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Kentucky WBB recruiting roundup: Class of 2022

Zack Geogheganby: Zack Geoghegan09/09/20ZGeogheganKSR
Cassidy-Rowe
<small>(News-Express photo by Cory Vance)<small>

Class of 2022 Kentucky commit Cassidy Rowe (News-Express photo by Cory Vance)

On the first day of September, the recruiting world opened up for the Kentucky Women’s Basketball staff as they became free to reach out to members of the class of 2022. The staff wasted little time getting to work, having already extended a couple of scholarship offers since last Tuesday.

It’s been over a month now, but back in late July, we broke down the recruiting prospects out of the class of 2021 UK was still looking at, which wasn’t a particularly loaded group. If you want to refresh yourself with those high school seniors, you can do so by clicking the link here. Although I should say this, of the five prospects we talk about in that article, the top three have already chosen a different school. The other two, Se’Quoia Allmond and Madison Royal-Davis, are both still undecided. Allmond recently received a massive bump in her overall rating, jumping from unranked to a four-star recruit and the No. 70 prospect in the nation, according to ESPN.

I mention it in that same article but let me quickly restate that, considering head coach Matthew Mitchell will have three players eligible after the 2020-21 season–Jazmine Massengill, Robyn Benton, and Olivia Owens–the need to bring in a bunch of freshmen won’t be as necessary as it is for the 2022 class. Those three ladies transferred to Lexington earlier this year and will have to sit out an entire season due to NCAA transfer rules. Once they step on the court, they’ll all be juniors with plenty of prior Divison I experience under their respective belts. Now all this isn’t to say UK won’t add another player to join the lone commit of 2021, four-star guard Jada Walker, but the roster for the 2021-22 season is already looking stocked with talent.

With that being said, the class of 2022 could be a big one for Kentucky. Heading into the 2021-22 season, star guard Rhyne Howard will be entering her senior season, and the class that comes in after her will be left with the major chore of trying to replace everything she can do on the court. Luckily, there are more than enough talented high school juniors out there who can help continue what should hopefully be a lengthy run of deep NCAA Tournament appearances.

Kentucky has already received a commitment from a member of this class, Kentucky native and a product of Pikeville, Cassidy Rowe, who is a 5-foot-5 point guard. She’s been a Wildcat since all the way back in August of 2018, just one month after a suffering an ACL tear. Despite the setback, she officially received her offer from Kentucky a mere two days following the devastating injury and didn’t waste any time signing with the ‘Cats.

After some research, I’ve compiled a list of prospects out of the class of 2022 who have received an offer from Kentucky. There might be more out there, but from what I’ve been able to find, there are 23 hoopers, ranging from the top of their class to unranked, who have drawn enough interest from Mitchell, Kyra Elzy, Amber Smith, and company to earn a scholarship offer. While we won’t go in-depth on every prospect (there a few of them who have minimal to no film, statistics, or information available), this should help act as a guide for names to keep an eye on going forward.

*All rankings are via ESPN, except for the three listed under Max Preps, which are via MaxPreps.com. Dates that offers were received are courtesy of WBBBlog.com*

Class of 2022 Kentucky WBB prospects (23 total)

FIVE-STARS (6) 

Ayanna Patterson: 6-foot-2 W – No. 3 

The top-ranked prospect on this list, Ayanna Patterson, has to be one of, if not the top priority for the recruiting staff–along with every other program in the country. She recently went viral after she started posting videos online of her dunking with ease, something she’s apparently been doing since 2015, and she’s viewed as the most impressive wing player in her class. At 6-foot-3, Patterson not only possesses elite athleticism but also provides a reliable jump shot and a knack for hounding defenders.

It was reported back in February of 2019 that she received an offer from UK.

Patterson is highly sought after, receiving as many as 45 offers thus far, according to WBBBlog. The Wildcats weren’t one of the first on the scene, but they’ve been in contact with her since at least February of 2019, about a year before her recruitment truly began to explode. In 2020 alone, Patterson has received scholarship offers from the likes of heavyweight schools such as UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Maryland. Other UK rivals such as Louisville, South Carolina, and Tennessee have also reached out. There’s no doubt she’d be one of the greatest female high school prospects to ever come to Lexington.

Ashlyn Watkins: 6-foot-3 C – No. 12 

Patterson isn’t the only one who has proven she can dunk the ball on a regular basis. Ashlyn Watkins, who received her Kentucky offer all the way back in 2017, has been doing so since 2018.

Zyanna Walker: 5-foot-8 PG – No. 13 

Kansas native, Zyanna Walker, has received an offer from every single school in the Big 12 except for Baylor, and as many as 20 total from across the country, including the ‘Cats. She tore her ACL earlier this year.

 

Grace VanSlooten: 6-foot-3 F – No. 14 

Received an offer in July 2019.

Agile stretch-4 competes on the glass, rebounds and handles in uptempo game; triple-threat attack keeps the defense honest to the arc; creates, drives and delivers in traffic; emerges as an elite front court prospect in the class of 2022. (Dan Olson) [via ESPN]

Sa’Myah Smith: 6-foot-2 F – No. 15 

Received an offer in July 2020.

Ruby Whitehorn: 6-foot-2 G – No. 16 

Received an offer in May 2020.

FOUR-STARS (9)

Mya Petticord: 5-foot-9 PG – No. 21

Tonie Morgan: 5-foot-10 PG – No. 23 

Received an offer in July 2019.

Amina Muhammad: 6-foot-3 F – No. 24

Received an offer in July 2020.

Athletic front court prospect brings emerging interior game; finishes plays with either hand in traffic; active on the glass, vacuums the glass and initiates the fast break; mobile in uptempo game; high post attacker with off-the-charts potential. (Dan Olson) [via ESPN]

Talaysia Cooper: 6-foot-0 PG – No. 25 

Receive an offer in July 2019.

Amauri Williams: 6-foot-3 C – No. 28 

Recently included Kentucky in her top 10.

Amiya Joyner: 6-foot-2 F – No. 29 

Recently included Kentucky in her top 15.

Cotie McMahon: 5-foot-11 W – No. 37 

Received an offer in July 2019.

Strong, athletic perimeter performer drives and attacks the defense; finishes plays in traffic, delivers at the charity stripe; plays with high motor effort, rebounds and handles coast-to-coast; catch and shoot game at the arc; among the elite prospects in the class of 2022. (Dan Olson) [via ESPN]

Nyla Harris: 6-foot-2 F – No. 39 

Received an offer in July 2019.

Acaica Hayes: 5-foot-7 PG – No. 45 

THREE-STARS (2) 

Christeen Iwuala: 6-foot-3 C

Received an offer in August 2019.

Strong, physical lefty power-post cleans the glass, outlets and initiates the fast break; offers a defensive presence in the paint, alters and rejects shots; mobile in transition; gains position in the paint, finishes plays vs. contact. (Dan Olson) [via ESPN]

Tionna Herron: 6-foot-4 C 

Ranked by MAX PREPS (3)

Kam’Ren Rhodes: 5-foot-6 G (AZ No. 13) 

Received an offer in July 2018.

Amaya Bonner: 6-foot-0 G (CA No. 15)

Kailyn Gilbert: G (FL No. 126)

Received an offer in July 2019.

UNRANKED (3) 

Karly Weathers: 5-foot-9 PG 

Received an offer in July 2019.

Brianna McDaniel: 5-foot-11 G 

Kennedy Cambridge: 5-foot-8 PG

Received an offer in July 2019.

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2025-09-10