New Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks sends a message on the recruiting trail

Kenny Brooks is wasting no time on the recruiting trail.

West Virginia Thunder, the Under Armour affiliated AAU team of Sacred Heart Academy’s ZaKiyah Johnson, announced via social media on Monday evening that Kentucky re-offered the three-time Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year. The post also said Johnson added UK to her list of finalists.

Johnson, the No. 5 nationally ranked recruit in the class of 2025 and the top-ranked prospect in the commonwealth, named a top 12 in November that included Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Southern California, South Carolina, Tennessee and UCLA.

Johnson first received a scholarship offer from former UK head coach Matthew Mitchell in July 2020. That offer was upheld by former head coach Kyra Elzy when she took over for Mitchell later that year. Johnson was asked by the Herald-Leader during the 2024 Girls’ Sweet 16 about a timeline for her commitment, and whether Kentucky’s recent announcement that women’s basketball head coach Kyra Elzy was relieved of her duties had any impact on her list.

“I’m planning on making my decision at least before the next season, my senior year,” Johnson said. “But all the Kentucky stuff ... I haven’t let it affect me or I haven’t been thinking about it too much. I was kind of waiting when the time comes to figure out what I wanted to do there.”

Johnson went on to say, “I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out,” when asked if Kentucky’s choice of head coach could positively impact her interest in the program.

UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart announced the hiring of Brooks as the program’s ninth head coach on March 26. Johnson did not respond to the Herald-Leader’s request to comment on Brooks’ hiring last week.

Johnson is one of three in-state recruits rated in the top 40 of the high school class of 2025 alongside Bethlehem guard Leah Macy (No. 8) and George Rogers Clark forward Ciara Byars (No. 37).

Brooks was asked during his introductory press conference last Thursday about his philosophy concerning in-state recruiting.

“When you think about Kentucky, you think about basketball,” the new UK head coach said. “We definitely understand the importance of keeping in-state players at home. We also understand the importance of fit. We will look at all of it and make sure it’s going to be a great fit. Because sometimes situations, some kids just want to get away. We’ve encountered that in the state of Virginia where we have recruited and we want to make sure everything’s going to be a good fit. We know it is a rich country with basketball. And we definitely are aware of the young ladies (in Kentucky). We’ve actually been recruiting some of the young ladies to the point that we had conversations. We understand the importance of it and that’s going to be a priority for us but also be very important that we make sure everything is a good fit for our program.”

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