Virginia women's basketball made a run to the Sweet 16 but fired Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, according to USA Today, because of staff mistreatment. That opens the door for them to make a run at Kenny Brooks.
Kentucky women's basketball has been ranked every week under Kenny Brooks. And the Cats just went to the Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade. There are 3 McDonald's All-Americans coming in. But Kenny is from Virginia; he has spent most of his life there. Does a move back to the ACC make any sense?
Kenny Brooks' ties to the state of Virginia run deep
Kenny Brooks was born in Waynesboro, VA. He played college basketball at James Madison, then he got his coaching career started as an assistant with the Dukes. He moved over to the women's game and coached James Madison from 2002 through 2015. His next move kept him in the state, as he moved over to Virginia Tech in the ACC.
Brooks would make a Final Four run with the Hokies before deciding to make the jump out of the state to Lexington.
Things would go well in Lexington, Brooks helped Kentucky host the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament in year 1. But the Cats would fall in the 2nd round when Georgia Amoore's shot fell off the rim, and Kansas State moved on. But Brooks reloaded with Tonie Morgan.
This year saw Kentucky fall just short of hosting again, but they stayed close to home, heading over to West Virginia. The Cats would this time come up clutch in a close game with the Mountaineers and move on to the Sweet 16. They ran into the Texas buzzsaw, but Brooks had broken through to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in his coaching career.
He talked about the resources Kentucky had and how he felt he had what he needed to compete. But in today's world, you can never have too much money backing your program. And that's why I don't see why this move would make sense.
Virginia women's basketball has been dormant a lot longer than Kentucky
Since a great run in the 90's and early 2000's, the Cavaliers have been to just 5 NCAA Tournaments in 20 years. You have to believe that Kentucky offers more NIL, offers a better conference to play in, and offers vastly better facilities. That is why this would be such a shocking move. Kenny has it good in Lexington, a lot better than what Virginia has done lately.
Kenny Brooks has deep roots in Virginia, and that pull is real. But right now, everything about his program points in the opposite direction.
Kentucky is winning, recruiting at a high level, and building real momentum. Walking away from that for a rebuild, even one back home, wouldn’t just be a risk. It would be a step backward.