Kenny Brooks talked to Kyra Elzy over the summer, plans to meet with Matthew Mitchell

Though the hiring of Kenny Brooks almost certainly means success coming Kentucky’s way, it won’t be the only success that will have been had in Lexington. Matthew Mitchell, the winningest coach in program history, took the ‘Cats to three Elite Eights in four years, and Kyra Elzy won Kentucky their second-ever SEC Tournament Championship back in 2022.

When Brooks put ink to paper, he immediately got to work, and he actually met up with Elzy while out recruiting. The unofficial passing of the torch served as a moment for Elzy to give Brooks some much-needed advice and wisdom heading into his tenure.

“Coach Elzy — she and I sat down, had a very good, long conversation over the summer on the recruiting trail,” Brooks explained in his preseason press conference. “I have so much respect for her — always have. I have so much respect for her and how she goes about her business. She’s a consummate professional. She had nothing but great things to say about her experience at the University of Kentucky, and that meant a lot to me.”

He continued, “She wished us well. I wished her well in her future endeavors. So, it’s a great relationship. Coach Elzy was even telling me a good church to go to and things of that nature. We all understand the nature of the business and profession, but behind that business and everything that goes along with it, we coaches have like, a little fraternity/sorority where we really support each other, and we see each other as more than just coaches. We see each other as people, and [Kyra Elzy and Matthew Mitchell] are two good people that I’ve always respected.”

As for Mitchell, Brooks plans to meet with him at a later time. They’ve had some brief talk here and there, but they’ve yet to have that long sit-down type of conversation that he and Elzy had months ago.

“I played phone tag with Coach Mitchell,” Brooks mentioned. “I know eventually we will get together at some point in time. I didn’t want to do it before Big Blue Madness because he would probably try to get me to go out there and dance, but I know he will be a tremendous resource. I know he loves the University of Kentucky and the women’s basketball program, so we will eventually meet up.”

Brooks is fortunate to have two great minds to help him along the way in Lexington, but he also has two great people in general there to support him as well.

“Coming here, they’ve been very gracious with their time, telling me a lot of things about the university and fanbase, where to eat, where to go to church, things that nature, which are all very important to me.”