Ten questions facing the 2022-23 Kentucky women’s basketball team
On the heels of winning the program’s first SEC Tournament championship in 40 years, Kentucky women’s basketball will feature a revamped roster for Kyra Elzy’s third season as head coach.
Gone are five players central to last season’s championship team, headlined by Rhyne Howard — one of the greatest players in program history — and Dre’una Edwards, whose three-point shot in the closing seconds gave UK a stunning SEC Tournament title game win over eventual national champion South Carolina.
Now, Elzy will oversee the addition of 10 new players to the Kentucky team — six freshmen and four transfers — as well as the post-Howard era of UK women’s basketball.
Kentucky was not ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll.
With the season just days away, here are 10 questions that will determine the fate of the 2022-23 UK women’s basketball season.
1. How long will it take for the 10 newcomers on UK’s roster to gel?
This season marks a complete roster overhaul for the UK women’s basketball program, with only five returning players from last season’s roster, and only four returning players that appeared in a game last season.
Among the 10 newcomers for Kentucky this season are six freshmen — headlined by 2022 Miss Kentucky Basketball Amiya Jenkins (Anderson County High School) — and four transfers, including by another former Miss Kentucky Basketball in Maddie Scherr (2020’s Miss Kentucky Basketball at Ryle High School), who transferred to UK from Oregon.
The new players will be expected to contribute right away for the Wildcats, and the biggest question ahead of the new season will be how long it takes for on-court cohesion to develop.
“One of the things Coach Elzy and I have talked about a lot is just being able to build that relationship with the returning girls but also the newer girls,” Scherr said after Wednesday’s UK exhibition victory over Pikeville. “I think we’ve done a really good job at just meshing and getting to know each other, trusting each other. That kind of gets brought up the fact that we had 10 new players, but, you know, I don’t think that’s a factor anymore with this team. I think that’s going to show throughout the year even more.”
The good news in this regard is that Kentucky opens with a soft schedule: Kentucky begins the season with four straight home games against Radford, Morehead State, Coastal Carolina and Bellarmine (a combined 27-85 last season) before a Thanksgiving week tournament in the Bahamas.
2. What impact will Kentucky’s four transfers have?
UK’s four incoming transfers mark the first time Elzy has brought in transfers from other college programs as UK’s head coach.
Eniya Russell (a guard formerly at South Carolina), Ajae Petty (a forward formerly at LSU), Maddie Scherr (a guard formerly at Oregon) and Adebola Adeyeye (a forward formerly at Buffalo) are all now Wildcats.
Elzy spoke to the Herald-Leader in October about the athleticism, energy and finesse offered by Adeyeye around the rim, and the strength and agility provided by Petty.
Additionally, Scherr brings a veteran, high IQ presence to the UK backcourt that has meshed well this offseason with returning point guard Jada Walker.
Russell wasn’t a major contributor during her two seasons at South Carolina, but she has experience in the SEC and as part of a national championship environment.
3. How does UK replace the on-court production lost from last season?
The numbers are startling with regard to what UK must replace from last season.
In the offseason, UK lost 74.7% of its blocks, 70.5% of its scoring, 67.4% of its rebounding and 41.3% of its assists.
Walker is the only returning player who started more than half of UK’s games last season, and she’s the team’s returning leader in per-game points (10.4), assists (2.1) and steals (1.5).
It’s an inevitability that new faces will be leading the way statistically for the Cats this season.
4. Who will score the ball for Kentucky?
There’s also the basic question of who will be Kentucky’s go-to scorer this season.
Rhyne Howard, for obvious reasons, was the player UK often turned to in crunch time last season. To win the SEC Tournament against South Carolina, Elzy used Howard as a decoy for UK’s second-leading scorer, Dre’una Edwards.
But Jada Walker is the only returning player who averaged more than 10 points per game last season.
Robyn Benton followed with nearly nine points per game, but then the returning scoring production drops off a cliff.
Of UK’s incoming transfers, only Adeyeye averaged more than five points per game last season.
5. Jada Walker was a star in her freshman season. What will she provide as a sophomore?
Much is expected from Walker, a feisty second-year guard.
“She’s high energy. She only knows one speed, all gas, no brakes. Which we do like. However, where we have really worked with her (is) vocal leadership,” Elzy told the Herald-Leader last month. “Understanding the game, she has come a long way and I love that she wants to learn. Just forcing her out of her comfort zone to be vocal, that’s been a big change for her and also understanding time and score. When I score, when I create for others, what should we be running now?”
6. Kentucky boasts more frontcourt depth this season. Will it make a difference on the glass?
Perhaps the most notable news from Kentucky’s offseason is that incoming freshman post player Tionna Herron — a four-star recruit from Texas — underwent successful open-heart surgery in August and currently has no timetable to make her college basketball debut.
Even without Herron, UK’s frontcourt depth is much better than it was last season, when oversized guards Rhyne Howard and Treasure Hunt often deputized as post players.
The Wildcats boast Nyah Leveretter, a 6-foot-3 junior who became a starter toward the end of last season, in addition to new players Adeyeye, Petty and freshman Zennia Thomas.
“It allows us to extend our defense, and keep fresh bodies on the floor when you have to bang down low and keep us fresh for rebounding,” Elzy said of UK’s projected frontcourt this season. “Being able to rotate those posts and give them a breather makes a big difference, and how we play the ball screens as well.”
UK ranked 153rd in the country last season with 37.13 rebounds per game.
In Kentucky’s exhibition game against Pikeville, the Wildcats beat the Bears 59-37 on the glass, led by 15 rebounds from Adeyeye, eight from Russell and six by Petty.
7. Blair Green is back after missing all of last season. What can she provide on the court?
Kentucky suffered a season-ending injury prior to the start of last season when guard Blair Green ruptured her right Achilles during a preseason scrimmage against Eastern Kentucky.
Green — who went to Harlan County High School — then became a de facto coach, helping former UK assistant coach Gail Goestenkors with opponent scouting reports and acting as a mediator between coaches and players.
Green’s importance as a vocal leader and an experienced player now in her fifth season with the UK program is invaluable, but what will she be able to offer on the court after that significant of an injury?
In 90 total games and 25 starts as a Wildcat, Green holds career averages of 5.7 points per game and 33.3% shooting on three-point attempts.
In her return to the court against Pikeville on Wednesday, Green contributed eight points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.
8. Kyra Elzy wants to press defensively and run on offense. Can this roster accomplish that?
The influx of new players to Kentucky this season has boosted the Wildcats’ total numbers.
UK had only nine scholarship players that appeared in a game last season. Now, Kentucky has 15 scholarship players (including Herron), something that will help Elzy play her preferred brand of basketball.
“I think we’ll be more up-tempo because we have the depth to do so, the versatility. I wanted to run last year, but we could only run in spots because we only had X amount of players,” Elzy said. “I wanted to turn up the defensive pressure, and when we did we were really good, but we couldn’t sustain it because we didn’t’ have the depth. But this year we do have the depth, and also competition brings out the best in people.”
9. Will any of Kentucky’s six freshmen be able to contribute at a high level this season?
Tionna Herron was projected to be the Kentucky freshman with the clearest path to a starting role, but Herron’s offseason open-heart surgery means it would be unfair to expect her to significantly contribute this season.
That leaves five other freshmen who could play a role for the Wildcats.
Guards Kennedy Cambridge, Amiya Jenkins, Cassidy Rowe and Saniah Tyler will aim to separate themselves in a crowded backcourt during early-season games.
Forward Zennia Thomas has an easier path to playing time based on the position she plays, but Elzy has described Thomas as “still learning behind those veterans” in the frontcourt.
10. In a crowded and top-heavy SEC, where do the Wildcats fit?
As of now, the projected SEC league table is cut and dry.
South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU are the clear top three teams in the conference. Auburn and Vanderbilt are the clear bottom two teams in the conference.
Then, there’s everyone else.
Georgia, Mississippi State and Texas A&M will all have new coaches. Kelly Rae Finley, who served as Florida’s interim head coach last season, is now the permanent head coach of the Gators.
Arkansas returns three starters from a team that made the NCAA Tournament, Alabama returns the SEC’s leading three-point shooter (Brittany Davis) and Missouri boasts Hayley Frank, a senior forward who was the conference’s most accurate three-point shooter last season.
Both Kentucky and Ole Miss must recover from losing top-three WNBA Draft selections (Rhyne Howard and Shakira Austin).
It’s anyone’s guess how the middle pack of the SEC will shake out, but Kentucky should have opportunities to improve on last season’s seventh-place regular-season finish.
Media who cover the league voted the Wildcats to finish seventh again this season. The SEC’s coaches picked UK to come in 10th.
Kentucky has won its last 10 games against SEC opponents, UK’s longest such streak since the 2011-12 season.
Season opener
Radford at Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Monday
TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)
