‘Tonight was special.’ Big Blue Nation celebrates Brooks family on Play4Kay night
On Thursday night, Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks stood hand-in-hand with his wife, Chrissy, and alongside their daughters Gabby and Kendyl, in front of a packed Historic Memorial Coliseum for the announcement that Chrissy had successfully “rung the bell” on May 24 of last year, signaling the end of her cancer treatments.
The moment occurred before the No. 8 Wildcats’ top-10 matchup with No. 3 Texas, a game that served as UK’s entry to the beloved Play4Kay tradition — an annual movement around women’s college basketball to honor the life and legacy of longtime North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow, who died of breast cancer after decades at the helm in Raleigh, and voice support for those fighting breast cancer. Classic uniform combinations are reworked to include pink details and moments of acknowledgment are taken to give fans time to show (via provided signs) for whom they’re fighting.
Fans of both teams erupted in applause at the announcement, gladly showing their support for the Brooks family. It was a celebration, of course, but, more than anything, it reflected what has been most meaningful to Brooks since uprooting his life nearly one year ago. Though he is vocal about the fact he does not covet attention, and clear in his actions that he would much rather the spotlight go to his players, Brooks said during an emotional postgame on Thursday that the pregame celebration “puts everything into perspective,” for him after “the hardest year of my life.”
“To be able to watch my wife walk out there,” Brooks said. “And when they said that she rung the bell on May the 24th, it puts everything into perspective. Because she’s fought, she’s the strongest person I know, and I also know that we didn’t get to this by ourselves.”
Kentucky director of athletics Mitch Barnhart announced Brooks’ hiring on March 26, 2024, the day after Virginia Tech’s season ended in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 with a heartbreaker to Baylor on the Hokies’ home court. It was a move that sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball landscape, and set into motion a domino effect of coaching changes, both within the power conferences and beyond. It was also a decision that felt right for Brooks and his family and, on Kentucky’s end, has already proven to be a home run hire, regardless of how the remainder of his inaugural season plays out.
Brooks cited “the power of prayer,” and the role that it played in his family’s fight — a battle that they chose not to disclose during the 2023-24 basketball season.
In April 2024, Brooks’ daughter Chloe posted a social media thread to defend her father after rumors began to swirl following Brooks’ absence from the 2024 WNBA draft, at which All-America center Liz Kitley — who played five seasons under Brooks and is the most decorated player in Virginia Tech women’s basketball history — was selected in the second round by the Las Vegas Aces.
In the thread, Brooks’ daughter revealed Chrissy’s cancer diagnosis and explained how hard he’d worked to lift Virginia Tech to its first-ever regular-season ACC title while balancing his responsibilities in the other areas of his life, namely as husband and caretaker. She went on to explain how there wasn’t enough time for Brooks to attend the draft with Kitley due to obligations at Kentucky he had to handle before driving five hours back to Blacksburg to spend time with his wife.
“I’ve sat back and held my tongue during this situation thinking maybe it will die down,” Chloe Brooks began the thread. “But I’m truly over all the false narratives that ‘Hokie Fans’ are trying to put out. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer about 7 months ago and is currently in the middle of treatment.”
Brooks spoke Thursday about how, after keeping his wife’s diagnosis in the family last season, coming out with it brought them a tremendous sense of relief.
“When we told people, it was the biggest weight lifted off my shoulder,” Brooks said. “Because so many people helped us. And they prayed for us and they helped us get through it.”
Following Thursday’s game, Brooks and Texas head coach Vic Schaefer had a lengthy discussion about how good it can feel to lean on loved ones when you’re overwhelmed. Brooks and Schaefer did not know each other well prior to their first-ever matchup. But, per Schaefer, they have quite a bit in common. Namely, the joy that comes with going to work every day and spending time with their players — something Schaefer said is “not always like that all the time, unfortunately.”
When asked about the details of their postgame conversation, Schaefer began by explaining the emotional toll that can come with the hands-on nature of the job.
“Y’all, in coaching, we can get really wrapped up as coaches,” Schaefer said. “In our job, in our kids, and sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming. I’m one of these guys that, I’m in it to win it, like, I’m trying to win the last one. I’m trying to help these kids get ready for the real world. I live and die with every play they make, good, bad or indifferent. And my message to him was one of the best things of the night was hearing that his wife was cancer-free.”
The two coaches have each dealt with serious medical tragedy in their immediate families. Brooks, with his wife’s cancer journey, and Schaefer, with his son’s traumatic brain injury suffered when he was only 14. He detailed his son’s story, and shared a word of advice with Brooks.
“When I get overwhelmed, I call to hear his voice,” Schaefer said. “And so that’s what I shared with him, is that, ‘man, when you need to be grounded, you take a look at your beautiful bride, you make that phone call and you listen to her voice.’ And it really brings things to perspective. And, you know, we both have great teams. We both have great young ladies on our teams. We were talking today at shootaround. We both shared how we both love our kids, like, I love going to work every day and seeing these kids. ... I have great kids, and he does, too, and we both shared that. So it’s, you know, we love what we do. We’re passionate. We obviously want to win and be the best we can be, but sometimes it can get really overwhelming.”
Brooks echoed the importance of the night, and gave thanks to those around him who took the time to help he and his family and show their support during the difficult time.
“Nights like tonight,” Brooks said. “When you know what you’ve gone through and you know how you’ve gotten through it because of other people, and to be able to bring awareness to this nasty disease, and that’s what Vic and I talked about. He has a son who he almost lost, and nights like tonight really put things into perspective, and know that you can’t do it by yourself, and that you have so many people that are helping you. So, the University of Kentucky has been great to me.
“I love it when people come up to me, before they even ask me anything about basketball, they’ll ask me how my wife’s doing. And that means everything because family’s first. Tonight was special.”
