Move over Coach Mitchell, UK basketball player has her own musical talent

Little by little, Kentucky women’s basketball sophomore KeKe McKinney has been revealing her talents beyond the court by singing some all-time classic songs on her Twitter feed @ke_baby05.

Sitting alone in front of her phone, McKinney has posted four song clips in the last year or so, with her rendition of Aaliyah’s “Let Me Know” drawing more than 39,500 views, more than 1,100 likes and a lot of praise last week. She introduced the video with the words “Ya sing on ya free time.”

On Monday, McKinney dropped another clip, this time singing Chris Stapleton’s country smash “Tennessee Whiskey.”

In September, McKinney took on Whitney Houston’s “When You Believe,” and way back on Nov. 17 of last year she offered an inspiring rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” although she covered her face in that video with a heart emoji.

McKinney, a Knoxville native, lists her major as “exploratory studies in arts and sciences” on her UK bio, but clearly has a love for music. Her coach, Matthew Mitchell, is of course famous for his dance routines at Big Blue Madness each year and has included a “Guitar Tip of the Week” segment in his television show in the past, although that feature mostly has Mitchell and a player or two goofing around with a guitar in hand.

On the court, McKinney has started every game this season, averaging 4.1 points and 5.4 rebounds.

This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 1:09 PM.