Kentucky WBB bringing recruiting momentum to Big Blue Madness

Kentucky women’s basketball continues to ride high off of last season’s success. A 10-game winning streak produced the program’s first SEC Tournament title in 40 years, which head coach Kyra Elzy admitted during Media Day last week has been an excellent recruiting pitch. When you can bring a giant trophy into the home of a top-ranked recruit, it goes a long way. It also doesn’t hurt that Rhyne Howard just completed an unbelievable first season in the WNBA, winning Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star Game. All of that helped Kentucky bring in an impressive six-woman rookie class for the 2022-23 season.

“Everybody loves Rhyne Howard, so we had a lot of momentum going into recruiting with Rhyne Howard being the number one draft pick,” Elzy said. “But it also helped carrying an SEC Championship trophy into the houses along with the nets and the jerseys that we wore. But I think it was the exposure that that team brought. But that’s the momentum that you need and we need to continue in recruiting… Winning, we need to win. That helps in recruiting period.”

Flexing this ring probably helps, too.

Bling, bling. 😌💎 pic.twitter.com/Kc6lABSGCK

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) October 14, 2022

So how does Elzy plan to keep that recruiting momentum rolling? Well, what better place to start than Big Blue Madness? Kentucky WBB is planning to host dozens of recruits at Rupp Arena on Friday night for the annual preseason event.

From the junior class of 2024, Kentucky is hosting a pair of ESPN four-star point guards, 5-foot-6 Jordyn Poole (Fort Wayne, IN) and 5-foot-8 Bryanna Preston (Lovejoy, GA). Poole is coming off a visit to Marquette earlier this month and also holds offers from the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Xavier, DePaul, and plenty of others. She has been to Kentucky over the last two summers for camp visits and will return for BBM. As for Preston, she holds offers from Ole Miss, Texas, Cincinnati, Florida, Mississippi State, Alabama, and more. UK offered her last July.

The class of 2025 will include some very important in-state visitors. Both G Zakiyah Johnson (Sacred Heart Academy, KY) and F Leah Macy (Mercy Academy, KY) are considered among the top 25 high school sophomores in the country, according to ESPN. They have incredibly bright college futures and are already being recruited by the best programs across the country. Elzy’s ability to keep them in her own backyard is going to be an important recruiting storyline to follow over the next couple of years.

Johnson, a 5-foot-11 guard, and Macy, a 6-foot-2 forward, were AAU teammates on Kentucky Premier until this summer when Johnson switched to a West Virginia-based program. They were both in attendance at BBM last year and will be back again on Friday.

Other ’25 prospects expected to be in attendance are 6-foot-3 wing Maya Makalusky (Fishers, IN) and 5-foot-7 point guard Reese Beaty (Jamestown, TN), who both play for Kentucky Premier. Makalusky picked up her offer from Kentucky not long ago in mid-September. She holds additional offers from the likes of Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Butler, and more. For Beaty, she received a UK offer before her freshman season and now holds over a dozen Power 5 offers.

A pair of sisters are also expected at Big Blue Madness: Jaylah and Lola Lampley out of Lawrence Central (IN) High School. Jaylah is a 6-foot-1 guard from the class of 2025 ranked as a three-star by ESPN while Lola is a 6-foot-2 wing from the class of 2026. The two are being offered by colleges as a package deal and have earned scholarships from the likes of Illinois, Miami (FL), Maryland, Pitt, and Florida, among others. Both Lampley sisters were in Lexington last summer for an unofficial visit, too.

The list doesn’t stop there, either. Kentucky WBB will host another ’26 prospect in 6-foot-2 center Naomi Benson out of Statesboro (OH) High School. She is currently being recruited by local schools Dayton, Ohio State, and Xavier along with West Virginia.

A handful of ’27 recruits not yet in high school will make the trip to Big Blue Madness, too: 5-foot-11 F Sydney Savoury (MI), 5-foot-7 G Jazlyn Rhodes (MO), and 6-foot-1 G Saniyah Hall (OH). Another in-state prospect, South Laurel’s Skeeter Mabe, is also expected for BBM. She made headlines last year for taking a visit to UK as a seventh-grader.

Elzy rappelled from the rafters of Rupp Arena last year for her Big Blue Madness debut. With so much talent in town, what does she have in store to impress the crowd this time around?