Kentucky women’s basketball adds pair of transfers from SEC rivals
An active offseason continues for the Kentucky women’s basketball program.
Kentucky welcomed its eighth and ninth newcomers to the team on Monday night, this time from a pair of Southeastern Conference rivals.
Former LSU player Ajae Petty and former South Carolina player Eniya Russell both announced their commitments to the Wildcats.
Petty, a 6-foot-3 forward originally from Baltimore, Maryland, played two seasons at LSU. She appeared in 19 games as a freshman during the 2020-21 season, logging a total of 96 minutes and finishing her first college season with 17 points, 18 rebounds, two blocks and one assist.
As a sophomore during the 2021-22 season, Petty saw action in just 12 games, although she did set a career best with 12 points during a December home win against Samford. Petty averaged more than two rebounds per game for the 12 games she appeared in during her sophomore season.
“(Petty) was a player that we evaluated and recruited out of high school. Her size, athleticism and physicality are something we needed to add to the roster,” Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy said in a statement. “She has veteran experience in our league, which will allow her the opportunity to flourish in our system.”
Russell, a 6-foot-1 guard, is already a national champion, having won the NCAA title with South Carolina in early April.
Also from Baltimore, Russell arrived at South Carolina as a five-star recruit in the class of 2020.
As a freshman during the 2020-21 season, Russell played in 26 games for the Gamecocks, including all 16 SEC games, and averaged 6.5 minutes and 2.7 points per game.
As a sophomore last season, Russell played in 23 games, averaging 7.7 minutes. She scored 53 points with 30 rebounds on 42.2% shooting and went 5-of-12 from three-point range as a sophomore.
This included a combined five points and 16 minutes in two regular-season games played against Kentucky.
“Eniya has great size on the perimeter, has elite athleticism and is very skilled offensively,” Elzy said. “She can score at all three levels and her ability to score out of the ball screen action will open up our offense.”
Both Petty and Russell have three years of eligibility remaining, with the 2022-23 season being their junior season collegiately.
The Baltimore duo’s arrival continues a theme of team turnover for the Cats.
Kentucky lost five players from the 2021-22 squad that won the SEC Tournament and was a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Rhyne Howard graduated and left for the WNBA — she was the first UK player ever to be taken with the No. 1 overall draft pick — while Dre’una Edwards, Treasure Hunt, Jazmine Massengill and Olivia Owens all entered their names into the NCAA transfer portal.
But with these five departures, Kentucky has now added nine new players to its roster.
Of those, six are freshmen: Guards Kennedy Cambridge, Amiya Jenkins, Saniah Tyler and Cassidy Jo Rowe, and forwards Tionna Herron and Zennia Thomas.
The other three arrive via the transfer portal: Petty, Russell and forward Adebola Adeyeye, formerly of Buffalo.
A common theme among these newcomers? High-level success in high school.
Incoming freshmen Cambridge, Herron and Tyler all won state championships in Tennessee, Missouri and Texas.
Petty won a state championship in Maryland in 2017, and Russell was a five-star recruit out of the same state.
Jenkins was named Miss Kentucky Basketball 2022 and Rowe was a nominee for the award.
Currently, these nine newcomers will be joined by five returning players for Kentucky: Guards Robyn Benton, Blair Green, Emma King and Jada Walker, and forward Nyah Leveretter.
This means Kentucky currently projects to have 14 players on the roster for next season.
While the addition of Petty on paper doesn’t represent a significant statistical boost for Kentucky, it increases the post depth for the Wildcats, as UK now projects to have five recognized post players next season after having just three last season (Howard and Hunt often deputized as oversized guards who played in the post).
Former UK players find new homes
Of the four former Kentucky women’s basketball players who entered their name into the transfer portal this offseason, three have announced their new schools.
Guard Jazmine Massengill will head to Florida State, forward Dre’una Edwards will go to Baylor and center Olivia Owens is returning to her home state of New York by transferring to Syracuse.
The only former UK player who entered the transfer portal to not announce their new school yet is guard Treasure Hunt.
This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 6:10 PM.
