Virginia Tech announces Kenny Brooks as Kentucky Women’s Basketball head coach

Kentucky is hiring Virginia Tech women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks as its head coach, VT announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Brooks has been rumored as a candidate for the Wildcats over the past couple of weeks after Kyra Elzy was fired.

“Kenny Brooks, the architect of one of the most storied stretches in Virginia Tech women’s basketball history, is set to depart as head coach and accept the same position at the University of Kentucky,” Virginia Tech posted in a statement on Tuesday.

Brooks led Virginia Tech to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons. The Hokies reached the Final Four in 2023, before advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past season.

Kenny Brooks had seven 20-win seasons over eight years. The Hokies also won the ACC Tournament title in 2023 and the ACC regular season title in 2024.

“We hired Kenny in 2016 with the intent of revitalizing our women’s basketball program,” Virginia Tech director of athletics Whit Babcock said in a statement. “Needless to say, Kenny, his staff and student-athletes created a culture of excellence on and off the court. He was an incredible mentor to the young women in our women’s basketball program and a terrific representative of our department and university. We wish Kenny and his family well in this next chapter of his career.”

Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Brooks was at James Madison for 14 seasons. The Dukes made the postseason in the final 11 years under Brooks, reaching the NCAA Tournament six times, with five trips to the NIT.

The 55-year-old Brooks played college basketball at James Madison from 1988-91. He started his coaching career as a men’s assistant at VMI from 1994-98. He then was a men’s assistant at James Madison from 1998-2002, before working as a women’s assistant at James Madison in 2002-03.

Brooks was then promoted to James Madison head coach and had a run there, before going to Virginia Tech and now Kentucky.

As for Kentucky, they’ve gone 61-60 over the past four years under Elzy after she took over swiftly for Matthew Mitchell. Her tenure featured one title in the SEC Tournament and a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament. However, the past two seasons did not go well with them posting a record of 24-39. After her firing March 11th, several players from the roster have since entered the transfer portal.