The unlikely senior class that helped save Matthew Mitchell and UK women’s basketball
After the tumult created by a mass exodus of players and recruits in 2016, the journey back for Matthew Mitchell and the Kentucky women’s basketball program has been fueled be a series of decisions.
When Makayla Epps and Evelyn Akhator stayed with UK for their final college seasons in 2016-17, it bought Mitchell time.
When Maci Morris and Taylor Murray stayed with UK for their final three college seasons, it gave Mitchell a chance to rebuild.
When Rhyne Howard chose Kentucky two seasons after the exodus, it gave Mitchell a viable chance to return the Kentucky program to the Top 10ish level it had attained before the departures of seven players and the de-commitments of five recruits during and after the 2015-16 school year.
In the story of the comeback of UK Hoops, however, do not overlook the roles played by the unlikely collection of seniors that Kentucky will honor Thursday before the No. 15 Wildcats (20-6, 9-5 SEC) play Georgia (15-12, 6-8 SEC) at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum in the 2019-20 home finale.
Without Ogechi Anyagaligbo, Nae Nae Cole, Sabrina Haines, Amanda Paschal and Jaida Roper, Kentucky’s bounce back from the roster depletion of 2015-16 would not have been so quick nor so high.
“It was a class that did come about in an unexpected way,” Mitchell said Wednesday at a news conference. “I have often thought about how different my life would be for the worse if it didn’t happen the way that it did.”
In the summer of 2016, negative recruiters were having a field day against Kentucky. During that time of peril for UK, Roper, a Memphis high school product who had originally chosen Louisiana Tech, and Anyagaligbo, a transfer from Stony Brook, nevertheless picked the Cats.
Paschal, a product of the Florida junior-college ranks at Gulf Coast State College, cast her lot with Kentucky soon afterward in that year’s early-signing period. “Jaida Roper, Ogechi and Amanda walked through the door when a lot of people didn’t think that was the thing to do,” Mitchell says.
When she came to Kentucky on her recruiting visit, Roper says Mitchell sat her down and went over the factors that had led to UK’s roster churn.
“Everything was out in the open. There were no secrets,” Roper says. “(Mitchell) kept it completely honest with me, and I loved the honesty.”
Haines, a transfer from Arizona State, and Cole, who came to UK from North Carolina State, each came to Lexington before the 2018-19 school year knowing they would have to sit out one season to then play their final years of eligibility for Kentucky.
Though not stars in the manner of Akhator and Epps, Morris and Murray nor Howard, the unlikely class of 2020 in Kentucky women’s basketball has left its mark.
Roper might be the most valuable 658-point career scorer (to date) in UK history.
The 5-foot-6 guard has a knack for making big shots. That was evidenced by the rainbow three-pointer Roper hit that clinched Kentucky’s win over Tennessee in Knoxville last season as well as the eight points she scored in the fourth quarter to help UK close out an upset of No. 6 Mississippi State this year.
“I am so proud of Jaida,” Mitchell says. “I think she is playing at a really high and elite level as far as SEC point guards go right now. She has had to work really hard to get to that point.”
Haines (10.1 ppg, 42.5 percent three-point shooting) has given Kentucky a capable scorer operating on the wing opposite Howard.
She has played so well, Mitchell jokingly says he has forgiven Haines for the role she played (nine points, four rebounds) in Arizona State’s 73-71 overtime win over UK in Rupp Arena in 2016-17.
A hard-nosed guard, Paschal (5.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.8 assists) has willingly accepted a supporting role. “She is real versatile and never gets concerned about who gets the credit, just concerned about winning,” Mitchell says.
An undersized post player, the 6-1 Anyagaligbo (3.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) has battled chronic knee (including a torn ACL) and ankle problems while at UK.
“She has had a very tough physical hill to climb that she climbs every day,” Mitchell says. “Over her career, (she) has had some huge moments.”
The 6-3 Cole (1.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg) had four points in Kentucky’s three-point win at Virginia in November. “That was a physical battle, and Nae Nae was such a presence in that game,” Mitchell says. “We would not have won that game without her.”
On Thursday, this unlikely class — four transfers; four college graduates with the fifth set to add her degree in May — will say its regular-season goodbye to Memorial Coliseum.
“Just an awesome group of young women,” Mitchell says. “They deserve all the support and love that we can muster up for them (Thursday) night.”
Thursday
Georgia at No. 15 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Georgia 15-12 (6-8 SEC), Kentucky 20-6 (9-5)
Series: Georgia leads 37-19.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 58-53 on March 3, 2019, in Athens, Ga.
