'We have a good core back.' Kentucky WBB looking to use roster continuity as foundation for success

Kentucky lost three pieces to the transfer portal in Clara Silva, Saniah Tyler and Tanah Becker, but they brought in three transfers to help fill in those gaps. Additionally, Kenny Brooks and the staff reeled in freshmen Kaelyn Carroll and Elsa Vadfors.

However, bringing in newcomers wasn’t the biggest part of transfer portal season for Kentucky. It was retaining the talent they already had.

Each of the triplets — SEC Defensive Player of the Year Clara Strack and seniors Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett — came back. Additionally, former top 40 recruit Lexi Blue is giving it another go in Lexington, and Jordan Obi and Dominika Paurová are back, both of which spent last year sidelined with lower leg injuries.

To put things into perspective, Kentucky returned:

• The SEC Defensive Player of the Year (15.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.4 BPG)
• A senior who was a former top 10 recruit (11.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 1.5 APG)
• A senior who averaged 8.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game
• A sophomore who was a former top 40 recruit
• A fifth-year 3x All-Ivy wing (14.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 38.6 3P% in 2023-24)
• A redshirt sophomore who was the 6th man on an Elite Eight team (5.5 PPG, 37.2 3P% in 2023-24)

Not too shabby, right? Kenny Brooks knows what he has to work with, and he knows that returning all of that talent is huge.

He brought in Georgia Amoore and basically his entire Virginia Tech staff over to Lexington, and that helped him succeed in year one. There was continuity there. Now, he has some continuity heading into year two. Brooks wants continuity to be the foundation for Kentucky’s success moving forward.

“Well, continuity was probably one of the biggest reasons for success last year,” Brooks said in his first press conference heading into the 2025-26 season. “Obviously, was in a new environment, new uniforms, new everything other than the fact that there was a lot of familiarity with a lot of our players that we brought from Virginia Tech or who had signed with us to go to Virginia Tech or who I’ve known since they were 11 years old.”

He continued, “So, that enabled us to build that trust. I think it’s going to be a key for us this year. There’s a lot of movement in college basketball, and although we did add some very important pieces — the core — we have a good core back. A core that understands exactly what we want, how we want it — who’s actually been through it here at the University of Kentucky.”

Brooks believes that Kentucky’s continuity not only serves as a solid foundation to build upon, but it also gives his team an advantage on the court.

“No longer are we gonna go and not know what the SEC is going to be like, not knowing what crowds in Memorial are going to be like. So, that familiarity is great,” Brooks noted. “I think it does give us a leg up — give us a leg up on a lot of the competition because a lot of our key players, they know exactly what’s expected of them, and they’ll be able to provide even more.”

“So, that’s something that we’re going to hang our hat on in order for us to have success right out of the gate,” he added. “Just understanding each other, and that’s a big factor. When we had the core come back, we knew that we were going to be a step ahead.”

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