Longtime Virginia Tech assistant will join Kenny Brooks with Kentucky women’s basketball
Another women’s basketball assistant is moving from Blacksburg, Virginia, to Lexington.
Former Virginia Tech women’s basketball operations assistant Kendall Dillard has been hired as a University of Kentucky women’s basketball assistant coach and director of player development, the program announced on Friday. He arrives at UK with 10 years of experience with the Hokies, eight of which was directly under head coach Kenny Brooks.
“I’m excited and thankful to continue to work under Coach Brooks and be a part of Big Blue Nation,” Dillard said. “To be a part of a program as prestigious as Kentucky is an honor, and I look forward to helping this program compete for championships for years to come!”
Dillard, a 2020 graduate of Virginia Tech, began his path in collegiate coaching as a student manager and practice player from 2014-20. That journey continued as graduate assistant for the Hokies from 2020-22, then as an operations assistant from 2022-24. His position at UK will be his first collegiate assistant coaching opportunity, and it will take him out of his home state of Virginia.
Dillard, the fourth assistant hired by Brooks thus far, joins associate head coach Lindsey Hicks, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Radvile Autukaite and assistant coach Josh Petersen. Brooks has also hired Tim Clark as special assistant and chief of staff. Hicks, Autukaite and Clark join Dillard in following Brooks from Virginia Tech to UK.
— 6-foot-1 wing Tanah Becker of Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, 6-foot-2 guard Lexi Blue of Lake Highland Prep (No. 40 in espnW), 6-foot-3 forward Amelia Hassett of Eastern Florida State College and 6-foot-7 international prospect Clara Silva.
Three players from last year’s Kentucky roster have committed to new schools since entering the transfer portal. On Monday, leading scorer Ajae Petty announced her commitment to Ohio State, while senior guard Eniya Russell declared for Mississippi State. On Thursday, second-leading scorer Maddie Scherr posted both her goodbye to Big Blue Nation and her commitment to Texas Christian on Friday.
Junior point guard Brooklynn Miles and freshmen Jordy Griggs and Janaé Walker have all announced their decision to enter the transfer portal but not yet named landing spots. Senior forward Nyah Leveretter and sophomore guard Amiya Jenkins are not listed on UK’s online roster for next season but have yet to publicly issue any statement regarding their future plans.
