Kennedy Cambridge has quickly impressed UK assistant coach Amber Smith. (Twitter Photo)
The Kentucky women’s basketball team will have 10 newcomers next season as coach Kyra Elzy reshapes the program after the graduation of Rhyne Howard, a generational player.
Assistant coach Amber Smith says the plan is to go back to a faster style of play with a full roster.
“Constructing this roster we could see we could play faster and do more pressing and different things in transition,” Smith said. “That is our idea. It may or may not change once we see what they can do and what works best for us. We want to get back to how we played when I was here. The pressing, running style was exciting.”
So out of the 10 newcomers — freshmen and transfers — who is the one who might surprise fans the most and fit particularly well in this style of play?
“I could pick multiple players but if you backed me into a corner, I am going with (freshman guard) Kennedy Cambridge,” Smith said.
That might be because Cambridge is the same type of scrappy, fearless player Smith was.
“I keep asking her if she wants knee pads. I did (when I played), but I am outdated,” the UK assistant coach said. “But she is a player who is going to hustle. She loves to play defense, loves to compete. She’s always jumping on the floor. I have been super impressed by her effort.”
“It’s hard to change a player if they don’t have that dog in them. You struggle to get them to do things that they are not naturally used to doing. With her, she’s going to do all that and fit exactly what we want and need.”
