UK women bring in recruits for Madness

By Jennifer Smith / jsmith3@herald-leader.com

Several of the state's top girls' basketball underclassmen will be at Big Blue Madness this week, their coaches confirmed this week.

Two of the state's top freshmen, Makayla Epps and Rebecca Greenwell, who are listed among the nation's top 100 for the Class of 2013 by ESPN's Hoopgurlz.com, are among those invited to Friday's event.

Epps, daughter of former Kentucky point guard Anthony Epps, is one of a trio of young stars at Marion County that will be at Rupp Arena.

Marion Coach Trent Milby said Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Bre Elder also will be there. Rogers is the daughter of former Kentucky Mr. Basketball Tick Rogers.

Owensboro Catholic's Greenwell still wasn't sure she'd be in Lexington on Friday night, according to her stepfather Ryan Elder.

Elder said she already had made unofficial visits to UK twice in September and was planning another trip soon.

Elder said Greenwell, a 6-foot freshman, has been recruited "pretty aggressively" by almost every Southeastern Conference school.

He said she is still "very wide open," but that her top six schools right now are UK, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Duke and North Carolina.

Manual stars April Wilson, a 5-7 sophomore, and Kayla Styles, a 6-foot freshman, as well as Coach Stacy Pendleton confirmed they will be in Lexington for the event.

Kentucky has made an offer to Franklin-Simpson's 6-foot junior post player Chastity Gooch, said her high school coach Lex Lindsey, who added that she's "keeping all doors open right now."

Gooch also has offers from Western Kentucky and Tennessee State.

Hoopgurlz also is reporting that Jennifer O'Neill, the No. 30 prospect in the nation for 2010, is expected to be at UK's Madness and that she will make a decision shortly afterward.

The 5-foot-6 point guard from New York City's Saint Michael Academy also has made visits to California and Georgia.

Other players that could possibly be in attendance on Friday are Alexis Burke, a 5-foot-11 swing player from Bainbridge, Ga. She is rated No. 11 at small forward and No. 50 in the country by Hoopgurlz.com.

Christy Hewett, a junior wing player, also is a possibility to attend.