Kentucky WBB still 'trying to build chemistry' with a much deeper squad than a year ago

kentucky-trying-build-chemistry-with-much-deeper-squad-than-year-ago — Photo of Asia Boone, Kenny Brooks by Morgan Simmons | UK Athletics

Kenny Brooks had a really, really good team last year, but one of the key weaknesses of his group was that they weren’t very deep. However, in year two of his tenure at Kentucky, that same sentiment doesn’t ring true.

Not only does Brooks have a solid returning cast led by the trio of Clara Strack, Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett, but he also brought in a great transfer portal class as well. Oh, and a top 15 freshman in Kaelyn Carroll as well.

Point being, there shouldn’t be any reason why Brooks is stuck running a five-to-six-player rotation like he did last season. The bench should be able to contribute with quality minutes.

At Kentucky Basketball Media Day, Brooks talked about all of the different pieces coming together — how, like a lot of teams a month out from the season, the team is still working on meshing together.

“I’m very excited about this group. At this point, we’re just trying to build chemistry,” the Kentucky head coach said at the podium. “We expected the attitude. When they came to campus, they were ready. They were ready to go to work.”

Now, of course, the whole “go to work” phrase has been tainted by Mark Stoops repeating it week after week, loss after loss, but unlike the football program right now, there’s plenty of excitement about what can be achieved moving forward.

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This offseason, Brooks knew that he had to have a deeper team if Kentucky was going to be serious about competing for an SEC Championship. What struck that realization, you may ask? Last year’s March Madness.

“I looked at box scores throughout the NCAA Tournament last season, and the teams that survived were the teams that were deep,” Brooks mentioned. “We carefully went through the portal and got the right pieces.”

Kentucky opens its season on November 3rd against in-state foe Morehead State. Basketball season is just around the corner, folks.

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