By LARRY VAUGHT
All-American guard Georgia Amoore has a unique relationship with Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks after playing for him for four years at Virginia Tech before following him to Kentucky.
She’ll be the catalyst for Brooks’ first UK team and she certainly wants to make his first season successful.
“I had potential but that is a word you can throw around a lot until you do something with it,” said Amoore. “He brought out the player in me, developed me and stuck with me.
“I did not see my family for two years (after coming from Victoria, Australia) and there were some tough times. His whole family was there for me and the past four years we have done some incredible things. He poured so much into me. We have done some pretty cool things but I want to do more.”
She averaged 18.8 points and 6.8 assists per game as a senior at Virginia Tech and ranked first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and fourth in the nation in assists per game and fifth in the conference and 41st in the nation in points per game. She became Virginia Tech’s all-time career leader in assists (656), assists / turnover ratio (1.8) and average minutes played (34.3) and also climbed to second in 3-pointers (330) and third in scoring (1,853).
Amoore’s mother, Kelly, said her daughter tried multiple sports, including Australian rules football against the boys.
“The boys used to get frustrated with her and as she sprinted past them they would tug at her ponytail. She was very good at cricket and she also did taekwondo, swimming and Netball,” Kelly said. “Being the first born we let her play as many sports as she wanted and I encouraged her to try other sports as I thought she would struggle being recognized due to her height in basketball.”
The Kentucky guard started playingbasketball at age 5 even though that was not her plan.
“She was actually sitting on the bench watching her cousin playing for a local team and when they were short players they called her up to play. She only had flip flops on and that was how she played her first game of basketball,” Kelly said.
“She went through all the levels of basketball playing at the local club then playing for her local town in Ballarat. Then she got selected at state level and then at a national level representing Australia at the worlds in Belarus in the U17s.
“Her passion was always basketball even though she was overlooked at times because of her size. I think that just made her more determined to prove them wrong.”
Kelly Amoore said Australia does not have a system comparable to the high school system here.
“Representing your town at country championships against other towns is probably the only comparison to your high school system,” Kelly Amoore said. “From there they try out for state teams, then the national level. But they spend a lot of years playing basketball for their local town at junior levels.”
Her mother said Georgia Amoore always did athletic things other girls could not do.
“People would come to watch her play. She was entertaining to watch as a junior. She just needed guidance and someone to believe in her and she got that through coach Brooks and that’s when she excelled,” Amoore’s mother said.
During her third year at Virginia Tech, her mother knew she could be an elite player because of her development under Brooks. She also said the decision to play for Brooks was all Georgia’s.
“(Her father) Phil and I back then knew nothing about college basketball so she didn’t get us involved because we had no idea what she was talking about. She formed a great relationship with coach Brooks on the phone and quite often talked about him,” Kelly Amoore said. “She only visited two schools when we flew over for her visits. One was Portland where her cousin was playing on the west coast and the other was Virginia Tech.
“We were all blown away when we visited Virginia Tech and of course felt comfortable meeting and getting to know coach Brooks and his coaching staff when we visited.”
That’s why she knew her daughter would follow Brooks to Kentucky.
“When someone believes in your daughter and treats her like one of his own you are forever grateful for the relationship those two have formed. Don’t get me wrong, when she first went over there she had some tough times between her and coach Brooks. She eventually got to earn his respect and those two have had each other’s back ever since,” Kelly Amoore said.
“I like coach Brooks because he demands respect and is loyal. I trust that he has my daughter’s best interest at heart and if she trusts him, so do we. So far it’s just worked out just fine for the two of them and I can’t wait to see what he has built at UK for this upcoming season.”
Her mother says there is a different side to her daughter away from basketball.
“She’s so strong and opinionated but also has a wicked sense of humor and loves a good laugh. She loves music and can dance. We wanted to raise strong willed girls and that’s definitely what we have, so we can’t complain.”
Kentucky running backs coach Jay Boulware likes the way his position group took care of business during offseason workouts and now he’s ready to see how that work pays off.
“The whole reason I was brought in here (last year) was to change the dynamics of the (running backs) room and get it back to where it has been all these years. Ray (Davis) is a great example of that,” Boulware said. “He’s a different style back than what everyone was used to here in that he was a big-play back. He was not that physical back who just ran downhill.”
Boulware has coached at least one 1,000-yard rusher the last seven seasons, including Davis in 2023.
“Every year there is a certain amount of pressure we feel but no more than we put on ourselves,” Boulware said. “I want guys who want to be a 1,000-yard back or 2,000-yard back. I have a guy clamoring now to show he can put up 2K,” Boulware said.
That would be Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum even though Boulware says there will not be a No. 1 running back until game week. However, he said all his running backs know what new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan wants — hit the right holes, pass protect to keep the quarterback upright and catch the ball effectively if asked to do so.
“The things I love most about Chip are very similar to Ray. His leadership and how he goes about his work every day is like Ray. His assignments are on point. Chip takes coaching and works hard to try and perfect what he is told. He’s a guy that stuffs eight pounds into a five-pound bag. You see him chasing excellence every day,” Boulware said.
Versatile Demo Sumo-Karngbaye will be Kentucky’s No. 2 running back while true freshman Jason Patterson is “the leader in the clubhouse” to be the third back according to Boulware.
“He got here int he spring and excelled at learning what to do. As soon as he got here me, him and chip were in the office grinding. That type mentality is what I look for in my backs,” Boulware said. “The thing that is most attractive about a running back to me is the way we work and set the tone. JP is doing that. He has speed, make you miss ability, size and is a really good player. I’m really excited about what he can do.”
He was a two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year last season at Dayton and had 38 double-digit scoring games in his four-year Dayton career. Koby Brea played 33 games where he hit three or more 3’s and was a career 43.4 percent 3-point shooter with 224 makes.
Brea did all that despite not being totally healthy the last two seasons. He discovered after his sophomore season he had stress fractures in both legs but opted not to have surgery. After his junior season, he opted for surgery and had metal rods inserted into both legs and spent several weeks in a wheelchair.
That’s why he was held out of early workouts by Kentucky coach Mark Pope after transferring to UK to help make sure he’s fresh when the season gets here because he can add a lot to the UK offense.
Brea says he is more of an “all-around player than a playmaker” along with being a terrific 3-point shooter.
“I think I’ve been labeled as a shooter because of what I did in previous years, but I’m trying to expand off of that a little bit and just become a better all-around player for myself and for my teammates,” Brea said.
He believes he’ll work well with BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson, another playmaker/scorer.
“I was super excited when he jumped on board with us because I think it takes a lot of pressure off of both of us,” Brea said. “Just being able to have another person that’s like a really big dynamic score is great. It helps a lot if one dude is off.
“Our whole team is full of scores and full of guys that can do it. I’m super excited to play with them.”
If Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White talks about his linebackers, he’s going to start with senior D’Eryk Jackson, Kentucky’s leading tackler in 2022 and 2023.
“D’Eryk has been here and he understands our system,” White said.
That understanding has been important even for Georgia transfer Jamon “Pop” Damon-Johnson, an all-American who played on two national championship teams for the Bulldogs.
“He has been very good for Pop in terms of being able to essentially translate our defense, helping him grow within because every time you change systems, you have to get adjusted and what you don’t want is a really good player that is playing slow because he is thinking,” White said.
“We’ve got to get to the point where all of the guys on defense that are playing, they sort of do it unconsciously so they can play fast and they just play ball like they know how. So to have D’Eryk there obviously Pop showing what he can do in this league and in college football in general, so excited to see that.”
White pointed out that Northern Illinois transfer Daveren Rayner “got better each and every game” last season.
“He was playing at a really good level for us last year. I think he has more command of the system this year,” White said.
Kentucky is also moving junior Alex Atari to a full-time linebacker spot instead of the hybrid position he’s played his first two years.
“You’ve got a guy like Alex Afari who can play inside now and outside, so he knows how to play, sort of, in that field apex and he also has a lot of skill that fits that inside backer position,” the UK defensive coordinator said. “I feel good that we’ve got solid old guys with a lot of reps in college football.
“And then you’ve got some young talent that are going to be able to learn from those guys. Fast, long, athletic guys which will also help on special teams.”
Quote of the Week: “You’ve got a guy who’s long, he’s athletic, he knows how to play the safety position and he has played it in the SEC. Obviously, he knows how to adjust to a lot of different coverages, checks, run fits, so that’s not going to be something that was going to overwhelm him, and it hasn’t. Personality‑ wise, he has come in and he fits with that room,” UK defensive coordinator Brad White on Alabama safety transfer Kristian Story.
Quote of the Week 2: “Just thrilled not only with the coaching that he does but the ability he has recruiting. It’s truly another level, and I am very grateful to have him back to kind of set the tone to be what we want to be,” coach Mark Stoops on offensive line coach Eric Wolford.
Quote of the Week 3: “Shooting the 3-ball more, that’s something that I didn’t really do much, but in this system, you have to. I’m excited because the coach is telling you to shoot, so not a lot of coaches say to do that,” Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh on playing for coach Mark Pope.