Radvile Autukaite grew up in Lithuania but always dreamed of coming to the United States and at age 18 came to the U.S. to play basketball at Reinhardt University, a NAIA school.

That was 15 years ago and today she’s the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for the Kentucky women’s basketball program. She joined Kenny Brooks’ staff at Virginia Tech in 2017 and has been with him ever since.

She has been a bit overwhelmed by what it has been like at Kentucky since arriving with Brooks.

“Being here has been so much fun and the amount of coverage for our program has been amazing,” she said. “It has been great for us and women’s basketball. I am very grateful to be here.”

Prior to moving to the United States, Autukaite played for the Lithuanian National Team. At Reinhardt she was named the NAIA AAC Female Champion of Character Award for all sports.

She did not have an easy journey to where she is now. After her playing career ended, she worked two years as a graduate assistant at Webber International University and earned a master of business administration. However, something happened with her paperwork and it looked like she was going to have to return to Lithuania.

“An attorney told me the only way I could stay (in the United States) was to go back to school or get married. I told the attorney getting married was not an option and going back to school was a problem because I already had my MBA,” the Kentucky assistant said. “I started searching for what schools might have a job open. Usually a GA (graduate assistant) at a Power 5 school goes to a former player. I had a friend and mentor who had a connection at Virginia Tech.”

She never spoke to Brooks directly before getting to Virginia Tech, but eventually moved up to player personnel specialist and then assistant coach for two years before coming to Kentucky with Brooks.

“Normally as a grad assistant you go to a lower level and maybe get to come back to a Power 5 program. I had a great relationship with coach Brooks and he just kept me around and when he had a position open, he promoted me,” Autukaite said. “I just got lucky. Do not look at my story and think it is normal because it is not and I know it. It has definitely been crazy at times with some adversity, but I am so appreciative of being where I am today.”

Kentucky went 11-1 in non-conference play with a win over Louisville and then had an impressive SEC debut with a 91-69 win over Mississippi State in Memorial Coliseum. Brooks and his staff had to quickly assemble a roster that included only two players off the previous UK roster.

“I thought what we did at Virginia Tech (including a Final Four berth) was incredible. We do not expect things to happen overnight,” she said. “Coach Brooks knows how to make a team great. We want to have a product fans in this state will enjoy and be proud of.

“Coach Brooks has been doing this a long time. His style is unique. We do not change who we are. Our roster is a little different with the height we have.”

The roster is also a lot different from most with five international players – Georgia Amoore, Amelia Hassett, Dominika Paurova, Clara Silva and Tanah Becker.

“This was not planned. It just kind of happened,” Autukaite said. “We just recruit the best players for us. All of us come from different backgrounds and that part of the beauty of this team. They all bring different thoughts and experiences they can exchange with each other. They can go have dinner and talk about what the food is like in Portugal or Australia. It brings a unique diversity to us.”

She jokes that Brooks put her in charge of “international recruiting” because of her European background.

“You don’t play for high school teams (in Europe). You play for club teams. There are very limited programs within the schools,” she said. “I take pride in my connections. I go every summer to recruit internationally. I was in Europe most of August. It’s not that we want somebody international in every class. We just want the best players in the world playing for us.”

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When coach John Calipari brings Arkansas to Rupp Arena Feb. 1 to play against Kentucky it could be one of the most electric atmospheres ever for a UK home basketball game. Odds are ESPN GameDay will be at Rupp Arena to chronicle every move of Calipari’s return to the place where he once was king.

Adding to the atmosphere will be the return of the Kings Firecrackers, a jump rope team from southern Ohio that always puts on the most popular halftime show of the season when it performs in Rupp Arena.

Shaun Hamilton is the second-year coach and this season is being assisted by Mackenzie Powell, a former Firecracker who performed in Rupp Arena and knows what the UK crowd is like.

“I was on the team for three years in grades six to eight. I started learning to jump rope in the fifth grade and learned from my friends on the Firecrackers,” said Powell, a 2015 King graduate who also jumped rope at Ohio State.

“I left the Firecrackers after my eighth-grade year but kept jumping for pleasure because it was one of my favorite things to do,” she said. “I got involved in college helping the team.”

That was before longtime coach Lynn Kelly retired and Powell would occasionally help at practice and also go watch the Firecrackers perform.

“I grew up in the Kings community. I knew about the Firecrackers for a long time,” she said. “When I was younger I was on the cheer team and involved in an after-school dance program. In high school I was on the track and dance teams. But the Firecrackers were always my first love.

“I picked it up pretty quick when I started jumping with help from neighborhood girls who were Firecrackers. I would also go to clinics because I wanted to be part of the Firecrackers.”

Powell’s mother told her she was not “organized enough” to audition for the team in the fourth grade, but that changed by the end of her fifth-grade year.

“It was a big deal then to be on the team and still is today. The kids work hard to put on great performances. You are looked up to in the community. They are the face of Kings (schools) and represent our city and school and it is a big honor for them to do that,” Powell said.

This year’s team has two fourth-graders and two seniors, with the rest from grades 5-11. The team has 29 shows this season and its first travel show is Jan. 12 for the Chicago Bulls.

Powell says some of the fan-favorite routines do not change year to year, but the team does have new things this season that fans have not seen before.

“These girls practice about two hours a day four or five days a week to make sure we have an exciting show for the fans in Rupp Arena and other places to see,” the assistant coach said.

The 27-year-old Powell, who works in sales for her full-time job, helps Firecrackers who need extra work or can conduct practice if Hamilton is unavailable.

“I just try to help as much as I can and in any way I can because I love what the Firecrackers do,” she said.

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Kentucky freshman Travis Perry shared one of the New Year’s resolutions that he and some teammates made.

“I think the consensus of a lot of guys was a pretty similar one and it was to get more in the Bible, whether it’s reading a verse a day, trying to get through the New Testament or Old Testament in the year, or something like that,” Perry said. “So I feel like those were good resolutions. We’re a good, good group of guys. I think we’re gonna hold each other accountable for them so those will be good for us.”

Perry also continues to be good for Kentucky in his limited role backing up point guard Lamont Butler while Kerr Kriisa is out with his foot injury. Perry hit a 3-pointer in the 106-100 win over Florida and did not have a turnover in 7 1/2 minutes.

“The last two games he has played 21 minutes with no turnovers,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said after the Florida win. “He is going to be a terrific player. Him and Trent (Noah) and Collin (Chandler) are getting better every single day.

“With Kerr out, TP is super important to us. He was plus eight in limited minutes (against Florida) and that is hard to do.”

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Between Kentucky’s 4-8 season and so many players going and coming in the transfer portal, the high school seniors who signed with UK in December probably did not get as much attention as normal.

Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow really likes 6-foot, 195-pound defensive back Martels Carter of Paducah Tilghman, a consensus four-star recruit and the top-ranked in Kentucky.

He had 25 tackles, including three tackles for loss, and three interceptions his senior season when he helped Paducah Tilghman win the Class 4A state championship. He also had 35 receptions for 490 yards and five touchdowns and 12 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown catching on offense.

“Me and Martels have a really good relationship. His dad is a high school coach that I really like,” Marrow said. “He had some pretty impressive schools on him, but he was upset when one kid decommitted from us. It was after midnight when he called me to tell me we would be OK when it happened.

“I love his leadership. The last time I felt like this when we signed a kid was Mike Edwards (who has been in the NFL since 2019 and played on two Super Bowl champions). He is good on both sides of the ball. He is actually a better person than player and just comes from a great family.”

Carter picked UK over Oregon, Tennessee, Clemson and Auburn.

Marrow also believes 6-5, 235-pound defensive lineman Cedric Works of Frederick Douglass, who moved from Ohio to Lexington before his senior season, could be special. The four-star prospect was ranked as the nation’s No. 11 edge rusher by 247sports and had 54 tackles, four sacks and four tackles for loss in 14 games. He had 82 tackles with 10 tackles for loss as a junior at Clayton Northmont in Ohio.

He chose Kentucky over LSU, Penn State and Florida.

“His upside is really huge,” Marrow said. “He’s a very athletic guy. He’s a highly ranked outside linebacker and I really believe he is one of the big-time guys that we signed.”

•••

Saniah Tyler played in 32 games as a sophomore last season at Kentucky and made 13 starts while averaging 10.2 points per game – second most on the team. She had 17 double-figure scoring games and six games with 15 or more points.

When coach Kyra Elzy was fired, Tyler contemplated transferring but stayed at UK to play for new coach Kenny Brooks. However, it has not been an easy transition as she is averaging only about seven minutes per game and did not even play in five of UK’s first 12 games. However, she got 11 points in a recent game against Western Kentucky when she hit three 3-pointers. In the SEC opener against Mississippi State, she played 16½ minutes and hit a 3-pointer in the win.

Brooks appreciates the sacrifices Tyler, a four-star high school recruit, has made and effort she’s put into adapting to what he wants.

“You go into your third year and you feel like you know a lot of what’s going on. Then all of a sudden, here comes a new coach who has a totally different system, totally different style, totally different everything,” Brooks said. “It’s taken her a little while to understand what it is that I wanted, and we had a heart-to-heart.

“And I told her, I said, ‘You need to do all the little things. You need to play good defense. You need to come out there and give us things we don’t have. You just have to play hard, and you have to make me play you.’ ”

She did that against Western Kentucky and Brooks is hoping she will do it more in SEC play because UK could use more bench scoring.

“She’s been nothing but receptive to what we’re doing. Even though her minutes have plummeted from last year, she has not been a distraction,” Brooks said. “I would like for her to be a little bit more assertive, but this is a spark that we need.”

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Quote of the Week: “I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I can count on one hand where both the game and the environment were as good as they were today at Rupp for Kentucky-Florida. College basketball at its best,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman, on the SEC opener in Lexington.

Quote of the Week 2: “One of the hardest workers and the toughest players I have ever been around. Thank you for your leadership on and off the field. Good luck with your next journey in life,” UK tight end Josh Kattus, after quarterback Brock Vandagriff retired from football.

Quote of the Week 3: “They played every set of every match of their entire careers. You don’t realize how good they are until they are gone. They made the tough plays look easy and it’s hard to find players who can do that,” Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner, on seniors Emma Grome and Eleanor Beavin.