‘She knows this program in and out.’ Emma King’s leadership an anchor for UK basketball.

Emma King decided to return for a fifth and final season with Kentucky women’s basketball for a few reasons, but one of her strongest motivators was one final opportunity to help push the team she’s loved her entire life closer to success.

“I love this program,” King said. “One of the biggest reasons I came back is because, like it’s no secret, we struggled last year. And I didn’t want to leave a program that I love so much in the shape that it was last year. And so like my biggest thing is, I’m gonna give it everything I have for as much time as I have.”

The team announced King would return for her graduate season via social media on March 7, 2023 — just four days after the Wildcats’ third-round loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, which ended their disappointing season at 12-19.

Her decision to stay was a necessary constant for a UK roster that would graduate three key contributors and lose three additional players to the transfer portal. It was a choice King stood by happily, but, months later, she had a moment of validation and encouragement that showed her she was right where she needed to be.

Just prior to the start of basketball season and after working with East Jessamine Middle School over the summer, King received a thank you card signed by those she spent time with throughout the process. Written in the card by a teacher was a Bible verse King had been praying for months:

“’Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap the harvest if you do not give up,’” King recalled. “And that was one thing that I just wanted to instill in this team, is like, if we do it the right way, and we sow and sow and sow, like we are going to reap the harvest.”

King described seeing that verse, Galatians 6:9 written in the card, as a “really cool moment,” and it served as a reminder to her that, regardless of what the 2023-24 season would bring ...

“We can do this.”

A new role

After four seasons with the Wildcats — during which King got to experience the culture and process of two different head coaches, enjoy the high of the program’s first SEC Tournament championship since 1982 and play alongside and against future WNBA players — King was challenged by head coach Kyra Elzy to take on a new role for the 2023-24 campaign: being a vocal leader.

King sees herself as someone who leads by example, someone who will work hard to do things the right way and encourage her teammates, but to be a vocal leader was outside her comfort zone.

“She kind of wants me to embrace the role of,” King explained, ”... telling people, or even being honest with myself, of like, ‘We need this from you.’ And so I have a hard time sometimes being able to express that just because that’s just not my nature and not my sort of personality.”

King complimented all of her teammates’ willingness to take on the responsibilities of speaking and receiving words of accountability; she said that, in their embrace of this practice, it’s been easier for her to step into the role of a vocal leader. Because everybody’s voice matters on this roster, which, according to King, rings true in a new way from past years.

“I feel like we’ve had it in the past,” King said. “But I really don’t know, there’s just something different about it. Maybe it’s just because we’re so close. And it’s not that teams in the past haven’t, but it’s just never been to the level that I feel like it is this year. So maybe it’s just, we truly know we want what’s best for all of us.”

If one were to ask Elzy what’s best for the team, she’d probably mention the importance of making plays that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet. Elzy has always pushed for that well-rounded, gritty type of effort from King. And her teammates have felt the impact of the graduate guard’s executing outside of the stat sheet this season.

Following the Wildcats’ victory over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 3 — a hard-fought win filled with UK missteps — leading scorer Ajae Petty mentioned King’s leadership and encouragement in a difficult moment.

“A lot of leadership on the floor,” Petty said. “Everyone talking to each other, everyone just making the adjustments that we needed to make. Emma came and picked me up on the one free throw that I missed. Just clapping and touching and being positive on the floor, even when things were kinda like going the wrong way.”

After UK’s victory over Furman on Dec. 17 — during which King played multiple positions while sporting a black eye courtesy of the heat of the game — guard Maddie Scherr complimented King’s versatility and toughness.

“It’s funny,” Scherr said. “She’s a guard, but she plays hard down there in the post when we need her to and she steps up. I saw that bruise on her eye and she’s just like, ‘That’s all right.’ But that just speaks to who Emma King is as a person. She’s such a hard worker. She knows this program in and out and she gives us that extra oomph that we need to get over a hump like that. And does the little things that sometimes don’t always show on the stat sheet, but she’s just overall a great teammate, somebody that you want to have on your team.”

This season, King has started in more games, averaged more minutes and improved upon nearly every statistic from each of her four previous seasons. Through 18 games, King is averaging 4.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23.8 minutes per game.

“I will do whatever it takes for this team to win,” said King, who has made 12 starts this season after totaling six in her previous four years. “And so that’s honestly what I try to pride myself in, is I’ll do the things that nobody else wants to do. I don’t really care if it’s on the stat sheet. A win shows up. That’s all I need.”

A ‘little old girl’ from Kentucky

King, a lifelong UK fan, first told her father she wanted to play basketball for UK when she was in fifth grade.

“It was a dream I had,” King said. “But I never even knew what that dream meant. Especially that young. In fifth grade, I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

Even the eighth grader who first started receiving real recruiting interest from then-head coach Matthew Mitchell or the talented Lincoln County player who committed to the program in high school couldn’t have grasped what that dream meant until she actually lived it.

When asked to reflect on her time in Lexington, King recalled a photo taken the day of her commitment in 2017 — an important moment of celebration for her and her family — and all that it would go on to represent.

“It’s home,” King said. “And, outside of basketball, I have absolutely everything that I could want in a college experience here. And I love that so much. I’ve loved this program, I’ve poured my heart and soul into this program, and just being here honestly has been like the biggest blessing. I love these people. And I love how much they care about us here. And I feel like that’s something that not a lot of people can say, necessarily. And I know that that’s the truth here.”

King described the person who first moved on campus during the summer of 2019 as a shy, “little old girl” who was both terrified of and excited for the opportunities that lay ahead, just about an hour away from her hometown of Stanford, where many of her family members still live.

It was during that time when King first met a few players who would have an incredible impact on who she is, both on and off the court.

“I really have enjoyed all of my teammates so much,” King said. “And it’s so fun coming from such a small town and then coming to Lexington where your teammates are from literally all over the country. And just seeing so many different personalities and cultures, and the way people express themselves and the way they carry themselves.”

She specifically mentioned former teammates Blair Green, Rhyne Howard and Chasity Patterson as meaningful connections during her time in Lexington.

Green, a UK guard from 2018-23, was a fellow Kentucky native just one year ahead of the nervous freshman and the two became fast friends; Green became an immediate source of comfort as soon as King got to campus.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” King said. “Like I didn’t really have anybody in front of me to ask like, ‘What’s this gonna be like?’ You know? And so from the day I stepped on campus, me and Beezy were inseparable.”

Howard, a UK guard from 2018-22 and eventual first-overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft and 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year, was another sophomore who made a quick impression on the freshman.

“Rhyne is absolutely the best player I’ve ever played with,” King laughed. “But she’s also such a good person.”

Patterson, a UK guard from 2019-21, is remembered by King for her infallible positivity.

“I have a special place in my heart for Chasity Patterson,” King said. “I love that girl. Oh, she was so fun. It did not matter what happened to her, who spoke to her in whatever way, that girl had a smile on her face every single day. I think she had ‘godspeed’ tattooed on her wrist, and she lived that. She was just happy to be here.”

When asked about coaches who taught her a lot, King said she didn’t know where to start — “I’ve just had so many that have made an impact on me” — but she knew where to finish, with Elzy, who was promoted from associate head coach under Mitchell to interim head coach prior to the 2020-21 season and, soon after, named the permanent coach in December 2020.

“We have done this kind of together,” King said. “I’ve been through it with her, and when she was the associate head coach, she was the one that was here for us. And so like having her step into that role, I know it was challenging because it’s something that she’s never experienced before. But just seeing her persevere and like, the passion that she has is unmatched. And that’s the thing that I will always talk about with her is like, there is not a doubt in my mind that she loves every single one of her players more than any coach in the country.”

And, of course, Elzy is grateful for King’s veteran presence and experience. Following the team’s Nov. 30 victory over Boston College, Elzy commented on what King means to Kentucky women’s basketball.

“I love that kid,” Elzy said. “A Kentucky kid that loves this university, loves this program. She’s going to sell out. So to see her have success, she’s put so much work into it, to see her have success. Just so happy for her.”

One last time

The Southeastern Conference opener, when UK defeated Arkansas 73-63 at Rupp Arena on Jan. 4, gave King one of her highest highs this season. The Wildcats, who, at that point had assembled a three-game win streak to bring them to 7-7, were an underdog against the then-12-3 Razorbacks.

But, funnily enough, King knew her teammates had something special coming. Sophomore guard Saniah Tyler said King voiced her confidence after warm-ups ahead of the game.

“When we got back to the locker room with like, 30 minutes left,” Tyler recalled. “Emma said, ‘I just feel different about this game.’”

When asked about that moment, King cited the difference in her team’s preparation, and the path that led them to the shift in that process.

“We’ve hit adversity early,” King said. “And not saying we’re not going to hit it again, but like having it happen so early and so quick, especially with a team who doesn’t have as much experience as we’ve had in the past. Honestly, I think that it’s worked out well for us because we’ve had to like, your toes are against the fire, you know, and so we’ve had to figure it out early. … And so we’ve just really come together, and literally I said it (before the game) I was like, ‘We’ve got this, just the way that we’ve prepared for this, we can do this.’”

Sure enough, against the Razorbacks, the Wildcats looked united, focused and passionate. Despite the odds, the preconceived notions and doubts, Kentucky earned its best win of the season to this point, behind double-figure scoring from Petty, junior guard Brooklynn Miles and King herself.

“At the end of the day,” King said. “We all came here, we want to play, we want to succeed. We all know we have the same common goal. There’s just something special about this group.”

Many of her teammates have said as much about this year’s roster. And, to her teammates and coaching staff, there’s just something special about King, too.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and a business minor, and now in pursuit of a Master of Science in Finance, King knows the end of her collegiate playing career — as well as her relationship with basketball as it’s existed for the majority of her lifetime — is fast approaching. And though the team has struggled during her last season in a UK uniform, her goal, her focus and her motivation remain the same.

“My clock is ticking, and I know that,” King said. “It’s bittersweet because it has been five years and eventually, you know, you gotta hang it up. But I really just, I love this program and I wanted to give it everything I have and this is it. This is the end for me. And so that’s really been my biggest motivation.”

Sunday

Missouri at Kentucky

When: 2 p.m.

Where: Rupp Arena

TV: SEC Network+ (online only)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Kentucky (8-10, 1-3 SEC), Missouri (10-7, 1-3 SEC)

Series: Kentucky leads 11-5

Last meeting: Kentucky won 77-54 on Jan. 29, 2023, at Memorial Coliseum

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