Clara Silva headed to Lexington after leading Portugal to spot in FIBA U19 World Cup
Clara Silva hasn’t even made it to Lexington yet, but she’s been a topic of conversation all month now.
Silva, a 6-foot-6, soon-to-be freshman for Kentucky women’s basketball, is coming off a terrific stretch of play in her home country. She led Portugal to a fifth-place finish in the FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBakset, which wrapped up over the weekend. Portugal finished the event with a 6-1 overall record, but more importantly, they locked up the country’s first-ever spot in the FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup, which is set for 2025 in the Czech Republic.
Portugal wouldn’t have come close to this achievement without Silva anchoring the paint though. She averaged an event-leading 18.7 points to go along with 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and two blocks in 31.6 minutes per outing. She also shot 55.1 percent from the field. As a result, Silva was tabbed to the EuroBasket All-Star Five. She was the only player not to play in the semifinals to make the All-Star Five.
It’s been quite some time since Kentucky has rostered someone the size of Silva. In fact, the Wildcats haven’t featured a player taller than 6-foot-4 since the 2015-16 season when 6-foot-6 center Ivana Jakubcova out of Slovakia was averaging just 7.7 minutes per outing. The program doesn’t have a rich history of rolling out impactful centers like Silva, at least not over the last 20 years — and they’ll have two in 2024-25 with 6-foot-5 sophomore Clara Strack also roaming the paint.
That’s what it takes to win in today’s era of women’s college basketball though. New head coach Kenny Brooks knows it. When he was coaching at Virginia Tech his best player was 6-foot-5 Elizabeth Kitley, a three-time ACC Player of the Year (2022-24). Size down low is important to him and he’s entering a conference riddled with tall and talented post players. Brooks is looking to match the rest of the SEC with Silva and Strack.
Remember, Silva would have been a Top 10 recruit in the country had she played in the United States. Strack averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and three blocks during two NCAA Tournament games last season for Virginia Tech in place of an injured Kitley. The two Claras should be able to produce on the hardwood from day one.
Although Silva didn’t have the benefit of practicing with her future college teammates over the summer, putting up impressive numbers overseas is the next best thing. She’s expected to arrive on UK’s campus late next week, just in time for the start of the fall semester and the beginning of fall practice.
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