Kentucky women's basketball embraces change at point guard: "I don’t want you to be Georgia – I want you to be you."

For the first time in five years, Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks will start a season without Georgia Amoore running the show. The ball is in Georgia Tech transfer Tonie Morgan’s hands now.

“I told her right from the beginning, ‘I don’t want you to be Georgia – I want you to be you,’” Brooks said. “What’s really worked for us in the past has been with Georgia, so I’m going to reference it sometimes, and she’s been totally on board with it.”

Last season with the Yellowjackets, Morgan averaged 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and one steal per game. Brooks’ respect for Morgan goes back to his time at Virginia Tech, particularly facing her in the 2023-24 season. 

“We would have won the game by 40… we just couldn’t guard her,” he said. “As soon as she hit the portal, she was who we wanted. We felt like it would be a really good fit.” 

The fit is as much about building her leadership as it is about skill. 

“She’s probably a little bit shy, and what we’re bringing out of her now is making her talk, holding her accountable so that she holds her teammates accountable,” he said.

To accelerate the transition, Brooks has showed Morgan some of Amoore’s film – not as a comparison trap, but as a learning device.

“I hadn’t seen the clips yet and before the play developed, I knew exactly what [Amoore] was [going to do]… and every time it was right,” Brooks said. “But I also have to remind myself, it wasn’t always like that. The first two years, we were building that chemistry.”

Morgan is a different kind of guard, and Kentucky will lean into that. 

“Georgia is an elite passer,” Brooks said. “Tony is more score-minded, but she’s finding her teammates. She’s learning her teammates.” 

But the transition has been fun. Kentucky will embrace Morgan’s creativity with the ball in her hands.

 “She can do things with the ball that I’ve very rarely seen anybody be able to do,” Brooks said. “We just have to really find her niche and let her play and make everybody else better.”

The context around Morgan should help. This team is even taller than last year’s, which is hard to believe considering they lost 6-foot-7 Clara Silva to the transfer portal. 

But with 6-5 Clara Strack and 6-5 Teonni Key stretching the floor, expanding their roles and taking on leadership positions, it opens things up for Morgan.

“I think we’re going to be very similar to last year – probably a little bit less reliant on a three, more trying to take advantage of mismatches and use our length,” Brooks said.

It’s only October, and chemistry takes reps, but Brooks likes where the transition is headed. Morgan has the ball, the green light to be herself, and a roster able to amplify her strengths.