New Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kenny Brooks is bringing another player from his former team, this time in the form of 6-foot, 5-inch center Clara Strack.
The announcement marked Brooks’ third commitment of a busy Thursday in which Kentucky also added commitments from third-team All-American Georgia Amoore and Australian forward Amelia Hassett. Since Thursday, the Wildcats have also added former Virginia Tech wing commit Lexi Blue.
Strack was recruited by the newly-hired Brooks out of high school, where she earned all-conference honors in the Erie County Interscholastic Conference, a 29-school league in western New York state. Strack also earned all-region and all-state awards, even setting records for most points in a game (47), season and career.
In her freshman season at Virginia Tech, Strack played in all 33 games and started twice at center, with both of those starts being in the NCAA Tournament.
In the first round against Marshall, Strack was 7-7 from the field and finished with 17 points in a 43-point drubbing of the Thundering Herd. Two days later against Baylor, she had 18 points and 10 rebounds in her first career double-double.
On the season, Strack averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, with her career high 19 points against Houston Christian on November 16th.
Strack announced her commitment via Instagram.
Following the firing of Kyra Elzy, eight Wildcats have entered the transfer portal, including Brooklynn Miles and Jordy Griggs, who made their announcements on Friday morning. The only remaining players on the roster from the 2023-24 team are Saniah Tyler, Cassidy Rowe and Amiya Jenkins. Strack will play a big role in replenishing the depleted roster as more decisions are expected to be made.