Amiya Jenkins, a top 100 ESPN player, will play her college basketball at Kentucky. (KHSAA Photo)
It might have been the most low-key commitment from a big-time player from Kentucky for the University of Kentucky women’s team ever but that’s just the way Anderson County senior Amiya Jenkins prefers to do things.
“She is not one that cares about a lot of showy stuff. If you look on Twitter you will not see a lot of ‘blessed to receive an offer’ from a lot of schools like some players do,” Anderson County coach Clay Birdwhistell said.
“That’s not her style. She was very quiet until she announced her final eight (schools). She was not talking about it (her commitment) on social media. She is kind of a throwback. She was not going to use offers to leverage other offers.”
The 5-11 Jenkins, a four-star recruit and a top 100 player in the 2022 ESPN recruiting rankings, announced her commitment on social media and gave Kentucky coach Krya Elzy her first big in-state commitment since she became head coach before the start of last season.
Shelby Valley senior Cassidy Rowe is also verbally committed to UK but she made her decision when Matthew Mitchell was still the head coach.
Anderson County coach Clay Birdwhistell said his senior standout wanted to have everything completed if possible about her college choice in time to let her concentrate on her senior season.
“She was comfortable with the offers she had and was ready to go through with her commitment,” Birdwhistell said.
Jenkins had Rutgers, Penn State, Dayton, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Belmont, and Eastern Kentucky in her final eight along with Kentucky. She averaged 17.2 points per game last season when Anderson won the 8th Region and finished 28-3 (the Bearcats lost in the state semifinals to eventual champion Sacred Heart).
Jenkins, who shot 54 percent from the field and 71 percent at the foul line, was named the MaxPreps Kentucky Player of the Year after her junior season.
“She is one of the best players in Kentucky and just does whatever we need her to do to help us win,” the Anderson coach said.
Birdwhistell says even with Jenkins being in the ESPN top 100 “her rankings have been wrong for a long time” and she should be rated even higher.
“She is a high, high-level athlete. She was going to contribute wherever she went,” the Anderson coach said. “I think she really fits what UK wants to do. We are very excited about her going to Kentucky.
“Her best basketball is in front of her. A lot of people might not know a lot about her because she does not put up video game numbers. She is on a really good team and we do not play that way. We share the ball. That has helped prepare her for UK because she is not used to getting the ball all the time.”
