OPINION: Nobody is Owed A Kentucky Basketball Roster Spot

It’s really amazing to me that a player from Eastern Kentucky who averaged 1.4 points per game on 27% shooting and 26% 3-point shooting has garnered this much consternation from the Big Blue Nation about their departure from the program. A new coach is always going to look to shape the program how they want, especially one that has struggled in previous years. Ultimately, are we not trying to win as many games as possible? And letting a player go barely contributed should seem like a fairly uneventful moment in the development of the program.

Oh wait, you thought I was talking about Cassidy Rowe?

I am talking about Landon Slone, the Paintsville native who left the program upon the arrival of John Calipari in 2010. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember this kind of uproar over Slone’s departure from the program, despite the fact his stats actually are better in each category than Rowe’s. And yet, there is a small but vocal group of women’s basketball fans acting as if Kenny Brooks just pushed Rhyne Howard out the door.

Let me be clear: I am not trying to use this space to rip on Cassidy Rowe. All accounts say she is a great teammate and student who never caused any issues within the program. But Kenny Brooks elevated a 12-win program (in which Rowe played a lot) to a 23-win program (in which she did not) in one season. It’s just that simple.

ENTITLEMENT IS DEATH

My biggest issue with this entire conflict is that there is this sense of entitlement with it all; this idea that:

1. Rowe should remain on the team because she was going to be a senior. I could argue this is the OPPOSITE of the mentality you should have. Rowe had three seasons to prove her worth on the court and really didn’t do it. I could argue that pushing a freshman out the door is far worse than pushing a junior out. A freshman could still develop into something. I am not sure there was much hope that Rowe would be a top contributor next season.
   
2. Rowe should remain on the team because she is from Kentucky. We either are trying to win as many games as we can with whoever we can or we’re not. John Calipari barely took any players from Kentucky. Instead, he took the best players he could from around the country and won a national title and went to four Final Fours. Almost all of the great players at UK, both men and women, of the last 25 years, have come from out of state. And many, if not all, of those players came to love the program like we do. This idea because Rowe loved the program at seven years old while Jamal Mashburn didn’t love it until he was 18 should mean something; it shouldn’t. What should is whether Rowe could be one of the 13-15 best players on the roster next year.
   
3. Kenny Brooks owed it to Rowe because she stuck around. I will be honest and say that Rowe’s father’s comment about Kenny Brooks’ lack of heart bothered me. Kenny Brooks is not running a 6-and-under co-ed team at the YMCA. In that case, all kids should play and be given a chance. This is high major, high money, college basketball. Women’s basketball has never been more popular, and Brooks is trying to get us in the mix. He does not owe it to any player, under any circumstance, if he doesn’t feel they can get us to that elite level.

Kenny Brooks is not trying to make the state proud by highlighting our best in-state players; he is trying to win. Period. These women are playing serious basketball. They are not dainty nor do they need protecting. They are in the same game as the men, the game of NIL, and winning above all else.

I am sure Cassidy Rowe is very hurt being asked to leave the program; I do have sympathy for her. But I also think she was given three years to prove herself and wear that Wildcat jersey, a privilege that most women from Kentucky don’t get. And the direction Kenny Brooks’ program is going and where he wants it to go doesn’t have a place for Rowe. That is the reality of the situation.

ALL ABOUT THE WINS NOW

Now, if Kenny Brooks replaces Cassidy Rowe with a guard from Maryland who averages 1 PPG, and UK doesn’t get past the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the next three years, then my opinion can change on this topic. But my guess is that Brooks has a plan for the players he wants for next season and beyond and that he believes he can upgrade the talent at guard. John Calipari came in and immediately changed the recruiting strategy from the Tubby-Billy era to one focused on freshmen. And many in this fanbase expressed concern about this fact. We never get to know the players, they aren’t really connected to this program, on and on. And then the wins came. And people accepted not taking the Josh Carriers and Brandon Stocktons anymore.

Kenny Brooks is in it now. Year 1 was a fairytale for him as the program elevated itself quickly with some great players, but now he’s in the washing machine of Kentucky Basketball. And now he’s facing a unique challenge with Kentucky fans. But if I were him, I would continue to focus on one thing and one thing only: how to get more wins. He clearly did not think Cassidy Rowe was going to contribute to those wins next season and moved in a different direction. And as long as those wins come, this “conflict” will pass.

Either way, my takeaway from this is that no player should ever feel like they are entitled to a roster spot at the University of Kentucky. No matter what you’ve given to the program, where you are from, or what kind of character you hold, you also have to contribute to the actual wins. Rowe was not doing that and Kenny Brooks was justified to move in a different direction.