Kentucky Wildcats fans hold up Cassidy Rowe cutouts during the Kentucky vs. Louisville women’s basketball game on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Historical Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 71—61. Photo by Sydney Yonker | Staff
*NOTE: The opinions discussed in this article, as is the case with all columns produced by the Kentucky Kernel, is the sole opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff as a whole.
If there’s one thing Kentuckians care about more than University of Kentucky basketball, it’s when one of their own holds a spot on the roster.
Historically speaking, if a player grows up bleeding blue and earns the chance to wear that jersey, the state of Kentucky has their back unless they choose to leave on their own.
In return, there’s been a seemingly unspoken rule that nearly every UK coach has followed: loyalty to the hometown heroes isn’t optional, but instead a tradition that should never be compromised.
In theory, when a player gives everything to live out their dream at Kentucky, especially in the toughest circumstances, the program owes them more than a quiet exit.
There’s no denying Kenny Brooks’ success during his first season as head coach.
Recognized as a National Head Coach of the Year, he brought back a program at its lowest with a new team, leading the Wildcats to historic milestones, including their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022.
While a revived culture and optimistic future for Kentucky matters, one bizarre decision has turned what could’ve been a celebratory offseason into a public relations disaster: cutting a rising senior in Cassidy Rowe.
While outliers may view the program’s choice as a business decision, fans across the Bluegrass know her impact on the team went far beyond the numbers.
Rowe grew up only 155 miles outside of Lexington and, like many young in-state athletes, she hoped that one day she’d be playing for UK and representing blue and white.
At the age of 14, the Virgie native had the opportunity to fulfill her dream and committed to the University of Kentucky as only a freshman in high school.
Through two ACL tears, surgeries, adversities, losing seasons and coaching changes, Rowe stuck with the program and became Kentucky’s constant.
She was the first to take a charge, the loudest voice in the huddle and a walking example of what it means to play for the name on the front of her jersey, something that has become emphasized heavily in Kentucky basketball spheres as of late.
The hard work, blood, sweat and, as Kenny Brooks himself put it, the “blue tears,” will now be swept under the rug without a proper goodbye or a Senior Night honoring her.
Brooks emphasized the culture he was building all season: a family-first environment rooted in trust and transparency. After a conference game earlier in the year, he proudly stood by those values.
“We are family,” Brooks said. “My relationship with them goes deeper than 40 minutes on the floor. They are my kids and we speak the truth, and when we speak the truth, we get great results.”
But when it came time to decide the team’s future, Brooks didn’t just let one of his “kids” go; he cut the heart of his bench, a locker room leader and the face of Kentucky loyalty.
Based on her announcement, the news seemed just as shocking to her as it was to BBN.
“Wow…I wasn’t expecting this to be a goodbye post. 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,” she wrote on Instagram. “Sometimes ‘no’ is God’s way of preventing us from greater heartbreak.”
Following the announcement, multiple sources reported that Rowe was told her scholarship would not be available for the 2025-26 season.
Unsurprisingly, instead of finding a new team, she made the only decision that felt right to her: retiring from basketball altogether.
Rowe didn’t want to transfer or quit, she just wasn’t seen as valuable to the program anymore, despite what Brooks had said earlier in the season.
“When I met with each and every player from last year’s team, some of them were already in the portal, and Cassidy—she started talking about her experiences here,” Brooks said on media day. “I swore when she started crying, it was blue tears, and I’m like, ‘Man, this kid had me.’ She had me at, ‘Hello,’ just because she knew how much she loved Kentucky.”
Five months later, Kentucky played in the first round of March Madness, and with 16 seconds left and Liberty within one point of the Cats, Brooks defended his decision of putting her on the court.
“I called her name, and she sprinted to the desk, checked in, and she was the one that received the basketball and did a really good job of helping take some of the pressure off of Georgia,” he said. “So it added an extra element—but she’s been that way all year long, just ready to handle anything that’s come her way.”
Rowe was valuable enough to be put into the game in one of the most crucial times of the season, but now she was told that she is no longer worthy of a roster spot.
Her retirement wasn’t because she was done with basketball, but because playing at UK was her dream. Rowe had such a deep loyalty to Kentucky, and if she couldn’t play in blue and white, she wouldn’t play anywhere.
The responses of Big Blue Nation took the internet by storm because Kentucky fans know Cassidy Rowe wasn’t just a player, she was the dream in motion. She became the example parents pointed to and the athlete young girls watched and aspired to be.
“It was a great pleasure cheering on Cassidy Rowe with my daughter,” one parent wrote on X. “She is a fantastic role model for our girls. Always selflessly cheering on her teammates. A tremendous loss.”
“You’re trying to build a program and a fan base,” another fan posted. “…and you ask a kid who grew up in Eastern Kentucky bleeding blue to leave? That’s absolutely insane and shameful.”
The support Rowe has gotten in the past few days is exactly why Kentucky is special, and what Brooks might’ve failed to realize is that this goes far beyond Rowe.
It’s about the message it sends to every future player, especially the ones who grow up in small Kentucky towns with big dreams.
The decision tells them that their loyalty will not be returned, that the name on the front of their jersey won’t always have their back and that no matter how much of their heart they give to the program, there is no promise it will return the love.
This season, Kentucky ranked 352nd out of 353 Division-I women’s basketball teams in bench scoring, with Brooks using a short rotation of eight or nine players throughout the entire season.
Division-I women’s basketball teams can offer up to 15 scholarships, but for the 2024-25 season, Kentucky only used 13. Even if Brooks eventually fills all 15 spots, he is likely to keep his bench rotation relatively small.
Aside from Brooks’ coaching style, very few teams still give more than 10 players meaningful minutes. There can still be walk-ons, but they do count against the 15-player limit. Seemingly, Rowe wasn’t even offered one of these spots.
Either way, her role on the team was never about stats or minutes, and it could not have hurt the team to have her take up a roster spot.
In fact, her presence and leadership propelled the team forward in ways that didn’t show up on a box score. She was the bright spot in the program when it was at its lowest and became “Kentucky’s sweetheart.” Her attitude never faltered, whether she played four quarters or zero minutes.
She was the first one off the bench during timeouts, the first to high-five her teammates and the kind of bench leader most coaches can only dream of having.
On the court, she gave everything, whether it was throwing her body into charges, hustling for loose balls or simply playing with a level of grit coaches can’t teach.
Kentucky has seven open scholarships for next season, and it is disappointing for much of BBN that none were saved for the player who represented everything the program says it stands for, leaving a void that will be hard to fill.
Most feel Rowe should be spending her senior year with the program she dedicated her entire life to. That she should be walking across the court on Senior Night, hearing the roar of a fanbase that watched her grow up, suit up and show up every day, even when no one was watching.
Brooks may have fixed Kentucky’s record, but if he wants to build something that lasts, he’ll need to take into account something that Kentuckians hold very close to their hearts: loyalty is everything in this state.
Brooks is a talented coach with the tools to take this program to unprecedented heights and even win championships.
However, this move was an act of betrayal to many around the Commonwealth, and no amount of wins will undo the anger fans feel after seeing the state’s most loyal player forced into an early goodbye.
Loyalty built Kentucky, and it is the backbone of the culture that BBN has long loved.
Rowe was a hometown hero that embodied it better than almost any player who wore Kentucky across their chest, because she didn’t play just for Kentucky — she lived and breathed for it.
Keeping her on scholarship for one more year did not run the risk of hurting the program on the court or off of it, but letting her go did.
Cassidy Rowe never turned her back on Kentucky. Kentucky should’ve done the same for her.