Kenny Brooks and Georgia Amoore Rebuilding Kentucky into a Powerhouse in the SEC

Kenny Brooks and Georgia Amoore Rebuilding Kentucky into a Powerhouse in the SEC

Kenny Brooks was too busy with basketball five days before Christmas to celebrate his birthday. He aimed to take the Kentucky women’s basketball team to win against Belmont. Although the Wildcats won the game, he still can’t celebrate his birthday. Instead, he is focused on rebuilding the women’s basketball program into a powerhouse in the SEC.

According to the best pay per head bookie, things have moved at a breakneck speed since Brooks announced his resignation from Virginia Tech in late March. He spent eight seasons there. Brooks’ transfer to Kentucky was a significant story of the offseason in women’s collegiate basketball, following a career spent playing and teaching in Virginia, including fourteen years at his alma school, James Madison. It became even more significant when top point guard and former Hokies standout Georgia Amoore moved to Kentucky in April.

Big Blue Nation has had great success since the Brooks era began. The No. 12 Wildcats have a 17-2 record and are 6-1 in SEC play, good for second place. All their losses have been away from home, against North Carolina (then ranked 16th) on December 5 and Texas A&M (January 23).

Kenny Brooks Wants to Turn Kentucky into a Powerhouse in the SEC

Kenny Brooks and Georgia Amoore Rebuilding Kentucky into a Powerhouse in the SECThe Wildcats have a demanding schedule for the rest of the regular season. Beginning Thursday in Lexington against No. 22 Alabama, the team will play the first six games against ranked opponents. Among the Wildcats’ opponents are South Carolina (ranked #2), Texas (ranked #5), LSU (ranked #7), Oklahoma (ranked #13), and Tennessee (ranked #18th). Also included are the rated Ole Miss teams from earlier this season.

A guide to college basketball player prop bets had the Wildcats at #4. With 18.3 points per game, 7.4 assists, and 35.7 minutes played per game, Amoore is the leading scorer for the team and the SEC.

In 2023, Virginia Tech made history, largely thanks to the chemistry that developed between head coach James Franklin and graduate student Amoore throughout the recruitment process. She claims he is the only one who truly understands her game, and he counters by saying he can push her to her limits during training, and she will never back down.

Former Hokies in Kentucky

Clara Strack, a 6-foot-5 sophomore center who transferred from Hokies to Kentucky, is the current leader in the SEC in blocked shots with 2.4 per game. Five Wildcat starters—including Amoore, Strack, Teonni Key (forward) from North Carolina, Dazia Lawrence (guard) from Charlotte, and Amoore’s fellow Australian, Amelia Hassett—average double figures in scoring.

According to live basketball betting strategies, Amoore traveled from Australia to suit up for Brooks at Virginia Tech in 2020 during the worldwide epidemic. She had no idea that four years later, in a different league, she would be attempting to repeat her role as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech—that is, to lead Kentucky to the Final Four.

In 2023, the Hokies accomplished it under Amoore and center Elizabeth Kitley’s leadership. They went 31-5 and were the first program to win the ACC tournament title before losing in the national quarterfinals to eventual winner LSU.

With Kitley out for the year due to an ACL tear on March 3, the Hokies could not participate in last year’s postseason despite winning the ACC regular season title. Brooks felt terrible for Kitley and described it as a low point in his coaching career. Later on in March, his tenure with the Hokies came to a close.