Cassidy Rowe, center, with former UK coach Sue Feamster, right, and former UK player Sally Bussell after receiving the $10,000 Pamela Browning Legacy Award.
Former Kentucky women’s basketball coach Sue Feamster remembers Pam Browning as a “coach’s dream” when she played for her at UK from 1974-78.
“She was from Ghent in Carroll County. She was one of the best athletes ever at Kentucky,” Feamster said. “She was 6-feet tall and that was big then.”
Browning was just the second women’s basketball player — the first was UK’s all-time leading scorer Valerie Still — to be inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. At the time she was one of only two players in UK women’s history to be named All-America by Street & Smith’s annual publication (1977). She ranked fifth on UK’s career scoring list with 1,598 points and has the school record for highest scoring average in a season at 25.5 points in 1976-77.
Browning, who also earned letters in volleyball and track at UK, was part of UK’s first women’s basketball team and averaged 14.9 points during her career that included wins over No. 2 Tennessee Tech and No. 18 Indiana during the 1976-77 season.
She died in an automobile accident in 1989 on a skiing trip to West Virginia but UK alumni honored her memory at the Alumni Golden Wildcat Reunion during UK’s recent homecoming ceremonies. The first UK women’s basketball team was honored at the 50th-year homecoming for the class of 1975.
A scholarship was set up by Browning’s family and this year the Pamela K. Browning Legacy Award went to former UK guard Cassidy Rowe. Feamster said awarding the $10,000 continuing education scholarship to Rowe seemed like a perfect fit.
“Pam was from a small town and had big dreams and it just seemed right to present this to another small town girl who had big dreams,” Feamster said. “Those selecting the award recipient thought Cassidy represented Pam really well and wanted to give her the scholarship money.
“I’ve been aware of Cassidy during her career at Kentucky and she loves UK just like Pam did and always wanted to go to Kentucky just like Pam did. She fit the mold perfectly. We had not given this award before and were just waiting for somebody like Pam to give it to and Cassidy was perfect.
“She was overwhelmed and excited about the honor. A member of the organizing committee invited her to the Golden Wildcats Reunion but we didn’t tell her or her father exactly why because we wanted it to be a total surprise and it was. She was so grateful.”
Rowe committed to Kentucky and coach Matthew Mitchell when she was 14 years old. She overcame two knee injuries at Shelby Valley to become one of the state’s best players. She played three years at Kentucky under coaches Kyra Elzy and Kenny Brooks and finished her kinesiology major in 2 1/2 years. She started graduate school this year in the physical therapy program.
Rowe has conducted some basketball camps across the state and remains extremely popular with young girls, especially in eastern Kentucky. Rise Up Sports gives the Cassidy Rowe Courage Award annually to a female athlete who has overcome adversity and hardship and was able to return to play at a high level like Rowe did at Shelby Valley.
“I wanted nothing more than to play my senior year in a Kentucky uniform. But I know that God has bigger and better plans for me. Sometimes ‘no’ is God’s way of preventing us from greater heartbreak,” Rowe posted on social media when she announced she would not play her final season at UK after the Cats lost in the NCAA Tournament second round in March.
Rowe and Brooks have not elaborated on why Rowe is not on the roster this season.
3 Responses
It was one of the most distasteful moves ever made by any UK Women’s coach to not let Cassidy Rowe play for auk her senior year.
I was delighted to see this article and grateful for those who selected her for this award.
It is quite disturbing to see coach make such a terrible decision and never make any explanation for it. An apology was never issued and my interest in UK Women’s BB was greatly diminished because of Brooks.
Win, Lose or Draw as the HC, that will remain the indignant decision which labels the type of person Brooks displays. Heartless!
I really supported Coach Brooks, & Kentucky WBB, something i hadn't done since the Valerie Still days. I loved last year and our pg he brought with him from Virginia Tech, I loved to watch her,and the team play.
Now, I just don't think I'm going to even follow them after the way he did Cassidy.
In my mind,Cassidy was popular with the fans, got NIL money probably from certain sponsors who liked her, and he probably wanted to use that money elsewhere on other players. I also think he wanted to slide other players above her on the rotation playing time.
No Cassidy wasn't the huge scorer any more, but late in games she was a great ball handler,and free throw shooter and that matters alot.
It was very classless of Coach Brooks I'm. A player commits to UK at 14 when their good,gets major injuries,twice, then you throw them away ! Heaven could have at least let her finish her last year at UK ! Classless Brooks,CLASSLESS !
Classless is precisely correct.
Excellent remarks, Danny!
The AD should have intervened & stopped it from being done. Of course, he’s always too busy giving away millions with no accountability.