Mitch Barnhart has "no expectations" for Kenny Brooks; wants Kentucky to "just go get better"

On Thursday, Kenny Brooks had his introductory press conference as Kentucky women’s basketball head coach as he sat by the man who hired him — UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

From the moment they took the podium together, you could tell the vibes were in a good spot.

This isn’t the Kentucky of old, and the buzz and excitement surrounding the program reached new heights ahead of the press conference.

Just look at those smiles! pic.twitter.com/VlZye8lCJo

— Katie Hutchison (@KHutchisonKSR) March 28, 2024

While Barnhart opened up the press conference introducing the new head coach — listing all of Brooks’ accomplishments throughout his career — he wouldn’t say anything else the rest of the way. Kenny Brooks (understandably) took the questions from there. However, following the event, reporters gathered around Barnhart to get his perspective on things.

One of the more notable things that the UK Athletic Director noted was what he expects from Brooks. But, that’s the thing. There are no expectations for him. As Barnhart put it, he simply wants to see the program “just go get better” under Brooks.

“No expectations,” Barnhart promptly responded when asked what he wants of Kenny Brooks. “Just go get better. Let’s just go get better.”

Of course, even though there may not be any sort of specific expectations set for Brooks yet, Barnhart acknowledged that Brooks will be stepping into a place with a big, big spotlight on him and the program.

“He knows [that the lights are bright],” Barnhart said. “That’s why he wanted to be here. He wanted to be here because of Kentucky. There’s nothing that escapes people about the brand of Kentucky basketball. When he said ‘We’re under the umbrella [of Kentucky basketball]’, that’s a good place to live. And the Southeastern Conference — those two brands together are pretty special. He wanted to be a part of that.”

Even though Barnhart may be waiting to set any sort of expectations for Brooks, the program’s ninth head coach will have a chance to set a new standard at Kentucky on the biggest stage in college basketball.