Wildcat Basketball

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s basketball team has signed Samantha Drake, a 6-foot-3 center from Nelson County High School in Bardstown, Ky., to a national letter-of-intent in the NCAA late signing period, head coach Matthew Mitchell announced Wednesday.

“We’re excited about the addition of Samantha to our Kentucky family,” Mitchell said. “She’s an extremely talented player who will have the opportunity to impact our team in a positive way. Samantha rounds out a recruiting class that will be well suited for our style of play.”

Drake is rated as the eighth-best post player and one of the top 50 players in the nation by two recruiting services. She set scoring records at Nelson County for boys or girls with 3,068 career points while pulling down 1,381 rebounds. Drake also owns Nelson County's school record for single-game scoring (44 points).

The four-time All-Region and District All-Tournament team selection averaged 22.9 points and 8.5 rebounds as senior for Coach Kelly Wood. Drake shot 61.0 percent from the floor, 72.0 percent from the charity stripe and was named to The Associated Press second team in helping lead the Cardinals to an 18-11 overall record this season.

As a junior, she averaged a double-double with a career-best 26.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game en route to earning District Tournament Most Valuable Player and Fifth Region’s Player of the Year. Additionally, she was twice named to The Courier-Journal's All-State first team and received many other accolades throughout her impressive prep career.

Drake chose Kentucky over Georgia and Michigan State.

With the addition of Drake, Kentucky’s recruiting class moves up to No. 5 nationally according to BlueStar Basketball. It’s the highest ranking in school history.

The class also includes McDonald’s and WBCA/Nike All-American Jennifer O’Neill, a 5-6 guard from Saint Michael Academy and Bronx, N.Y., 2010 Kentucky Miss Basketball Sarah Beth Barnette, a 6-2 forward from Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Ky., the Star-Telegram's Super Teams Player of the Year Maegan Conwright, a 5-8 guard from Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, Connecticut High School Coaches Association Player of the Year Kastine Evans, a 5-8 guard from Salem, Conn., and LaQuinta Jefferson, a 6-0 guard from La Vergne High School in La Vergne, Tenn.

Tags: jennifer o'neill, kastine evans, laquinta jefferson, maegan conwright, matthew mitchell, samantha drake, sarah barnette

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Wildcat Basketball , Wildcats Recruiting

University of Kentucky sophomore Rebecca Gray has left the women's basketball program and plans to enroll at Union College in Barbourville, Ky., Coach Matthew Mitchell announced Wednesday.


Gray, a native of Georgetown, Ky., transferred to Kentucky in 2008-09 after playing her freshman year at North Carolina.

Originally Posted by Coach Mitchell

"Rebecca has informed me of her decision to leave the team," Mitchell said. "I'm saddened about her departure from our team but I thank her for all of her contributions to the program. We wish her the very best moving forward."

Gray, a 5-10 guard, played in 33 of 36 games for UK this season, averaging 5.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game. She was the team's second-leading three-pointer shooter, hitting 34.9 percent from beyond the arc (30-of-86).

Originally Posted by Rebecca Gray

"I'm very blessed to have been a part of such a great program," Gray said. "I'm so appreciative of all the time and effort this staff and team put into me as a person and player. They will always be like family to me."

Source: LEX18

Updated April 14th, 2010 at 11:57 AM by Charlie

Tags: matthew mitchell, rebecca gray, union college

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Wildcat Basketball

Rumors are starting to gain some legs as Mr. Basketball award winner and Sweet16 MVP Elisha Justice, may indeed pick up a offer from UK, whether that be as a preferred walk-on or scholarship.

Here are some highlights of Elisha for those of you not familiar with him:

Tags: elisha justice, mr. basketball, walk-on

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Wildcat Basketball

Kentucky travels to the O'Connell Center on the campus of Florida tomorrow evening to take on the Gators. Florida is coming off of a tough loss versus conference foe Vanderbilt by 8, despite scoring 87 points. The Gators are lead by freshman point guard Kenny Boynton (14.6 ppg, 3.3 reb, 3.5 apg), junior forward Alex Tyus (11.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg,), and sophomore guard Erving Walker (11.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.0 apg).

Projected Starters:
F/C- Vernon Macklin
F- Alex Tyus
F- Chandler Parsons
G- Kenny Boynton
G- Erving Walker

Key Reserves:
F- Dan Werner
F- Erik Murphy

Prediction: Kentucky 78, Florida 65