Amelia Hassett says she grew up on a “cow farm” in a small town in Australia and there was not always a lot for her to do.

“My dad would check on the cows and do all that stuff. I would get bored,” said the University of Kentucky junior wing. “When I was younger my brother started playing basketball in local competitions in our town. When you are little you wanted to do what your brother does, I started playing because he did.”

Hassett had no idea if she would be good at basketball, but her mother took her to competitions across Australia. Eventually she realized it could “take me places” and that inspired her to work even harder on her game.

“I wanted to get out of town and experience the world and America was the best option,” Hassett said.

The 6-foot-3 Hassett became a junior college All-American at Eastern Florida when she scored 919 points and grabbed 659 rebounds in two years and averaged 19 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. She intended to play for Kenny Brooks at Virginia Tech but when he took the job at Kentucky, she quickly switched her plans to Lexington.

Brooks admits there “was a lot of unknown” when he recruited Hassett, but he liked her movement and size as much as her 3-point shooting. He liked her so much that he let her make a rare official visit during the season when Tech was hosting rival Virginia.

“At the time I kind of thought it was a little weird to take a mid-season visit in January, but I had no idea at the time he made that kind of exception for me,” Hassett said. “The way he talked about his team and staff made it feel like home. He not only knows basketball, but he really cares about his players. It was definitely a very easy decision to choose Kentucky after he got hired knowing he wanted me to come with him.”

It has worked out well for her and Brooks. She is averaging 10.7 points per game and shooting 37% from 3-point range. She also averages 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

“We can play her in so many different positions. She always somehow quietly gets 16, 18 points and 12, 14 rebounds. You wonder how she does it,” Brooks said. “She is so smart as a player. I can kind of reference what play I want and in my old age I stutter and she will finish the sentence. She is a wonderful kid, but also will do the dirty work that you need to win.”

Hassett knew the SEC had athletic, talented players that would challenge her every game. That’s why she has surprised herself by how well she has played most games.

“Junior college is a lot different from the SEC. I have been surprised, but it has been a good surprise with the way I have played. It has flowed very easily and the transition has not been too hard,” she said.

Hassett has surprised many with her productive, consistent rebounding even though she was a proficient rebounder in junior college.

“Since coming to college it definitely has been a big part of my game. My rebounding has definitely progressed in college,” she said. “Both my defense and rebounding have improved even though I am now playing more of a guard position. I am learning new defensive concepts. Sometimes people forget that 3-point shooters can also do a few more things.”

She’s also learned how to avoid “silly fouls” to stay out of foul trouble with UK’s lack of depth.

“Coach Brooks tells us about playing early defense, being in position and having the right angle so when they go for a shot the referees will not call the foul,” Hassett said.

Hassett admits UK would like to be able to win the SEC Tournament and be a NCAA Tournament host. She knows what that would mean to the UK fan base, too.

“Everybody was telling me Kentucky fans were so supportive. We are getting more and more fans each game and that is an amazing thing to see,” the UK junior said.

Hassett hopes to have a professional basketball career after Kentucky, but also has a backup plan that could keep her involved in sports. She is a journalism major and communications minor.

“I want to get into broadcast journalism and stay around sports,” Hassett said. “I haven’t been able to really do a lot of (TV or radio) work yet because I am kind of new to the major, but that’s something I obviously would like to do.”

From what Brooks has seen, Hassett can probably do anything she sets out to do.

“To say she’s exceeded my expectations, that’s unfair because I didn’t know what she could do, but she’s been tremendous and exactly what you want in a student-athlete,” the Kentucky coach said.

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Kentucky signee Jasper Johnson is ranked as the 17th-best player in the 2025 recruiting class by ESPN, has been named to the USA team that will play in the Nike Hoop Summit and won a gold medal with USA Basketball last summer.

Yet when the McDonald’s All-American Game rosters were announced, Johnson was not one of the 24 players named. Kentucky signee Malachi Moreno of Great Crossing did make the team.

So how did Johnson get left off?

“My whole thing with the McDonald’s game or any of these all-star games is that highly-ranked players who play the same position sometimes lead to guys being left off,” NBA/college basketball analyst Krysten Peek said. “The voting committee for the McDonald’s game has voters all over the country and some voters probably did not see Jasper as much and votes went to other players.

“This happens every year. But remember that McDonald’s All-American does not equate to an automatic NBA player. We see players who get snubbed every year become great college and NBA players. Jasper has played well. He won a gold medal, he’s on the Nike Hoop Summit team. It’s just more bias in the voting and not anything to do with his game.”

Peek did note it was a “very good and deep class” at the guard position, but Johnson was still the “biggest surprise” to not make the team for her.

To validate her point, Johnson is the only player on the USA Nike Hoop Summit team not to be named a McDonald’s All-American.

•••

Kentucky baseball opens its season Feb. 14 and former UK coach Keith Madison believes having Devin Burkes back for another year is huge for the Cats coming off their first College World Series appearance.

He started 59 of UK’s 60 games last season, scored 49 runs and drove in 35 runs. He was hit by pitches a team-high 17 times and also walked 30 times. Burkes also fit perfectly into Mingione’s offense with seven sacrifice bunts and six sacrifice flies. He had 12 multi-hit games and a 15-game hitting streak.

Madison, an analyst for the UK Radio Network, says numbers don’t measure what Burkes, who has started 132 career games, means to Kentucky.

“Just from a leadership standpoint alone, having him back for another year is huge,” Madison said. “He is a tremendous guy to have back to lead the team. Every time you are around him, it makes you feel better. He has so much energy and is so positive all the time.

“He loves people and loves the game. He is a true leader. He did not put up the offensive number last year he put up the previous year, but I think part of that was due to minor injuries and he was catching about every inning of every game. He was a little fatigued.

“In 2023 he really turned it on at the end offensively, so I know the coaches are looking at him for more offense this year and I think he will give it to them.”

•••

Kentucky gymnastics has a lot of dynamic performers, but none may have a more fun-loving personality than sophomore Creslyn Brose of Holly Springs, North Carolina.

She was a regular-season second-team All-American on floor exercise last season when she won two meets. She also earned SEC all-freshman honors.

“She’s just a performer,” coach Tim Garrison said. “She’s a ham. I think she enjoys it as much as the crowd does. So yeah, we’re glad to have her back.”

She scored a 9.9 on floor against Alabama after not participating in floor exercise the previous five matches. She also had a 9.8 on beam.

Brose’s bubbly personality shows when she’s competing, cheering teammates, signing autographs or participating in various service projects.

Garrison said even if he wanted to rein in her enthusiasm, he couldn’t.

“There’s no point trying to rein her in. Some, some things are futile,” Garrison said. “You can see it before she performs on beam, you can see when she’s just bouncing around.

“I mean, she’s about to perform on a beam that’s 16 feet long and four inches wide and four feet off the ground. That can unnerve the best of them. But not her. I think that’s just who she is.”

•••

Transfer offensive lineman Wallace Unamba of New Mexico was a three-star recruit out of high school who has had an interesting path to SEC football.

The 6-4, 330-pound tackle was a three-time junior college All-American who started playing football in the fifth grade and said he was “pretty good” on the defensive line and even played fullback and tight end. As a seventh-grader, he played linebacker and he liked former NFL star linebacker Ray Lewis so much that he picked his number to wear.

“I decided in eighth grade that I was too big to play linebacker because they are shiftier and faster and I switched to defensive line,” Unamba said. “I still thought I was better at linebacker, but I was more suited for defensive line with my size.”

During his Rowlett (Texas) High School career in Texas, he played defensive end but got bigger and his sophomore year his coach moved him to the offensive line. He went the junior college route at Kilgore Community College before transferring to Florida Atlantic for one year and then New Mexico.

“I want to play the best. I want to prove myself in that atmosphere,” Unamba said. “I want to be the best. I am not going to get better playing average competition. I don’t settle for average. It wasn’t fun playing average. I want someone to challenge me and I know that will happen in the SEC.”

Unamba, 23, admits his Nigerian parents don’t know a lot about football in the SEC but want him to reach his dream of playing in the NFL.

“They support that dream,” he said. “They want the best for me. I told them Kentucky is the place if they want to see me go to the NFL and I can prove to those who doubt me that I can do that.”

Unamba thinks his Nigerian ties can help him reach the NFL.

“Both my parents are tall. Nigerian genes are a little stronger than most. We don’t eat regular stuff that most Americans eat. We eat more structured stuff and have stronger bones and I think that helps me against most players,” he said.”

•••

Quote of the Week: “It’s not just her skill, but her body language. You feel that she gives you confidence playing with her. She will make plays. She is unselfish and will make passes and that does open opportunities for teammates,” SEC Network analyst Kellie Harper, on Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore.

Quote of the Week 2: “Talk about a kid heaven sent. That is from God. There are some things you can teach a kid and some things they just have in them. He’s always been genuine. He would never think fans are bugging him for an autograph or picture. They are there supporting the team and if has a chance to give back to them, he is glad to do it,” Lamont Butler Sr., on his son Lamont Butler, UK’s point guard.

Quote of the Week 3: “Every day I think to myself to be at a place like the University of Kentucky where the basketball gods were born is so special. I have to pinch myself daily knowing I am at Kentucky and working for coach (Kenny) Brooks,” Kentucky assistant coach Josh Peterson, on his first year at Kentucky.