Eight years ago, Kenny Brooks took over a Virginia Tech women’s basketball team that had just finished 11th out of 15 teams in the ACC standings.
Last year, the coach guided Tech to its first ACC tournament title and its first Final Four berth. This year, Tech won the ACC regular-season title for the first time.
No wonder Kentucky wanted to hire him.
“He did an incredible job at Virginia Tech,” ACC Network analyst Kelly Gramlich said in a phone interview this week. “I don’t think anybody but maybe him thought he could get Virginia Tech to a Final Four when he was hired. He took a team that was near the bottom of the ACC and brought them to the very top … in a very tough league where it’s hard to build a program from scratch.
“What he did was absolutely incredible.”
People are also reading…
Brooks left Tech on Tuesday to take the reins at Kentucky.
ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli said she was not surprised by Brooks’ decision.
“If you’re going to make a move, it’s the perfect time based on all the success he just had,” Antonelli said in a phone interview. “His stock may not ever be greater than what it is right now … [And] he was getting ready to lose a couple of key pieces.”
This was the final college season for Tech center Elizabeth Kitley, a three-time All-American and three-time ACC player of the year. Third-team All-American point guard Georgia Amoore is not returning to Tech for her extra year of eligibility.
Brooks helped Kitley blossom into Tech’s career scoring leader and the ACC’s career rebounding leader. He helped Amoore develop into Tech’s career assists leader.
“He’s definitely viewed as one of the best skill-development coaches in the country for sure when you look at what he’s done with Liz Kitley and Georgia Amoore and even going back further with a player like Regan Magarity or Aisha Sheppard,” Gramlich said.
“He’s viewed as one of the best coaches in the country and he’s obviously going somewhere that’s going to pay him like that.”
Unlike Antonelli, Gramlich said she was surprised that Brooks exited the Hokies.
“I just thought that he had built something so special at Virginia Tech — and he’s a Virginia native. I didn’t think he would leave,” Gramlich said.
But Kentucky is a Southeastern Conference school with deep pockets. Does Gramlich see Brooks’ move as the latest sign of the growing revenue gap between the Big Two (the SEC and Big Ten) and the ACC?
“It’s hard not to make that association,” Gramlich said. “It’s hard not to worry about that gap, because it seems that some SEC schools are just willing to pay a little bit more. … Kentucky obviously is a basketball school that wants to commit to basketball at every level.
“I’ve said this from the very beginning when it comes to this growing revenue gap — that in the end, it’s going to affect women’s sports. And it’s stuff like this that, honestly, is a real bummer for people like me who love the ACC and know that every year competitively it’s the best conference in the country. But it’s hard to take these kind of hits.”
Brooks, who guided Tech to 180 wins in eight seasons, replaces Kyra Elzy at Kentucky. The school announced the firing of Elzy on March 11.
“He was the top choice of Kentucky,” Antonelli said. “That speaks to how much respect he has garnered and how much he’s earned through his time at Virginia Tech building what he built. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t like Kenny Brooks.”
Antonelli, who once worked for Kentucky in marketing, said that school is “an incredible place to be involved in basketball.”
“There’ll be no resource that he will not have at his disposal to be able to win,” she said. “What they’re adding with Kenny is a person who can manage and navigate all the resources at their disposal. … This is a basketball school with basketball intentions in every decision they make.”
The SEC boasts powerhouses such as South Carolina and LSU and will be adding Texas and Oklahoma. Antonelli said the SEC will be a “bold challenge” for Brooks.
“I’m sure Kenny asked [Kentucky] how much money’s in the [NIL] pot because you’re going to need it to be able to compete with those other schools,” Antonelli said. “I’m sure Kentucky will provide it.”
Brooks stepped down at James Madison in 2016 to take the reins at Tech, which was an ACC lightweight at the time.
Tech continued to struggle in the ACC in Brooks’ first three seasons. But the team had winning overall records and made the WNIT in each of those seasons.
“[Brooks scheduled] winnable games in the nonconference early in his [Tech] career and as his talent got better, he upgraded his schedule to match his talent, which put him in a position to compete on the national stage,” Antonelli said. “It’s a blueprint he’ll probably follow at Kentucky.”
Tech went 21-9 overall and 11-7 in ACC play in the 2019-20 season. Tech finished with a winning ACC record for the first time. The Hokies were a safe bet to reap an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, but there was no NCAA Tournament or WNIT that year because of the pandemic.
The Hokies went 15-10 overall and 8-8 in league play in the abbreviated 2020-21 season. Tech advanced to the NCAAs for the first time in 15 years.
Tech was 23-10 overall and 13-5 in ACC play the following season. Tech again made the NCAAs. The team featured Kitley, Sheppard, Amoore, Kayana Traylor and Cayla King.
The Hokies went 31-5 overall and 14-4 in ACC play last year, breaking the school records for overall and ACC wins. The team won the ACC tournament and landed a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs. The Hokies lost to eventual NCAA champ LSU in the Final Four. That Tech team included Kitley, Amoore, King, Traylor and Taylor Soule.
With Kitley, Amoore and King back, the Hokies went 25-8 overall this year. Tech won the ACC regular-season title with a 14-4 league mark. The team drew seven sellout crowds to Cassell Coliseum, including the first five home regular-season sellouts in program history. Tech fell to Baylor in the second round of the NCAAs.
Brooks’ relationships with his players helped the program thrive.
“His relationship-building skills with his players was absolutely incredible,” Antonelli said. “The … mutual respect his best players had with him, … you could see that permeate the whole program.
“He cares about the kids, and he cares about them having success. … All the personal training sessions he did with his top players — that takes time for a head coach to do that, with all the other demands, but that’s how important it was and that’s part of the relationship process.”
So far, four players that Brooks coached at Tech have been chosen in the WNBA Draft — Magarity, Sheppard, Traylor and Soule.
Brooks plucked Traylor and Soule from the transfer portal. Brooks added Matilda Ekh, Olivia Summiel and Rose Micheaux from the portal after last season.
“He recruited well but he also used the portal really well,” Gramlich said. “That helped get Virginia Tech over the top.”
Brooks made Tech a nationally relevant program.
Tech rose as high as No. 4 in the Associated Press poll last season and was as high as No. 5 this season.
Virginia Tech reaped a big payday of $150,000 for playing Iowa in Charlotte this season. Tech will make another $150,000 for the rematch next season.
Last month, Tech became the first ACC school to host the women’s basketball version of ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
“He’s earned it all. He did it all with good people and quality kids that care about winning and doing things the right way,” Antonelli said.
Mark Berman (540) 981-3125
