UK Women's Basketball lands commitment from North Carolina transfer Teonni Key
Kentucky women’s basketball continues to kill it on the recruiting trail under new head coach Kenny Brooks, and have now landed a former five-star prospect from the transfer portal.
According to Kentucky Sports Radio’s women’s hoops beat reporter, Phoenix Stevens, Kentucky has landed a commitment from Teonni Key, who spent the last three years at North Carolina before hitting the portal. Here was Stevens’ report of the newest Wildcat addition:
“BREAKING: UNC transfer Teonni Key has committed to KENTUCKY, she announced on Instagram. The 6-4 forward was the No. 9 overall recruit in the 2021 class (ESPN).”
Key’s true freshman season was marred by a torn ACL and she never made it on the court. She did recover as a sophomore in 2022-23 and played in 28 games for an average of 10 minutes a night, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds per game in the process. Those numbers were similar again this season and now she’ll look for a larger role with Kenny Brooks’ first team in Lexington.
Looking at the Kentucky roster, the portal has certainly giveth and taketh for Brooks. Many of Kentucky’s best players on Kyra Elzy’s last team have entered the transfer portal, and although they could still come back, it’s unlikely they do.
So, on the flip side, Brooks has already added Key along with an All-American in Georgia Amoore, who averaged 18.8 points and 6.8 assists per game in 2023 for Virginia Tech. Also joining her from the Hokies is Clara Strack, a freshman center who averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while flashing some major upside as a backup center at VT.
The portal isn’t Brooks’ only means of getting players, though. He also signed a foreign recruit in the extremely tall Clara Silva, as well as a top-40 American player in Lexi Blue, a former Virginia Tech commit who just had to follow Brooks with such an appropriate name for her new town and school.
With all those additions, a JUCO add in Amelia Hassett, plus a couple of key returners, such as sharpshooter Saniah Tyler, Brooks and Kentucky may have a heck of a roster in place in year one.
Amoore certainly has plenty of pedigree and appears capable of leading a great team as the star player. Tyler was a solid complimentary player last season for Kentucky who could thrive next so such an elite point guard in Amoore. And Key, and Strack are nice front-court pieces who could likewise put up bigger numbers with bigger roles as well. Overall, it’s a very solid start to the roster for Coach Brooks.