Kentucky WBB picks up two SEC transfers: Eniya Russell and Ajae Petty
The Kentucky Women’s Basketball program received some MASSIVE news on Monday.
A pair of transfer portal prospects, Eniya Russell and Ajae Petty, both announced this evening that they will join the Wildcats for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Russell is a former South Carolina Gamecock who spent her first two college seasons under head coach Dawn Staley and was a member of the 2022 national title team. Petty comes to Kentucky from LSU where she also spent her first two college seasons, the first under Nikki Fargas and the second under Kim Mulkey.
Both Russell and Petty are natives of Baltimore, MD, were named to the 2020-21 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll, and will have three years of eligibility remaining. With their additions, Kentucky is now up to 14 of the allotted 15 scholarship players. Wildcat head coach Kyra Elzy has already brought in one transfer addition, Buffalo graduate student Adebola Adebeye, along with a six-woman class of incoming freshmen for the upcoming season.
Let’s get to know these two incoming ‘Cats just a bit better. We’ll have more in-depth breakdowns of them coming soon.
What Russell and Petty bring to Kentucky
To start, we’ll note that neither Russell nor Petty were huge contributors to their previous teams, but part of that was due to the top-level talent playing ahead of them. Both players were highly regarded out of high school and just happened to get stuck on deep, talented rosters. South Carolina went to the Final Four in 2020-21 and won the title in 2021-22. LSU took a significant leap in year one under Coach Mulkey this past season, finishing 26-6 on the season with a top 10 ranking.
At Kentucky, both players will step right in with the ability to compete for heavy minutes.
Beginning with Russell, she’s a 6-foot-1 guard who played sparingly for the Gamecocks. She appeared in a total of 49 games across her two seasons but failed to average more than eight minutes per contest in either. That being said, she is a former McDonald’s All-American and was a top 50 recruit out of the 2020 class. Russell combined for 16 minutes, five points, and three rebounds during her two games against Kentucky this past season.
Russell’s best outing as a sophomore was an eight-point, four-rebound performance in 19 minutes against Mississippi State in early January. Her playing time faded as the SEC schedule picked up, but she regularly found her way onto the floor. She’s a tall guard with a strong frame that makes her tough to push around. Russell knows how to find her way to the rim and has shown the ability to knock down the three, albeit on a low volume (5-12 during the 2021-22 season).
Moving onto Petty, the 6-foot-3 forward will bring immediate size to the Wildcats’ frontcourt. She was considered a four-star prospect and the No. 60 recruit from the class of 2020, according to ProspectsNation. Petty appeared in 31 games over her two seasons with the Tigers, playing just 12 under Coach Mulkey this past season. She registered 12 points and five boards in 13 minutes of action against Samford back in Dec. 2021, her best outing. Petty was on the floor for just one minute when LSU took on Kentucky this past March.
Welcome to the Big Blue Nation, ladies!
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