Kenny Brooks hires Charlotte's Ciara Gregory as Assistant Coach, Director of Recruiting Operations

After adding Will Sims as the director of scouting and program analytics on Tuesday, Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kenny Brooks has brought in another piece to his coaching staff for the 2024-25 season.

On Wednesday, Brooks announced the hiring of former Charlotte women’s basketball assistant coach Ciara Gregory as the Wildcats’ assistant coach and director of recruiting operations. Gregory spent the last five seasons at her alma mater of Charlotte, having coached a pair of former Kentucky players in KeKe McKinney and Kameron Roach along the way.

“I’m very grateful to be joining Coach Brooks and Big Blue Nation on this new journey,” Gregory said, per UK’s press release. “I can’t express how excited I am to be a part of this tremendous staff and rich tradition that is Kentucky basketball. I look forward to serving Coach Brooks, the staff and our student-athletes to the best of my ability. Let’s go, BBN!”

Gregory, a native of Pennsylvania, worked primarily with the guards during her time with the 49ers.

Welcome to Lexington, Coach C!@cgregory1_ https://t.co/F0ootX5Dlp pic.twitter.com/pg1ML0xaGz

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) May 1, 2024

Gregory played four seasons at Charlotte (2014-17), holding the program record for three-pointers made (235) in a career along with the most three-pointers in a single game (nine against FIU in Feb. 2017). She finished her career with 1,031 points before graduating in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in American studies. She later added a master’s degree in arts and liberal studies with a focus on coaching, leadership, and sports in 2021.

Of note, Gregory helped develop Charlotte’s 2023-24 All-AAC First Team selection, Dazia Lawrence, who is currently in the transfer portal and is being recruited by Kentucky. The 5-foot-8 guard averaged a career-high 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on 42.6 percent shooting this past season. Having a familiar face on staff surely won’t hurt the Wildcats’ efforts…

Kentucky WBB 2024-25 coaching staff

• Head coach, Kenny Brooks
• Associate head coach, Lindsey Hicks
• Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Radvile Autukaite
• Special assistant and chief of staff, Tim Clark
• Assistant coach, Josh Petersen
• Assistant coach and director of player development, Kendall Dillard
• Director of scouting and program analytics, Will Sims
• Assistant coach and director of recruiting operations, Ciara Gregory