Clara Strack (Vicky Graff Photo)
Sophomore Clara Strack has been brilliant at times for Kentucky this season.
She had 25 points on 12-for-18 shooting along with 15 rebounds in a 76-53 win over Illinois. She had 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting and 10 rebounds in a 77-61 win over Arizona State. However, she followed those two games by going 2-for-10 from the field and had only four points in UK’s 72-53 loss at North Carolina. She also had only four rebounds.
“She had a rough go of it and she felt really bad,” Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said after UK beat Queens 87-45 earlier this week when Strack had 16 points, six rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists in 26 minutes.
Brooks revealed he had talked to Elizabeth Kitley, a former All-American center at Virginia Tech when he was head coach there, and asked her when she felt like her performance determined the team’s success. She told her former coach it was probably her junior year.
“And she was player of the year (in the ACC) as a sophomore,” Brooks said. “Clara did not play (as a starter) last year and we have thrust her into a dominant role and have been riding on her shoulders. She turned 19 last week. She’s supposed to be a freshman.”
Brooks said the conversation with Kitley made him “rethink” Strack’s role.
“I have to gradually put that responsibility on her and not just throw it on her,” Brooks said. “She can’t be the one whose performance determines our performance. She has to be part of it.”
Brooks said Strack was “terrible” in practice the day after the North Carolina loss.
“She wanted to fix it all in one day,” Brooks said. “But this (game against Queens) was a good bounce back for her.”
