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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t really pay attention to anything Kentucky except men’s basketball, I’d advise you to start turning that TV on and watching Georgia Amoore play basketball.

Amoore, a Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year semifinalist, tied the Kentucky NCAA Tournament scoring record with her 34-point scoring performance against Liberty on March 21.

The star point guard outscored the Lady Flames by herself in the first quarter. 

Even though the Wildcats snuck by with a 79-78 win, it’s safe to say that her amazing first half was the reason they even had such a large lead to lose. 

All season, she’s led this team to win after win, but now, it matters most. 

Kentucky punched their ticket, advanced, and will host the No. 5 seed Kansas State Wildcats on Sunday, March 23. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. ET in Lexington, KY. 

After their win against Fairfield, Kansas State’s Head Coach Jeff Mittie admitted he had no idea on how to stop Amoore.

“Heck of a player. Heck of a player. I don’t have any answers as we sit here today,” said Mittie. 

Zyanna Walker, one of Kansas State’s starting guards, was asked what goes through her mind when guarding a player like Amoore.

”Just know that you’re not going to be able to completely shut them down,” said Walker. “Great players like that, you just got to try to contain them…that’s all you can do, and just hope that the ball doesn’t go in the basket for them.” 

Mittie added Saturday afternoon that Amoore doesn’t just look good on the court, statistically, she’s in the top tier of guards.

“You know, her usage rate in the pick and roll game is as high as anybody we’ve seen in the country,” said Mittie. “Probably her and Van Lith in terms of the usage rate. It’s over 40 percent.”

He later added “So I don’t have all the answers, but I will say that certainly we know that the pick and roll game for them is very very good…I wish Kenny (Brooks) was coming off of a pick and roll instead of Amoore.”

Unfortunately for Kansas State, Brooks will not be suiting up and they will be forced to guard one of the best players in the country with hopes of keeping their March Madness dreams alive.

Although Head Coach Nick Mingione and his staff had to completely restructure their lineup after the MLB Draft and the transfer portal did its rounds, the Wildcats have formed one of the most well-rounded rosters in the nation. 

The Cats’ have 16 home runs as a team in just 15 games. Five of the players, led by Cole Hage with eight stolen bases, have stolen five or more bags this season. Six players, led by Dylan Koontz with 18, have 10 or more RBIs thus far. As a team, they’re hitting .295 and have a combined .909 OPS. This team can truly do it all. 

First of all, we have to assess Hage’s season so far. The outfielder is hitting .458 (1.419 OPS) and is leading the teams in total hits, runs and home runs. At this rate, with double-digit games played, it’s clear who the best offensive weapon is. 

Next, you can jump to star freshman shortstop with Bell. He’s hitting .333 on the season with, barely behind Hage in just about every stat. He ranks second on the team with both 17 RBIs and 18 total hits. 

These two’s amazing outings, along with the other team numbers mentioned above, indicate why they hold an impressive 13-2 record, averaging nearly nine runs a game. 

Last weekend, the Wildcats defeated the Wofford Terriers in two out of three games in a weekend series at Kentucky Proud Park. 

Mingione gave the team his flowers despite the Cats’ dominant 12-2 win in game one of the series. 

“I reminded the guys yesterday how much I think of this Wofford team,” said Mingione. “That’s a really good team, they win a lot of baseball games, and this series ain’t over.” 

Mingione was right, because the Terriers would fight with Kentucky through eight innings in game two. The Wildcats had a nightmare ninth inning on the mound, giving up eight runs as a team and ultimately losing 12-5. 

However, with the biggest showing of heart, the Wildcats came out in game three and had a clinic on the mound, where LHP Ethan Walker threw the first five innings, striking out four batters and only giving up two hits and one unearned run against 17 batters. 

Senior RHP Scott Rouse then took over, striking out four batters and keeping the Terriers from scoring another run in the final four innings. The Wildcats went on to win 2-1. Rouse has struck out 19 batters in only 15 innings this season, and is now 3-0 with a 0.60 ERA. 

After its first series win over a competing opponent, Kentucky faced Northern Illinois on Tuesday, March 11 where it only gave up four hits as a team. Freshman Nate Harris threw five innings and only gave up two hits against 19 batters, earning his third win of the season. 

Devin Burkes and Luke Lawrence, who both went 2-3 with two RBIs each led the way offensively, leading the Cats to a 9-2 win.

Now, Kentucky will go on the road and face the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, its first series of conference play. 

However, when asked about how much rankings mattered to him, he shifted the focus to his player’s mentalities.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, with all due respect, we respect every opponent and they’re a great team, make no mistake about it,” said Mingione. “Our focus needs to be on us, and what we do, and I feel confident that as long as our focus is on things we can control, then there’s a chance we can get the results we want.” 

Kentucky will be on the road in Athens, Georgia from Friday, March 14 from Sunday March 16, hoping to return home to Lexington with a series win.