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Lady Cats Add Two Stout Transfers in Jazmine Massengil and Robyn Benton

Published

5 years ago

April 15, 2020

Credit: UKAthletics

Just a few years after nearly the entire team and staff departed Lexington, Matthew Mitchell is loading up on SEC talent and making the Wildcats a contender.

The Wildcats just added 2019 All-SEC performer Robyn Benton, who spent two years at Auburn, and star guard Jazmine Massengil who spent two years at Tennessee.

As of now, both Massengil and Benton will have to sit-out the 2020-21 season, because of NCAA transfer rules. However, if the immediate transfer rule goes through, both will be eligible for next season.

Massengill brings a wealth of Southeastern Conference experience to Lexington after spending the last two seasons at Tennessee, where she was a key reserve her freshman season and a starter her sophomore season. The 6-foot guard averaged 6.5 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game last season, hitting 40 percent from the field and tripled her output from long range after hitting only a handful of 3s as a freshman. Massengill finished second on the team with 128 assists while adding 23 blocks and 27 steals. The guard can share the ball with the best in the nation, notching an assist in every game but one last season including four or more assists in 14 games. In fact, Massengill dished out 10 or more assists twice last season, including a career-best 12 against Missouri.

Benton will transfer to Kentucky after playing 52 career games at Auburn the last two seasons, earning All-SEC Freshman Team honors in 2018-19. As a rookie, she played in 32 games and averaged 5.8 points per game while going 35-of-94 from long range and 24-of-34 from the free-throw line with 34 steals. A key moment during her freshman season was making the game-winning shot and free throw with 8.6 seconds left vs. Vanderbilt, earning her SEC Freshman of the Week honors. In her collegiate debut, she scored 16 points and hit three 3s vs. Grambling State while she had 14 points and was 4-of-5 from 3 against Oklahoma and went a perfect 5-of-5 from long range against Elon.

Benton was a five-star recruiting and ranked as the No. 17 overall player nationally by ESPN.com entering college. The outlet also tabbed Benton the No. 6 guard in the class after an impressive high school career at Greater Atlanta Christian. The guard was the GHSA Class AAA Player of the Year and an Atlanta Journal-Constitution First-Team All-State performer as a junior averaging 17 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Benton also excelled in the club circuits helping her team to Nigh National Girls Championship in 2016 and Nike National Girls EYBL Platinum Championship in 2017. Robyn is the daughter of Mary and Robert Benton and has two siblings, Inky Johnson, who played college football at Tennessee and Myla Benton.

Massengill entered college as the No. 11 overall player in the 2018 class according to Prospectsnation.com while she was the No. 25 overall player by ESPN.com. The 2018 McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand Classic participant also was tabbed NACA Sports First-Team All-America as a senior and was Naismith All-America Honorable Mention as a junior. The guard showed her ability to take over games in the prestigious Jordan Brand Classic scoring the last four points, including the game-winning put-back with less than a second remaining for the Away Team.

The Wildcats will also welcome three impressive freshman to campus in MaxPress Tennessee Player of the Year Treasure Hunt and all-state honorees Erin Toller and Niya Leveretter. Hunt, Tollery and Leveretter signed National Letters of Intent to play at Kentucky back in November and make up a top-20 recruiting class in the nation according to ESPN.com. Hunt was picked to play in the exclusive Jordan Brand Classic and McDonald’s All-American Game, while Leveretter and Toller were both honored as nominees for the McDonald’s All-American Game.

After Kentucky’s season was ended early last year because of the Coronavirus, Mitchell and the Cats aren’t going away.

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Underdogs To Undeniable: Kentucky Baseball Is Winning At The Right Time

Published

23 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Kai McClelland

Caleb Bowlin | UK Athletics

Before the Tennessee series, the Bat Cats sat at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record, one that indicated that the back half of the season would need to look a little different for Kentucky to keep climbing the ladder and host a third consecutive Regional.

Kentucky spent the first half of SEC play competing in nothing but close series and often came up short, resulting in its RPI to take a fall.

Now, winning a series in Knoxville for the first time since 2016 and shredding the rival Louisville Cardinals in a midweek game, the Wildcats have won three straight ranked matchups and have jumped up nearly 11 spots.

This scrappy Kentucky team is currently projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will host the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend.

For a team that is 3-9 on the road and barely sitting on the bubble for the big dance, it’s safe to say this is Kentucky’s series and the Cats should dominate at Kentucky Proud Park.

Not only is the Kentucky offense coming off of a run-rule win where it scored 17 runs, the starting rotation has established itself as one of the best in the conference.

Nic McCay, the SEC Pitcher of the Week, has the best opponent batting average in the SEC (.177) and Ben Cleaver has been dealing lately with one of the best ERAs in the conference.

It’ll be fun to see the Wildcats potentially play in another rainy series in Lexington, looking to stay red hot and sweep an underwhelming Gamecocks team.

Make sure to follow our Twitter (X) (@KyInsider) for all weather updates this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight and will air live on SEC Network+.

The Wildcats remaining confrence schedule consists of:

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina

May 2-4 @ Mississippi State

May 9-11 vs. No. 11 Oklahoma

May 15-17 @ No. 8 Vanderbilt

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

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A Pair of Kentucky Alumni Look to Continue Hot Streaks in NBA Play-In

Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo led the Miami Heat to a win in the first round of the NBA play-in, and they aren’t done yet.

Published

1 week ago

April 18, 2025

Lane Mills

Tyler Herro during his time at Kentucky.

UK Athletics

Despite playing during different eras in their time wearing the blue and white, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have come together on the next level to create a powerful duo for the Miami Heat. Their performance in the first round of this year’s play-in is further proof of their effectiveness together.

The nine-seeded Heat traveled to Chicago to fight for a spot in the playoffs, and from the jump, the aforementioned pair of Kentucky alumni took control in what became a complete blowout.

Throughout the convincing 109-90 road win, Herro, now in his fifth year in the NBA, led the offensive charge. He finished the night with a stat-stuffing 38 points, five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of game time. Chicago simply didn’t have an answer for Miami’s flame-throwing shooter out of Lexington.

In the paint, Bam Adebayo held things down and led the team in rebounds, nabbing 12 boards, and tallying 15 points to boot in just one less minute than Herro. Together, the duo buried the Bulls on their own floor and kept the Heat’s head above water going forward.

While both players came up ultimately short during their time with Kentucky, albeit after two incredibly memorable seasons and Elite Eight runs, their ongoing success in the NBA is both a testament to their talent and the program’s legacy. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

The Kentucky Heat (Miami Wildcats?) will be back in action tonight against the Atlanta Hawks to determine their seeding fate in the NBA Playoffs. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. on TNT, truTV, or Max to cheer on some seriously special former ‘Cats.

Other Sports

Can The Bat Cats Get Hot At The Right Time?

Published

1 week ago

April 18, 2025

Kai McClelland

Kentucky baseball needs to start piling up the wins

Ethan Rand | UK Athletics

Sitting at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record with just under 20 games remaining in the regular season, it’s fair to say that Kentucky baseball must play every remaining game on its schedule like a playoff game; a must win.

Through 34 games this season, the Bat Cats have already played in 17 games that have been decided by two or less runs or went into extra innings.

You can look at the recent series’ against No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas as examples. Kentucky went toe-to-toe with both of these squads, and frankly, should have left each of those series with more than one win to its name.

As the Wildcats hover around the top 40 mark in multiple rankings, it’s assumed that if they win a little more than half of their games, they’re almost an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. We’ve seen several SEC teams make the tournament before with just 13 confrence wins.

Kentucky has exactly 18 games remaining, 15 of those being conference matchups. This weekend, the Wildcats travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 2 team in the nation, the Tennessee Volunteers.

Knocking off the defending National Champions at least once would be huge for Nick Mingione and company, earning Kentucky’s fifth victory of the season against a top 15 opponent.

“For us, it just keeps coming back to our ability to execute, said Mingione after the Wildcats walk-off win on April 15. “I just keep harping on these guys about is when we execute, and we do what we’re trained to do, we’ve had a lot of success…I have the belief in this team.”

Tonight, the first pitch against the Volunteers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats remaining conference schedule consists of:

April 18-20 @ No. 2 Tennessee

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina

May 2-4 @ Mississippi State

May 9-11 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma

May 15-17 @ No. 19 Vanderbilt

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.