Kenny Brooks knows how to separate dad life from coaching life

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It’s no surprise that Kenny Brooks brought over his daughter, Gabby, when he landed the job at Kentucky. In fact, both of Gabby’s older sisters played for Kenny during their collegiate careers. It was only fitting that Gabby did the same.

Over the years, though, Kenny has had to learn how to separate his life as a dad and as a coach. While quite possibly the most important job is to be a father, coaching for Kenny is a close second. Since he’s coached his daughters for years, the former Hokie has had a lot of practice.

“He’s found a really good way of separating them, so it’s like, if I have a bad practice, I can still go talk to my dad afterward,” daughter and player Gabby Brooks said on media day. “He does a really good job of just keeping it calm.”

Happy 18th birthday to my youngest queen! You’ve brought so much love and laughter into our home. Can’t wait to see what you do next. Love you Gabby! pic.twitter.com/zVqqMsePZ3
— Kenny Brooks (@CoachBrooksVT) May 29, 2023

Despite the fact that Gabby knows her dad better than anyone on the team, she gave props to teammate Georgia Amoore when trying to decipher her dad’s coaching style.

“I would hand that one over to Georgia,” she said. “I would handle more of his behavior and the way he tries to word stuff, that’s more of my area.”

While it is probably comforting to bring your dad to your new city, new school, and new team, Gabby said that it’s very impressive how the team gets along already.

“[It’s impressive] how well our chemistry has been so far, and that’s something that I think is amazing,” she said. Even though Gabby might not get the most playing time compared to some of her teammates, that doesn’t stop her from being as supportive as she can.

“Georgia always is impressive to watch. Lexi (Blue)’s been knocking it down too,” Gabby said. “Clara (Strack)’s been stepping up big too.

“I’ve definitely seen improvement and more of a range of what they can do. I think now they’re getting more [time] to play one-on-one together and their chemistry is building. I think that’s really cool to see.”