'Kentucky has everything.' Clara Silva details why she chose to follow Kenny Brooks

When Kenny Brooks came to Kentucky, he brought over a good amount of his staff and roster from Virginia Tech. Additionally, he also brought over two freshman commits with one of those being Clara Silva.

Silva hails from Portugal, which is just under 4,000 miles away from Lexington. It’s safe to say that Silva is pretty far from home. However, Silva felt that Brooks and his staff made her feel as at home as possible, so she committed to play for him in Blacksburg.

However, when Brooks and that staff made the move to Lexington, Silva had to sit down with her family to re-evaluate the situation. It turns out that the decision was a simple one.

“I mostly talked to my parents [about Coach Brooks going to Kentucky],” Silva told KSR. “They know Coach and they know all the staff, and that was the main reason I chose Virginia Tech. So, when they moved here, I think it was an easy decision.”

In fact, the decision didn’t require any sort of second-guessing. Once Brooks was officially in Lexington, she knew where she wanted to be.

“It was always Kentucky,” Silva said.

Silva had always thought of Brooks fondly, but when she actually arrived at Kentucky, that was going to be put to the test. Fortunately for her, Brooks has been everything she hoped he would be.

“I think I’m learning a lot from him,” Silva explained. “I think he’s a great coach. He really cares about us outside of basketball. So, that was the main thing for me being so far away from my family — having that support here, it’s been great.”

Along with Brooks, assistant coach Radvile Autukaite is someone that heavily influenced Silva’s decision to be a ‘Cat. Like Silva, Autukaite is from Europe, and so she helps Silva make the adjustment to the states as someone who was previously in her shoes.

“[Coach Rand and I have] been in contact for two years, and knowing that she’s from Europe helps a lot because she’s been through what I’m going through. She helps me with everything.”

When you put all of that together, Silva quickly realized that Kentucky is where she wanted to be.

“Kentucky has everything. It has basketball, it is a very good school. The coaches are amazing it seems.”

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