Kenny Brooks: 'You play for the name on the front [of the jersey]. You play for Big Blue Nation.'

PStevensKSR

brooks-play-for-name-on-front-play-for-big-blue-nation — Photo of Kenny Brooks and fans by UK Athletics

When Kenny Brooks sat down for his WKU postgame press conference, the first thing he had to say was about the crowd, shouting out the good attendance for the game.

“First and foremost, the crowd was unbelievable,” Brooks said. “When you get a crowd like that, you want to play well for them so they’ll continue to come back. I was very pleased with that. You never know what to expect when you come up from Christmas — from the crowd to your team.”

Perhaps one of the main reasons that fan attendance has continued to steadily increase is that Kentucky just keeps winning. In fact, the Cats went undefeated at home in non-conference play. It means a lot to Brooks to be able to say that.

“You always want to protect home court. You value that,” Brooks explained. “It’s a sense of pride because you play for more than just the team. You play for the name on the front [of the jersey]. You play for Big Blue Nation, and when they come into the building, you want to represent in front of them. So, for us to be able to go undefeated [at home in non-conference play] putting together a new basketball team, it’s a sense of accomplishment for us.”

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He added, “I’m very, very proud of that situation because to win a basketball game at this level is hard. It’s very hard. So, for us to be able to to win all of them so far that we played through non-conference, I think it gives a sense of pride to BBN. It’s fun when you go to — what’s the mall — Fayette [Mall], and you’re in there and people are wanting to take pictures with you because you’re doing a good job — you’re winning, and I think that should that goes along with the pride of BBN.”

Brooks has certainly helped bring this program and its fanbase back to life, and he can continue to do so if he can keep the winning up in SEC play.

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