to the table as she heads into her fourth season. Through her first two seasons with the Liberty Flames and an encouraging junior season with the Cats, Boone played in four NCAA Tournament games and compiled a total of 94 minutes on the court.

Gabby Brooks didn’t see much of the floor last season, only playing in eight games while averaging 6.4 minutes a night. As for Paurová, she has had a rough go-around since transferring to UK. She spent her freshman season at Oregon State (2023-24) before transferring to Kentucky for her sophomore year, but unfortunately, over that summer, she tore her ACL while playing for Czechia’s U20 team, causing her to miss the entire 2024-25 campaign. Once she was healthy and cleared to return, the 6-foot-1 guard suffered another ACL injury, propelling her to miss the entire 2025-26 season. Although it seems like forever ago, when Paurová was a Beaver, she averaged 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 48% from the field.

Per ESPN, Brooks has the sixth-best freshman class coming to town. The three incoming rookies, Maddyn Greenway (five-star), Savvy Swords (five-star), and Emily McDonald (four-star), were all McDonald’s All-American selections.

Greenway is ranked the 13th best freshman in the class of 2026, hailing from Providence Academy in Minnesota, where she guided the Lions to four straight state championships. The guard completed her junior season by averaging 32.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game, and also won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Swords is ranked the 19th best freshman in the class of 2026, coming to Lexington from Long Island Lutheran High School. Before suffering an injury during her junior year, through five games, the forward averaged 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. The Ontario native also represented Canada at the U16 and U17 levels.

McDonald is ranked the 23rd-best freshman in the class of 2026, coming to the Bluegrass after playing alongside Swords at Long Island Lutheran High School, meaning the two newcomers won’t have to waste any time trying to construct some chemistry. Swords and McDonald are reportedly roommates at UK as well.

Not only is Kentucky welcoming the sixth-best freshman class, but it’s also welcoming the sixth-best transfer portal class: Florida transfer Me’Arah O’Neal (Shaquille O’Neal’s daughter), UConn transfer Ayanna Patterson, Alabama transfer Diana Collins and IU-Indianapolis transfer Jemma Amoore (the sister of former UK guard Georgia Amoore).

O’Neal, a forward, and Collins, a guard, are expected to make the most noise of the bunch, both coming in from SEC schools where they played impactful roles.

O’Neal averaged 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting over 50% from the field and 38.1% from deep. She played an average of 25.2 minutes per game while starting in all 33 games that the Gators played and reached a season-high 24 points against Memphis on November 28th. O’Neal registered six 20-plus-point performances. Collins averaged 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a member of the Tide, shooting 45.8% from the field and 39.8% from downtown. Collins scored a season-high 20 points against Jackson State on December 14th, and in that game, she also recorded six rebounds. Her season high in assists came against Tulane just a couple of games later when she recorded seven.

Now, in terms of what we can expect from this team as a whole, as Kenny Brooks would put it, it’s “lights-out shooting.” Brooks and his staff were very intentional when building this roster, seeking to find efficient shooters to take the pressure off Strack in the paint.

“Now we think it’s going to be very difficult for them to really crowd Clara’s (Strack) space, and she’s going to have more room to operate,” Brooks said.

Giving Strack more room to do her thing while equipping the team with weapons on the perimeter is a smart move; it’s the best of both worlds, both up high beyond the 3-point arc and down low under the rim.

Brooks also revealed another strong quote when talking about his bunch.

“We probably have the best shooting team that I’ve ever had,” Brooks said. That’s coming from a head coach who’s been tenured at three different schools in three different conferences across 20-plus seasons.

The Wildcats open their season on November 2nd when they host the Morehead State Eagles inside Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff for that game is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.

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