KSR's takeaways of Kentucky WBB at the Blue-White Game

Of course, the big story surrounding the Blue-White Game is Jaland Lowe‘s shoulder injury, but to take a glance in a more positive direction, we saw some really good stuff from the Kentucky women’s basketball program on Friday night.

Here’s KSR’s top takeaways from what Kenny Brooks‘ squad put on display in Historic Memorial Coliseum.

Welcome back to Lexington, Jaida Roper!

It’s always cool to see some former Cats revisit their old stomping grounds, and oddly enough, it’s even cooler when they come back as a referee.

We got to see that on Friday night as Brooks got the microphone and at center court, asked Big Blue Nation to welcome Jaida Roper back home.

Former UK Women’s Basketball player Jaida Roper is here as an official for the Women’s Blue and White Game. pic.twitter.com/NmjHfi6jGq

— Mario A Maitland (@MarioMaitland_3) October 17, 2025

Roper played at Kentucky from 2016-2020 and averaged 5.5 points, 2.2 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 125 career games in the blue and white. Perhaps her best outing came in her senior year against Winthrop, when she dropped a 30-burger on the Eagles while shooting a red-hot 12-13 (3-4 3PT) from the field.

She also ended her career at Kentucky by knocking down 26 straight free throws, the fourth-longest such streak in program history.

Welcome back, 32!

We now know the starting five and how deep the rotation is

One of the positives from Kentucky scrimmaging against the male practice players is that we got to see a true starting five and rotation that we’ll likely see throughout the season — especially now that we know that Dominika Paurová will be out for another season due to injury.

As I’ve reported on KSBoard a time or two, it’s seemed more and more likely that Jordan Obi would start at the two as the offseason has gone on. With that, the starting five we saw at the Blue-White Game was Tonie Morgan, Obi, Amelia Hassett, Teonni Key and Clara Strack.

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That’s more than likely the starting five we will see throughout the season.

Kentucky’s starting lineup for the Blue-White Game.

The likely starting five for the season. pic.twitter.com/UrsRLUdc9V

— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) October 17, 2025

On top of that, Asia Boone, Josie Gilvin and Kaelyn Carroll were the next three in with Lexi Blue to follow. To me, that’s the nine-player rotation, and based on experience and need at their respective postions, I’d say that’s probably the order that the bench will go in terms of minutes (Boone the most, then Gilvin, then Carroll, then Blue).

It was really nice to get a look into what practice looks like

In a sense, it was kind of nice to see what a Kentucky women’s basketball practice looks like. For all intents and purposes, we basically just got an open practice, and that’s actually — in hindsight — a cool thing.

Yes, the stretching at the beginning may have seemed like a bit much, but at the same time, we got to see them slowly ramp up into warmups and shooting drills, then the scrimmage.

99% of other women’s basketball programs don’t have that type of experience for their fans, so that’s another plus for UK Athletics for being ahead of the curve to a degree.

Kenny Brooks is a man of the people — specifically BBN

I wanted to point this out because I thought it was really neat, and if it weren’t for me being on the opposite side of the arena, I would have recorded it and posted it on social media.

When the women’s team wrapped up and the men came out onto the floor, Brooks didn’t just exit the venue through the tunnels of Historic Memorial Coliseum and make his way out unnoticed — which no one would have really blamed him for.

Instead, the second-year Kentucky head coach made his way up the lower bowl stands, greeting and high-fiving every fan that he walked by. People enthusiastically ran up to him asking for photos and everything in between.

Kenny Brooks is currently walking up the stands here at Historic Memorial Coliseum, high-fiving and talking with every fan he passes.

When I interviewed him on my podcast, he talked about how tonight is for the fans. Pretty cool to see him engaging with #BBN like that.

— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) October 18, 2025

When I interviewed Brooks on Episode 39 of The Memorial Memo, I asked him about what he wanted to see from his team during the Blue-White Game, and he spun the question and said it’s more about the fans than anything.

Normally, you may chalk that off as coach speak — him trying to say something small that may turn into a little bit of a PR win for him for thinking about the fans — but he meant what he said.

He made sure Friday night was about the fans, and it’s cool to see him actively engaging with the fanbase.

Tonie Morgan’s quick twitch and shiftiness are almost uncanny

Now, onto the actual on-the-court takeaways.

The only way to put this is that Tonie Morgan looked really, really, REALLY good on Friday night. Remember how “shifty” Rob Dillingham was at Kentucky? Yeah, she’s got maybe just as much of a quick twitch as he does.

We knew Morgan had the ability to get downhill and score, but to actually see it in-person and not on tape was truly something special. One second, she’ll be at the top of the key just scanning the floor, then in the blink of an eye, she’s already headed back on defense after blowing by the defense and getting to the rack of a layup.

I don’t know if she’ll be quite as good as Georgia Amoore was here at Kentucky, but she certainly brings a different element to the game that makes her about as valuable as the 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year was.

Kaelyn Carroll didn’t look lost under the bright lights

Kaelyn Carroll was really impressive on Friday night. The main reason? She didn’t look nervous at all under the bright lights in Historic Memorial Coliseum. The former top 15 recruit proved to Big Blue Nation that she knows she belongs at Kentucky under the spotlight.

As far as her production goes, she hit two three-pointers — something we actually didn’t see a whole lot of on Friday night. While she won’t be a starter in her first year in Lexington, she certainly cemented herself as a very valuable contributor for this year’s team.

The season can’t get here soon enough

Kentucky’s season officially begins on November 3rd in Historic Memorial Coliseum when the Cats take on in-state foe Morehead State. Morehead State, by the way, is coached by Ashton Feldhaus, the niece of former UK men’s basketball player Deron Feldhaus.

While the connection there is cool, it isn’t cool enough to prevent us from wanting Brooks’ squad to absolutely stomp them into the mud.

This is the last time we’ll get to see Kentucky play until then. The season cannot get here fast enough.