Kentucky Women Ranked No. 14 in Preseason Polls; UK Men at No. 23
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kenny Brooks’ University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is ranked 14th in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 and the Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, it was announced by both organizations Tuesday.
The Wildcats have been ranked every week – and in both polls – under head coach Brooks since he arrived in Spring 2024, while the Cats’ No. 14 position is their lowest preseason ranking in either poll in the Brooks era.
UK has earned a preseason ranking from either the AP or the coaches 13 times in the past 17 seasons, only missing out on early nods in the falls of 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
The Wildcats opened up as the 24th team in the Preseason AP Top 25 and 20th in the preseason coaches poll last season, which wound up being their lowest ranking – in either poll – of the entire season. In fact, Kentucky was ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and No. 7 in the coaches poll after knocking off two top-five teams in a 10-day span (No. 5 LSU, No. 5 Oklahoma) in 2025-26.
Brooks has brought together one of the most high-profile rosters in the country to back up that 14th position, which features National Player of the Year contender Clara Strack, the second-best, 3-point shooter in the Southeastern Conference from a season ago Asia Boone, the 10th pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Ajša Sivka, the sixth-ranked transfer class in the nation and the sixth-ranked freshmen class in the nation.
The four transfers include Me’Arah O’Neal, who put together 13.6 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game last season at Florida, and Diana Collins, who contributed 8.4 ppg and 2.4 apg to help Alabama to the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2025-26. It also features Ayanna Patterson, a forward out of UConn who battled injury there but was a highly touted recruit and McDonald’s All-American, and Jemma Amoore, a guard from IU-Indianapolis.
The freshmen include 14th-ranked Maddyn Greenway, who was named the 2026 MaxPreps Female National Athlete of the Year, 20th-ranked Savvy Swords, who just last week checked-in at ninth in ESPN’s Next 100, and 21st-ranked Emily McDonald, who won the co-ed, three-point competition at the 2026 McDonald’s All-American Game.
The upcoming season is less than two weeks away, with Kentucky set to square off with Morehead State on Monday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. ET in Historic Memorial Coliseum.
UK Men Ranked No. 23
The Kentucky men’s basketball team received a No. 23 preseason ranking in both the Associated Press College Basketball Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll, released Monday.
It marks the 59th time in 66 preseason AP polls that the Wildcats are among the teams ranked to begin the year, and the 61st time the Cats have appeared in the first coaches’ poll of the season.
Kentucky leads all programs with 998 appearances in the weekly AP poll and 981 total selections in the coaches’ poll.
Nine opponents on Kentucky’s 2026-27 schedule are ranked ahead of the upcoming season including: Florida (No. 1/1), Texas (No. 7/7), Tennessee (No. 8/9), Virginia (No. 9/10), Louisville (No. 11/11), Arkansas (No. 12/13), Kansas (No. 17/18), Alabama (No. 20/18) and Vanderbilt (No. 24/21). The Wildcats will play a total of 11 games against these nine teams during the regular season. UK will also face No. 19/16 Texas Tech in an exhibition contest this Friday night.
An additional five opponents (Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas A&M, Auburn) are receiving votes to begin the season.
The Southeastern Conference leads the country with seven teams ranked in the preseason polls, while Missouri and Texas A&M are just outside the top 25 receiving votes.
Kentucky returns five players from its NCAA Tournament Round of 32 squad a year ago as Braydon Hawthorne, Malachi Moreno, Trent Noah, Reece Potter and Kam Williams are all back for the Wildcats. Moreno, an All-SEC Freshman Team selection, started 30 games for the Cats last season and led the team in rebounds per game (6.3), blocks per game (1.47) and field goal percentage (58.2%). Williams saw action in 24 games and made seven starts, despite missing 12 games with a broken foot. He matched the program’s record for most made 3s in a single game when he buried eight against Bellarmine. Noah appeared in 27 contests as a sophomore, twice scoring in double figures, including a career-high 16 points against Tennessee Tech. Both Hawthorne and Potter redshirted in 2025-26.
A well-regarded group of six transfers also enters the fold for Kentucky in 2026-27, headlined by the nation’s leading 3-point shooter from a year ago, Milan Momcilovic. Momcilovic starred for Iowa State last season, averaging 16.9 points per game and making a school-record 136 3s while shooting 48.7 percent from deep. He was rated as a top three transfer this offseason by ESPN, 247 Sports and On3.
Joining Momcilovic in the transfer contingent are backcourt pieces Zoom Diallo, Jerone Morton and Alex Wilkins, along with frontcourt additions Franck Kepnang and Justin McBride. Wilkins and McBride were All-Conference selections at Furman and James Madison, respectively, while Diallo and Kepnang both arrive from the University of Washington and Morton returns to his hometown of Lexington after a season at Washington State.
This year’s team also features a trio of college basketball newcomers in Zyon Hawthorne, Ousmane N’Diaye and Mason Williams. Zyon is the younger brother of Braydon and played his final high school season at Huntington Prep. N’Diaye hails from Dakar, Senegal and has experience playing in Europe, most recently with Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s top division. Williams is the son of UK assistant Mo Williams, and averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals at Tennessee Collegiate Academy as a senior.
The Wildcats will host Texas Tech for an exhibition matchup this Friday at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. with the game being broadcast on SEC Network+.
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