Breaking down the Kentucky women's basketball roster: Starters, rotation, predictions
LEXINGTON — Life after Rhyne Howard. That's the reality the Kentucky women's basketball team faces heading into its 2022-23 season.
One of the greatest players in program history, Howard ended her Wildcat career with 2,290 points, second most in the school's record book, and trailing only Valerie Still's 2,763. Howard wasted no time marking her mark in the pros, either: After the Atlanta Dream selected her with the first overall pick in the WNBA draft, Howard went on to win the rookie of the year award in August, earning 53 of the 56 votes. She led all rookies in points, assists, steals and minutes per game. She also set a league record for 3-pointers made by a rookie, knocking down 85 triples.
While she's excelling for the Dream, Howard's alma mater must figure out what's next. Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy repeatedly has said a team can't "replace" a player of Howard's stature. Three-time Associated Press first-teamers (and two-time SEC Players of the Year) don't grow on trees, after all.
Still, time doesn't stop.
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And since Howard's departure, the roster has undergone wholesale upheaval: 10 members of the 15-player roster weren't with the Wildcats last season. That's tied for most newcomers in the SEC, as Georgia also has 10 new players in its program this season. The difference: The Dogs have a first-year coach in Katie Abrahamson-Henderson.
How quickly can the Wildcats' new additions acclimate?
They'll begin to answer that question at 7 p.m. Nov. 7, when they open the regular season hosting Radford at Memorial Coliseum.
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Before then, here's a look at UK's roster at the outset of the season:
Guards
Returnees: Robyn Benton (last season averaged 8.8 points, 2.5 rebounds in 25 games, nine starts; 25 of 67 on 3-pointers), Blair Green (missed all of last season after tearing her Achilles in preseason scrimmage versus Eastern Kentucky), Emma King (26 games, two starts), Jada Walker (SEC's All-Freshman team selection; averaged 10.4 points, three rebounds in 31 games with 22 starts)
Newcomers: Kennedy Cambridge (four-star, No. 36 guard prospect, per ESPN.com; No. 52 overall prospect, per All-Star Girls Basketball Report), Amiya Jenkins (2022 Miss Kentucky Basketball; averaged 20.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.9 assists per game last season; finished high school career with 2,212 points and 739 rebounds), Cassidy Rowe (averaged 16.1 points and made 68 3-pointers during senior season at Shelby Valley High School), Eniya Russell (transfer from national champion South Carolina; played in 49 games), Maddie Scherr (transfer from Oregon; played in 53 games in two seasons with 32 starts; 2020 Kentucky Miss Basketball and two-time Kentucky Gatorade State player of the year at Ryle High) Saniah Tyler (four-star, No. 22 point guard prospect, per to ESPN.com)
Analysis: Howard isn't the only key player who moved on from last season's team. Dre'una Edwards, who hit the last-second 3-pointer to lift UK over South Carolina in the SEC Tournament championship game, entered the transfer portal and landed at Baylor. She was Kentucky's second-leading scorer behind Howard in 2021-22, averaging 16.6 points per game. That means the Wildcats' top returning scorer is Walker (10.4 ppg), an SEC All-Freshman honoree last season.
She'll join Green and Scherr as the three players Kentucky likely leans on most in 2022-23. The other two returners, Benton and King, should be able to provide depth. The freshman quartet — Cambridge, Jenkins, Rowe and Tyler — also should help in that department.
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The difference-maker here could be Scherr.
Though she had a solid two-year career at Oregon, she was more role player than star. Taking on a much more prominent role, and back in her home state, she finally might showcase why she was a consensus five-star talent in the Class of 2020.
Forwards/centers
Returnee: Nyah Leveretter (played in 25 games, including 11 starts, last season)
Newcomers: Adebola Adeyeye (graduate transfer from Buffalo; appeared in 116 games in four years, averaging 4.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game), Tionna Herron (four-star, No. 11 post player prospect and No. 69 overall by ESPN.com), Ajae Petty (transfer from LSU; played in 33 games past two seasons), Zennia Thomas (named Ohio Division III first-team All-Ohio after averaging 30.6 points and 14.5 rebounds per game for Warrensville Heights High School)
Analysis: Neither Leveretter nor Adeyeye have been college stars, though the latter did have a 17-point game (on 8-of-8 shooting) in a contest versus Akron last season. Petty knows her way around the SEC after spending the past two seasons at LSU.
But the player with the highest ceiling is Thomas. Just look at her scoring and rebounding averages in her final high school season. If she quickly adapts to the speed of the college game, she could see playing time immediately.
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The same may have been true of Herron — at 6-foot-4, she's the tallest player on the roster — but that won't come to pass.
That's because she's continuing to recover from open-heart surgery she underwent in September to correct a structural abnormality. She hasn't been cleared to resume practicing with the team, but the hope is at some point later this season she'll be able to start engaging in physical activity once more.
As one of the best post players in the country in the 2022 class, Herron is a player to watch going forward — even if she's unavailable to help this season.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball roster: Starters, rotation, for women's basketball
