Who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Kentucky WBB?

Mount Rushmore. It’s one of the most famous and historic landmarks in the world — certainly in the United States. It serves as the holy grail of American history, featuring perhaps the four biggest faces in the country’s history. That concept — only four figures being on the stone monument — also serves as a fun point of discussion when discussing sports.

You’ve heard the idea a ton. “Who’s on the Mount Rushmore of NBA players”, “Who’s on the Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks”, “Who’s on the Mount Rushmore of baseball players” — you get it.

On the latest episode of The Memorial Memo, KSR’s Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison discussed who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Kentucky women’s basketball.

There are certainly a ton of names to pick from. For this exercise, we didn’t make it exclusive to just players or just coaches. Both options were available, making it even more difficult to narrow things down.

Phoenix: Kenny Brooks, Valerie Still, Matthew Mitchell, Rhyne Howard

Graphic from Episode 30 of The Memorial Memo

Katie: Rhyne Howard, Matthew Mitchell, Valerie Still, Victoria Dunlap Connley

It seems pretty obvious to have the winningest coach (Matthew Mitchell) and the most decorated player (Valerie Still) in program history in there. Then, having Rhyne Howard among those names certainly seem fit too. After all, she is certainly one of the best players in program history — probably number two behind Still.

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Then, things get tricky with that fourth spot. Phoenix went with Kenny Brooks, and Katie went with Victoria Dunlap Connley. Brooks accomplished a lot on the court in year one, but more importantly, he’s garnered more fan interest than the program has potentially ever seen. The future under Brooks is looking very, very bright.

As for Dunlap Connley, she is second in career rebounds (1,099) and blocks (178) at Kentucky. The three-time All-SEC, two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time AP All-American also led the Cats to an Elite Eight as a junior. There’s plenty of names that could be on this Mount Rushmore, and she’s certainly one of them.

Which four coaches and/or players would you put on the Mount Rushmore of Kentucky women’s basketball?