Virginia Tech Athletics Photo
The Kentucky women’s basketball program has trended the wrong way for the last two seasons but got a big uptick Tuesday with the hiring of Kenny Brooks as the new head coach.
He has been the head coach at Virginia Tech since 2016 and led the Hokies to eight straight winning seasons, including a 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference championship and Final Four berth as a No. 1 before losing to eventual national champion LSU.
Virginia Tech won the ACC again last season but three-time ACC Player of the Year and three-time All-American Liz Kilter tore her ACL to limit Tech’s postseason success. The Hokies lost 75-72 in the NCAA Tournament second round to Baylor Sunday night.
“I am thrilled to be named the head coach of the Kentucky women’s basketball program,” Brooks said in a statement released by UK. “From the Big Blue Nation and the stunning landscape of the Bluegrass State to the UK Athletics brand and getting to compete in the Southeastern Conference, my family and I are excited about this new chapter in our lives.
“I want to thank Virginia Tech for the most joyful journey of my coaching career, and to the University of Kentucky and UK Athletics administration for this new opportunity. I don’t plan on wasting any time building a positive atmosphere, winning environment and a persistent program that Big Blue Nation can be proud of.”
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart targeted Brooks quickly after he fired Kyra Elzy after her fourth season as UK’s head coach.
“Kenny has a strong history of player development and championship performance at James Madison and Virginia Tech. When you combine his coaching excellence with his vision for this program and his passion to take us there, he is ideally suited to be head coach of the Wildcats,” Barnhart said in the press release.
Brooks has coached seven WNBA draft picks going back to 2008.
Brooks, 56, received a three-year contract extension in 2023 that runs through March of 2029. The six-year deal was worth over $6 million. The Athletic reported that his new contract at UK will make him the third-highest paid coach in the SEC behind LSU’s Kim Mulkey ($3.15 million per year) and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley ($3.1 million annually).
Kentucky’s release did not include any salary or contract details for Brooks, who was the head coach for 14 years at James Madison and also worked as an assistant coach for the men’s program there before taking over the women’s program in 2002.
Brooks had a 180-82 overall record at Tech, including a school-record 31 wins during the Final Four season. He had seven 20-win seasons in his eight years and four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
2 Responses
Good hire!!
Welcome aboard BBN, Coach Brooks!!! We look forward to having a basketball coach who will put the UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY FIRST, and who will put in the hard work and have the dedication to the job and to his young ladies to try to enable them to be as successful as they can, both on and off the court. Will be a refreshing change of air and energy that is needed for BOTH bsketball programs, and it’s a complete travesty and a damn shame that a change like this couldnt be made for the men’s team. It’s pretty clear, in the women’s case, this A.D. did what was right and took the appropriate action, and had no problem doing so—-but on the men’s side, he’s going to need an enema to get movement started on making change for them. Best of luck to Coach Brooks and the women’s team next year—very much looking forward to the start of their season! Coach, show this state and this program what a REAL basketball program and coach look like!!!! #WomensBballSchool