On Tuesday, Virginia Tech women's basketball coach Kenny Brooks accepted the same position at Kentucky.
"We hired Kenny in 2016 with the intent of revitalizing our women's basketball program," Virginia Tech director of athletics Whit Babcock said in a release. "Needless to say, Kenny, his staff and student-athletes created a culture of excellence on and off the court. He was an incredible mentor to the young women in our women's basketball program and a terrific representative of our department and university. We wish Kenny and his family well in this next chapter of his career.
"I remain confident in the trajectory of our women's basketball program and when combined with our resources, specifically NIL, that the future of our women's basketball program is bright."
When the Hokies hired Brooks from James Madison in 2016, he inherited a program that was just 44-136 (.244) in ACC play in the previous 12 seasons. Though it didn't happen overnight, he slowly turned Tech into a contender and then a winner. He finished with a 76-60 record (.559) in eight seasons in the conference and was 41-13 (.759) over the last three years.
Brooks won Tech's first-ever ACC Tournament championship in 2023 and its first-ever ACC regular-season title in 2024. His team won 20-plus games seven out of eight seasons, too â all but the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season â and made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, tying a school record. That included a 31-5 (14-4 ACC) campaign in 2022-23 that featured the aforementioned conference tournament title and a run to the school's first-ever Final Four.
After posting a 337-122 (.734) record in 14 seasons at JMU, Brooks was 180-82 (.687) at Tech. He led the Hokies to three straight top-four finishes in the ACC in his last three years. They were the No. 1 seed in the most recent ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., in March.
Brooks, 55, referred to his time at Tech as "the most amazing stretch of my coaching career" after Sunday's loss to Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He won his 500th career game in December at Rutgers. He also coached three All-Americans in his time with the Hokies: Aisha Sheppard, Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore.
Sheppard graduated as the program's all-time leading scorer (1,183) and 3-point leader (402), which doubles as the ACC's record. She was Brooks' first recruit in Blacksburg and played a school record 159 career games over five seasons. She was a two-time First Team All-ACC performer and earned second team honors twice.
Kitley is the greatest player in Virginia Tech history. She's a three-time All-American and a three-time ACC Player of the Year, a club that includes the likes of Duke's Alana Beard, Maryland's Alyssa Thomas, NC State's David Thompson and Virginia's Ralph Sampson. She's second all-time in the conference in points with 2,709 and first in double-doubles (76) and rebounds (1,506), which are all records with the Hokies.
Kitley owns numerous other Tech records too, including games started (151), minutes played (4,935), double-figure games (125), 30-point games (12), field goals made (1,109), rebounding average for a career (10.0) and blocks (331).
Amoore was the ACC Tournament's MVP and the Seattle 3 Region's Most Outstanding Player when the Hokies made the Final Four in 2023. She holds the program's all-time record in assists with 656 and was a two-time First Team All-ACC performer.
Brooks' buyout is $750,000. He had a top-10 recruiting class set to join the fold in the summer and had the chance to return nine of his 12 players from the team that won the ACC regular season.