WATCH: Kenny Brooks, Kentucky players preview SEC Tournament

Before the team departs to Greenville, South Carolina for the SEC Tournament, Kenny Brooks and several players spoke to the media to preview the upcoming slate of games and to recap the regular season. Of the players, KSR caught up with Georgia Amoore, Clara Strack, Amelia Hassett, Teonni Key, Saniah Tyler and Lexi Blue.

Brooks talked about his first regular season at Kentucky in his press conference.

“A lot of reflection over the past couple days,” Brooks noted. “Very proud of our kids, just all of the accomplishments that they’ve achieved throughout the season. Very tough going into the year having really no realistic expectations. You always hope when you go into a whole new, different situation with a whole new group of people who have never really seen anything that — you never know what to expect, and just proud of the way they came together all year long collectively to form the team that we are today.”

The Kentucky head coach continued his reflection, praising the accolades and accomplishments of Georgia Amoore.

“When you sit back and you think, and you’re 22-6 and you finish top four in the toughest league in the country with 11 new players added to your team, you’re always going to be pleased, but it’s just so much more than that because of the whole year and the way that they’ve come together. They’ve just been great kids. And it’s capped off Georgia [Amoore] becoming the Newcomer of the Year and first team all-conference, and I’m sure she probably got some consideration for Player of the Year.”

“That was really good for her because coming over to this league, there’s a lot of doubters out there,” Brooks continued. “Obviously, she did a wonderful job in the ACC and the level of physicality and the play. A lot of people doubted what she could do, and she took a blind leap of faith to follow me here. Our experiences have made us closer, and I’ve been proud of her the way — the person that she’s become, the leader she’s become and what she did for this program, for now, but also for the future.”

He also hit on Clara Strack and what she did in her first year in Lexington.

“I can’t be more excited for Clara Strack,” Brooks explained. “What she was able to accomplish this year, sitting last year and not playing a lot of minutes, I saw the hunger on her face when she got here day one. She wanted to get going, and just for her to be recognized as one of the best 16 players in this conference and the Defensive Player of the Year — I was hoping that they were going to recognize that because she does so many things that doesn’t really pop up on the stat sheet. She does things that will pop up on the stat sheet. She anchors our defense. She’s very, very smart, understands it, has a great feel for it, and to be recognized by the coaches, that’s a tremendous honor for her. I was extremely proud of that. I was a little nervous that she might get overlooked because she didn’t come in with the big name.”

Brooks noted, “If I’m not mistaken, her and Georgia, maybe the only two that weren’t McDonald’s All Americans on that list. I’d have to go back and look at it again, but just what they’ve been able to accomplish through a lot of grit, determination, hard work, and they didn’t do it alone. Their teammates were exceptional all year long too.”

Catch Brooks and the players and everything they had to say below:

Kenny Brooks

Georgia Amoore, Clara Strack, Amelia Hassett, Teonni Key, Saniah Tyler and Lexi Blue

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