Mailbag Time: Answering your questions about Kentucky WBB

With Big Blue Madness quickly approaching, I figured now was a good time to answer your questions about anything and everything Kentucky women’s basketball.

Now, let’s get to your questions.

This is a tough one because there are so many high-profile targets that Kentucky is going after right now, and they’re in play for almost all of them. However, if you made me guess, I’d probably say:

• 5-star guard ZaKiyah Johnson – No. 12 overall, No. 6 guard – Sacred Heart Academy (KY)
• 5-star wing Deniya Prawl – No. 13 overall, No. 3 wing – IMG Academy (FL) OR 5-star wing Kaelyn Carroll – No. 18 overall, No. 5 wing – Tabor Academy (MA) AND 4-star guard Adelaide Jernigan – No. 64 overall, No. 28 guard – Bishop McGuinness (NC)
• 4-star forward Manuella Alves – No. 59 overall, No. 9 forward – Central Pointe Christian Academy (FL) OR an international forward that we just don’t know about yet.
• Forward Grace Mbugua – Unranked – Danville Christian Academy (KY)

At this very second, I personally think Johnson would probably commit to LSU or South Carolina, but Kenny Brooks and Kentucky are making a very, very aggressive push for her, and she knows it. We’ve got a long way until November 23rd (when she currently plans on committing). As someone who is usually a cautious pessimist, I’m going to step out of my comfort zone and guess that Brooks gets the job done.

When Kaelyn Carroll and Adelaide Jernigan were on campus, they got together really well. They’re pretty close with each other. If Jernigan doesn’t stay home and go to NC State, I could see those two being a package deal as Cats. Maybe Carroll would end up at Kentucky anyway, but I feel inclined to say that Deniya Prawl may be the option at the wing if you can’t get Carroll and Jernigan together (which is not a bad thing by any means. Prawl is very, very good).

I’m not going to say Grace Mbugua is a “lock” (because she’s not), but I personally just don’t see her going anywhere else other than Kentucky. So, if that were to happen, I’d imagine that Brooks would want to bring in one more forward to round things out, and that would most likely either be Manuella Alves or perhaps another international prospect who just isn’t on our radar yet.

I would expect a commitment before the early signing period (Nov. 13-20). If I end up being correct about Johnson potentially committing to Kentucky, then that would be just a few days later on the 23rd.

I’m going to say Tanah Becker. I don’t know if she’ll put the ball in the hoop a ton (at least early on as a freshman), but I firmly believe that she’s the best perimeter defender on this team. She’ll win Kentucky a game or two by getting some key stops.

• Georgia Amoore
• Dazia Lawrence
• Lexi Blue
• Amelia Hassett
• Clara Strack

At Virginia Tech last season, Amoore averaged 18.8 points per game, and she wasn’t even the primary scorer. Elizabeth Kitley was, who averaged 22.8 points per outing last year. So, even though the SEC is going to be more difficult for her scoring-wise, I’d say she still manages to score around 16-18 points per game.

She won’t suddenly start scoring 12-14 points per game just because she’s not in the ACC anymore. She’s got something to prove to WNBA teams this season too. Amoore is playing for a first round selection this season.

I will say, I wouldn’t be shocked if her assist numbers jump too considering she’ll have a plethora of shooters around her. She may average north of seven assists per game this season.

Remember when I said I’m a cautious pessimist? Well, now you’re gonna see that.

20 wins is going to difficult to get to, especially with just 28 games on the schedule. Now, I actually expect Kentucky to reach that 20 mark, but barely. I think Kentucky goes 20-8 (10-6 SEC) this season and finishes 6th or 7th in the SEC.

Don’t expect an immediate run to the Final Four either. Do I think Kentucky will get to that level? Yes. But give it some time.

So, what should the fans expect this year? Improvement. And a lot of it. If Kentucky wins just 12 games this season again, I’ll buy all of you a steak at Jeff Ruby’s.

Hopefully soon. Stay tuned. 🙂

It seems to really vary from year to year, but for the most part, Brooks likes to go fairly deep into his bench. Expect a consistent 8-10 person rotation. And yes, if there is anything to this team, it’s depth. Even with Jordan Obi and Dominika Paurová sidelined, Brooks should have plenty of weapons at his disposal.

It’ll be slightly different than what he’s done at Virginia Tech because he doesn’t have Kitley in the paint anymore. Clara Strack is certainly talented, but it would feel wrong to try to expect her to be Kitley-like at this point (though Brooks is putting some serious time and effort into her development specifically). Even then, the main gist of the offense will be the same.

This team is going to get up and down the floor. They’re gonna kill you in transition. On defense, expect a lot of man-to-man. Brooks knows that he’s going to have more size and more talent than you most of the time. They’ll go to zone occasionally, however.

Offensively, expect a lot of threes. Will it be something insane like 40 of them a game? No, but this isn’t a dribble-drive offense either. Do you guard Georgia Amoore? This shooter? That shooter? One of these girls on the block?

Kentucky is going to be a Swiss army knife offensively. While Brooks does have his “style”, things are going to vary game-to-game. It’s going to be a fun style of play.

John Calipari, is that you?

But on a serious note, probably not. Maybe in a UK-Laettner situation (except, you know, hopefully Kentucky would actually get the stop in that case).