The conclusion of Kentucky women’s basketball’s 2023-24 campaign has seen a plethora of changes throughout the program.
Following the termination of head coach Kyra Elzy, there were questions surrounding both how seniors would elect to use their final year of eligibility as well as the direction that younger Wildcats planned on taking in their collegiate careers.
It wouldn’t take long for those questions to be answered, with five Wildcats entering their names into the transfer portal as of March 24.
Seniors Maddie Scherr, Ajae Petty, Eniya Russell and Nyah Leveretter, as well as freshman Janae Walker, opted to spend this offseason searching for a new home to continue their basketball careers.
Four clocked significant minutes for Kentucky with season, with Leveretter missing the 2023-24 season as she recovered from an ACL tear she suffered the season before.
While players can elect to take their name out of the transfer portal, the speed in which players chose to enter the portal after the season’s conclusion leads one to believe they have no intention of returning to Lexington, at the very least until a new head coach is named for the program.
The offseason will mark the second time transferring for three of the former Cats, with Scherr coming from Oregon, Russell transferring from South Carolina and Petty leaving LSU to join Kentucky.
The transfer portal’s influence on all collegiate athletics continues to show and after losing to Tennessee, Elzy addressed its effect on not only recruiting, but keeping players after the fact.
“Part of the reality now with the transfer portal and NIL is that you have to recruit your own kid daily,” Elzy said. “It’s not over once they get on your campus.”
With long time Wildcat Emma King out of eligibility after her fifth year with Kentucky and the five Cats entering the portal, Kentucky has just five current players on its roster.
Junior Brooklynn Miles, sophomores Amiya Jenkins, Cassidy Rowe and Saniah Tyler and freshman Jordy Griggs are the only Wildcats not to announce any changes so far.
There were plenty of question marks surrounding Kentucky women’s basketball even before Elzy was relieved of her duties, but now with over half of the Wildcat roster moving a different direction and no moves visibly being made in the head coaching sphere, those question marks have only gotten bigger.
