A Miss Basketball from Kentucky has entered the transfer portal. Could she return home?
Kentucky’s 2021 Miss Basketball is looking for a new collegiate home.
Brooklynn Miles, a graduate of Franklin County High School, announced via social media Tuesday that she will enter the transfer portal after two seasons at the University of Tennessee.
“It is in my best interest,” Miles wrote in her post. “To enter my name in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility left.”
In her two seasons with the Lady Vols, the 5-foot-4 guard averaged 1.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. After playing in 33 games, averaging 19.5 minutes, 2.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists during her freshman campaign, Miles was limited to just 23 games as a sophomore.
Miles’ two seasons with the Lady Vols were not always smooth. In February of her freshman year, she was suspended one game for unspecified “disciplinary reasons.” According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the suspension came three days after Miles was cited on campus by the Knoxville Police Department when officers responded to a call about a driver passed out at the wheel of a car.
The misdemeanor charge of underage driving while impaired was dismissed last fall via judicial diversion, the Knoxville newspaper reported.
Whether or not Miles would be interested in returning to her home state and donning the UK blue is up in the air, but Wildcats Coach Kyra Elzy is no stranger to the Kentucky native.
In five seasons with Franklin County, Miles led the Flyers to four 11th Region titles. She graduated as the program’s second all-time leading scorer (2,278 points), as well as the Flyers’ all-time assist leader (624).
On July 1, 2020, Miles committed to Tennessee over finalists UK, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina State and Purdue.
At the time, Elzy was an assistant on Matthew Mitchell’s staff. When he stepped down in December 2020, Elzy was issued the tag of interim head coach. She was later hired as the program’s new leader and led the Wildcats to two consecutive winning seasons, culminating with the 2022 Southeastern Conference Tournament championship, UK’s first in 40 years.
Following a rebuilding year in 2022-23 in which it won just two SEC regular-season games, UK finds itself in a much different position now. The Wildcats finished with an overall record of 12-19 (2-14 SEC), with two upset victories in the first rounds of the 2023 SEC Tournament extending their season to March 3, where the team fell 80-71 to Tennessee.
Sophomore starting guard Jada Walker and integral freshman guard Kennedy Cambridge each announced their intentions to transfer within a week of the season’s end, leaving UK with more than a few questions surrounding the backcourt.
The Wildcats have dipped their toe into the SEC waters for transfers before. Leading scorer Robyn Benton arrived in Lexington by way of Auburn at the start of the 2020-21 season. This past season’s roster gained two SEC transfers in Ajae Petty (LSU) and Eniya Russell (South Carolina).
UK already has two former Miss Kentucky Basketball winners on the roster in Maddie Scherr (2020) and Amiya Jenkins (2022). Both are currently expected to return for the 2023-24 season.
This story was originally published April 4, 2023 at 7:00 PM.