Kenny Brooks is setting a new standard for Kentucky WBB on the recruiting trail

When the hiring of Kenny Brooks was announced by Kentucky women’s basketball, expectations for what the program could do quickly skyrocketed — and rightly so. At both James Madison and Virginia Tech, Brooks’ career was defined by winning. And how did he win those games?

By bringing in elite talent.

Throughout his coaching career, Brooks has developed seven WNBA Draft picks, along with some future ones as well. Elizabeth Kitley, for example, will go down as arguably the greatest Hokie ever. Kitley averaged 17.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game during her illustrious five-year collegiate career.

On top of that, Kitley was a 4x All-ACC player, 3x AP All-American, 3x ACC Player of the Year, 3x All-ACC Defensive Team player, and the 2020 ACC Freshman of the Year. If those accolades aren’t enough for you, then there just simply will never be enough.

Kenny Brooks brought in and coached up arguably the best player in school history, and she is just one of several superstar players that Brooks recruited to Blacksburg.

Now that Brooks is in Lexington, however, he will have to bring that same intensity on the recruiting trail to compete with the best of the best in the SEC, and he has done just that early. Aside from potentially bringing in an ex-player of his like All-American Georgia Amoore, Brooks has taken his efforts to the high school level as well.

Most notably, Brooks has re-offered 2025 five-star in-state guard ZaKiyah Johnson, and 2024 five-star guard Imari Berry is planning a visit to Kentucky following her decommitment from Clemson. Back in November, Johnson cut her list of schools down to 12, leaving the ‘Cats off the list. Now, with Kenny Brooks at the helm, Kentucky is right back in the mix to get Johnson, who is the highest-ranked recruit from the state of Kentucky since Erin Boley (2016).

As for Berry, it seemed like it would be a long shot for her to come to Kentucky at one time. Now, Brooks could land her too. She would be Kentucky’s highest-rated prospect since Linnae Harper (2013) committed to Matthew Mitchell and the ‘Cats. Berry is down to UNC, Louisville, and Kentucky.

It has been a very long time since Kentucky has truly been competitive in getting the top high school recruits in the country. Rhyne Howard wasn’t even on this level — she ended up being ranked as a borderline top-30 prospect in the 2018 class. It has been a decade-plus since Kentucky has been at this point.

The Kenny Brooks era is upon us, and it seems that he is ready to set a new standard in Lexington.