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Cassidy Rowe Retires from Basketball After Reportedly Having Scholarship Revoked from Kentucky

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1 year ago

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Kentucky native and Kentucky women's guard Cassidy Rowe transfer
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Kentucky’s Cassidy Rowe grew up just over 100 miles away, southeast of Lexington. Recruited by former Head Coach Matthew Mitchell, Rowe, like any kid’s dream near Lexington, committed to Kentucky as a freshman in high school. 

Battling countless injuries before her college career and coming to Lexington under another new head coach, this time Kyra Elzy, Rowe’s journey was far from easy.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end for Rowe, as she battled through two underwhelming seasons with the Wildcats, where they only won 12 games in both years. 

Every single player from the 2023-24 team, besides Rowe and Saniah Tyler, either entered the portal or graduated. 

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However, when Rowe said, “I’m a Kentucky girl through and through,” she meant it.

When Kenny Brooks arrived on campus last spring, he said that Rowe cried “blue tears” when meeting with her. “When she started talking about her experiences here, I swore when she started crying, it was blue tears,” he told Phoenix Stevens. “I’m like, man, this kid had me — she had me at hello just because she knew how much she loved Kentucky.”

She decided to return to Kentucky for her junior season under Head Coach Kenny Brooks, and needless to say, Rowe was a part of a historic season. They ranked as high as No.8 in the AP women’s basketball poll, finished fourth in the SEC with a 23-8 record, and broke 11 school records.

Even though Rowe’s playing time decreased drastically this season, only eclipsing ten or more minutes one time once conference play started, she became a resembling fan favorite that many saw as “one of the ones to stick it out” and truly bleed Kentucky blue. 

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It shocked many when Rowe took to her Instagram to post news that she would be transferring on March 29th.

“Wow…I wasn’t expecting this to be a goodbye post,” Rowe said. “While I still have a year of eligibility left, I will not be entering the transfer portal. I will be pursuing my new dream of becoming a physical therapist through UK’s DPT program.”

Tonia Witt of Rise Up Sports Media broke the news of Rowe’s decision, which correlated with the Kentucky native’s Instagram post. 

However, as passionate as Kentucky fans are, many took to social media to question the shocking news as Rowe’s love for the program was clear, and she had just one year remaining.

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Witt ended the debate on the morning of March 30th, stating that Rowe was told her scholarship would not be available for the 2025-26 season, not that she was told to transfer. 

Rowe’s father, Lonnie Rowe, would repost these to his personal social media, while also reposting a post from Alyx White stating that the fans stating Rowe didn’t deserve a roster spot clearly hadn’t seen Rowe play.

Rise Up Sports has offered an opportunity for fans to send Rowe mail and flood her with positive vibes.

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Kentucky Baseball Selected to Fourth Consecutive NCAA Tournament

Published

4 days ago

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May 25, 2026

By

Sydney Yonker | UK Athletics

In the final bracket reveal on the ESPN selection show, Kentucky baseball was named as the No. 3 seed in the Morgantown Regional. This is the fourth year in a row that the Bat Cats have been selected to the NCAA tournament, extending the school record.

West Virginia is the No. 16 overall seed in the tournament and the one-seeded host of the regional. Also in the bracket is No. 2 Wake Forest, Kentucky’s first-round opponent, and No. 4 Binghamton.

On Friday, May 29, Kentucky (31-21, 13-17 SEC) will take on Wake Forest (38-19, 16-14 ACC) at 12:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on ESPN2.

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The similarities that led both teams to the tournament will likely lead to an entertaining first game of the double-elimination format. Both schools went one and done in their respective conference tournaments, as well as facing multiple ranked opponents during the season.

The difference in the schools’ season is Wake Forest was swept twice while Kentucky avoided being swept all season, but on the flip side, the Cats lost all but two of its conference series while the Demon Deacons only lost four.

A schedule only means so much when two teams from different conferences meet. Wake Forest has a high-powered offense, putting up nine games with 14 or more runs and scoring 22 or more runs on two separate occasions.

That can prove problematic for a Kentucky team that has made 55 errors this season. The Demon Deacons lack of depth in the bullpen could benefit the Wildcats. This is an area that Kentucky has had some problems with this season as well, but with 12 of their 22 listed pitchers having a sub 6.00 ERA, they certainly have the edge.

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UK is a team that pressures the infield with stolen bases, which will due part put much pressure on Wake Forest – they’ve made 59 errors on the season.

Overall, getting past round one is just the first step to getting out of Morgantown and driving the rest of the long road to Omaha.

Morgantown Regional (Morgantown, West Virginia)

Friday:

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Game 1: Kentucky vs. Wake Forest; 12:00 p.m ET on ESPN2
Game 2: No. 16 West Virginia vs. Binghampton; 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Saturday:

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Sunday:

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Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

Monday:

Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6

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Kentucky Baseball Set to Face Vanderbilt in First Round of the SEC Tournament

Published

2 weeks ago

on

May 17, 2026

By

Eddie Justice | UK Athletics

The bracket is set. Kentucky Baseball, earning the No. 13 overall seed, will face No. 12 Vanderbilt (32-24, 14-16 SEC) in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday, May 19.

Nick Mingione’s squad finished the regular season with a 31-20 overall record and a 13-17 conference record, going 1-2 in the final series against the Arkansas Razorbacks, who ultimately earned the No. 7 overall seed in the tourney.

These two teams clashed back on April 17-19, where Vanderbilt came into Kentucky Proud Park and stole both game two and three from the Wildcats. Kentucky scored a total of 18 runs in the series, but it let up 23 runs of its own.

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In the series-opening win, pitcher Jaxon Jelkin tossed 105 total pitches through eight innings, only allowing two runs and six hits between the 31 batters he faced.

A time is yet to be announced, but it is confirmed that the Bat Cats and the Commodores will play in game two, taking place after game one between No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 16 Missouri at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Kentucky is currently on the “safe” part of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a win in Hoover, Alabama would have the Wildcats as locks to make yet another appearance in the big dance.

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BREAKING: Former Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins second consecutive NBA MVP Award

Published

2 weeks ago

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May 17, 2026

By

Photo via Imagn Images

History has been made by former Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as he becomes the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards. Last season, he became the first Wildcat ever to hoist the trophy, a feat that he still holds with utter dominance.

The Toronto, Canada native averaged 31.1 points per game (second in the league) to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game. He did this all on 55.3/38.6/87.9 shooting splits and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the best record in the league with 64 wins.

How about this for a stat? Gilgeous-Alexander is now just the fifth guard in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards, joining Hall of Fame guards Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry and Steve Nash.

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News of the award will officially be announced tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA on Prime, with Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama as the other two finalists.

Gilgeous-Alexander will be back in action on Monday, May 18 to face off against Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, looking to lead his team to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

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