Kenny Brooks (UK Athletics Photo)
For the first time — and probably the only time — Kenny Brooks sort of talked about Cassidy Rowe not being on the 2025-26 UK women’s basketball team.
Rowe played in 67 games in three seasons at Kentucky and averaged 1.6 points, 0.9 assists, and 0.7 rebounds per game. She stunned everyone not long after UK’s NCAA Tournament loss when she announced she would not return for a senior year to focus on physical therapy school, but her father said the point guard was told she did not have a spot on next year’s team by Brooks.
Neither Brooks nor Cassidy Rowe has gone into any details about her departure. Brooks, though, did share some of his side of the story during a press conference last week when he was talking about Rowe.
“In that situation, you know, obviously, Cass is not here right now, and it’s unfair for me to even talk about it because she and I were the ones who talked in that situation, and she’s not here right now,” said Brooks.
Clara Silva, Tanah Becker, and Saniah Tyler also did not return to Kentucky for a second season under Brooks.
“All of them, I thank them for their contributions. They’re all in different places. I wish them nothing but the best, nothing but the best in what they’re going to do,” Brooks said. “But my responsibility is to make sure that we continue to grow as a basketball program.
“There’s no hard feelings on our end with anyone because I learned that there’s going to be a lot of movement. And when a player comes in, they say Can you guarantee me more? And this is not (Cassidy). This is just players in general. Can you guarantee me more opportunities? I say I can’t guarantee them, alright, and then they make a decision to go somewhere else.
“In this day and age, you’ve got to give them a big hug, you’ve got to wish them well because there’s growth, there’s movement on both sides.”
Again, Brooks indicated Rowe did not ask for any guarantees, something her father confirmed. Kentucky also has only 12 players currently on its 2025-26 roster.
Brooks said he knew he couldn’t defend himself in the media or on social media.
“Last year was the best year I’ve ever had coaching, alright. The best year, and it was because of the young people that I got to work with,” Brooks said. “I enjoyed this whole group, every one of them. But then, when you get to certain points, sometimes there’s decisions that are made. I’ve gotten to the point in my career that I have to understand that I’m going to make some tough decisions, and not everyone is going to like them.
“Some people, they’ll try to control the narrative, and some people will even say stuff like they know me. They don’t know me. They don’t know the situation. They don’t know everything.”
He’s right. Most of us only know that Rowe loved playing for Kentucky, and there is currently room on the roster for her next year. Maybe Brooks anticipated adding more players from the transfer portal than he did, but Brooks also has a history of not going overly deep into his bench in most games.
“A lot of people don’t understand what goes into decisions, how things are. There’s a lot of movement. I, as a head coach, when I make decisions, every decision I make, 33 percent of the people are going to be happy, 33 percent of the people are going to be mad, and 33 percent of the people are going to be indifferent.
“But I have to make decisions all across the board that I feel like are going to be best for Kentucky women’s basketball.”
He emphasized that if any of the four players from last year’s team not on this roster asked him for help, he would provide it.
“My responsibility is to make sure that Kentucky women’s basketball is positioning themselves to be as good as they possibly can be, and that’s what we did,” he said.
18 Responses
Clara Strack did return. Clara Silva is the one that left.
thanks for catching my mistake Jimmy
Larry, Please Read my Response to this Article
I think You will agree with me
Will not be following women’s basketball. Hope they have a good year and stay away from injuries.After the way Cassidy was treated, I am done with the program, and I am not the only one 🏀👎
Well stated & definitely many feel the same!
A “nothing burger” answer. It was a major mistake & Brooks is not man enough/ coach enough to admit it and make a very sincere apology. If he is too proud to admit he should not have cut Rowe from her Senior season, then he is not a winner. Integrity & intelligence are at the top of the list of essential qualities to be a highly successful coach.
When the incompetent UK AD & incompetent UK FB HC (4-8 with the “best group he ever had”) are sent out to pasture, the major heartless mistake UK WBB HC needs to go with them.
It does not take a rocket scientist to know that an upcoming Senior whose presence is a major inspiration to the entire program including fans, needs to be allowed to keep her scholarship.
The fact there are only 12 players on scholarship is further proof that the decision was a move made by someone who does not know how to measure his power & authority!
UK has one excellent HC and he is not too proud to acknowledge mistakes. He will lead UK to #9 as soon as he has at least one players from KY HS who is a key player with a lot of minutes.
If UK let you run the Athletics Department, the Cats would be the Biggest Losers in the country.
Go get a job & find someone else to bellyache about. I already know you are hollow, as do a few others you used to cry about. Move on.
I don’t do the crying. You’re biggest whiner on here. You whine about everything. You whine about Perry leaving. You won’t whine about Pope even though he wouldn’t let Perry have his way. Pope didn’t apologize for Perry leaving. I bet privately he told him to not let the door hit his ass on the way out.
You need help.
I think All in all Kenny Brooks Genuinely Loves this Job and he is simply trying to make us the Next South Carolina and UConn…
THERE IS. NO SHAME IN DOING THAT
Kenny Brooks Knows what it takes to Get to the Top of the Mountain 🏔️
I TRUST HIM
NO argument Eric except no reason he could not do that and still have Cassidy on the team
PRAYING 🙏 that Big O Olivia Vukosa. Commits to Kenny Brooks and Kentucky
Utterly classless!
Absolutely 👍👏
Knowing now what he knows and with obvious room on the team, does he reach out to her to return? Can he unfinished that bell? None of us know what was discussed. She seems to have moved on. I think we all need to.
It’s funny how when roster spots opened up in UK MBB Mark Pope gladly found room for 2 walk-ons who wanted to return to the team as Seniors. At the same time Brooks couldn’t find room for a Sr WBB player who had given her heart and soul to the program. Winning is important but so is loyalty. One without the other leaves a bad taste in your mouth, just like a Kenny Brooks press conference.
Ditto! Excellent, Keith.