Genuine UK coaches impressed 5-star Savvy Swords

Published 10:00 am Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Top 10 player Savvy Swords likes what women's basketball coach Kenny Brooks is building at Kentucky. (KENTUCKY ATHLETICS)

Savvy Swords had her choice of where she wanted to play her college basketball but ultimately picked Kentucky and coach Kenny Brooks over UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Michigan (her sister, Syla, was Michigan’s leading scorer last season as a freshman).

Swords, a five-star wing, is ranked in the top 10 in her recruiting class but felt Brooks’ coaching style was perfect for her.

“You could tell that his players play very free and that they aren’t really stressed or restrained when they play,” Swords said.

She also liked that UK coaches told her they were open to letting her try new things to improve her game and the relationships she felt with the coaches were “authentic and not forced” like it was at some schools.

“It’s really easy to be fake on stuff like that, but it felt like they were being genuine,” she said.

The 6-foot-2 wing out of Long Island Lutheran High School in New York missed most of her junior season because of a knee injury. She’s also a standout for AAU club Kia Nurse Elite and the Canadian junior national team. where she helped her team win a silver medal in the 2024 U17 World Cup when she averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

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Swords is on one of the nation’s best high school teams and another appeal at Kentucky was the verbal commitment of five-star point guard Maddyn Greenway, another top 10 national recruit.

“I really like what they are building by bringing in Maddyn and what they already have there,” Swords said. “It’s really exciting to be part of the next generation of Kentucky basketball on the women’s side and I want to be part of that. I committed early because I just didn’t see any reason to wait.”

Swords made all her official visits, including one to Kentucky last fall, and didn’t feel her college choice was rushed.

“I had enough time to really think about it and I wanted to get it out of the way so I could just enjoy my senior year and just play freely,” the UK commit said.

She relied on her older sister’s recruiting experiences to help her. She didn’t ask a lot of questions, but said she carefully observed what went on with her sister.

“I was on her phone calls to see kind of what she was looking for when she was making her decision, just to see what her main values were,” Swords said. “I want to be like her. I also have the same values, so that kind of helped me a lot. The last two weeks of my recruitment before I committed, I talked to her because I trust her the most out of anyone in the world. Just hearing her opinion and what she had to say, that really helped me get a clear head.”

Swords admits growing up she thought her best college basketball option likely would be Laurentian University in her hometown of Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Her mother and father both played basketball there and her father also was the men’s head coach at Laurentian.

“We would always go to games there. I was like, ‘I am gonna play here one day.’ Then about a year ago was when I thought maybe I could play in the United States,” Swords said. “Things just kind of opened up with a lot of higher level schools reaching out. I honestly had no idea where I wanted to go until the last two months of my recruiting. That’s when I started to narrow it down and Kentucky turned out to be the right choice.”

Swords tore her ACL in December and had surgery in January. She’s not fully recovered, but expects a full recovery before her high school senior season starts. Swords admits rehab was “definitely hard” initially, but did get easier.

“PT (physical therapy) just became another workout. I’m still working, still benefiting from what I’m doing. When I was able to start shooting again and doing more core stuff, it definitely helped a lot because I could tell I was getting better and I know very soon I will be back out there doing what I love to do.”

•••

Sophomore Jayden Quaintance is still recovering from a knee injury suffered late in his freshman season at Arizona State last season, but he’s making his presence felt at Kentucky.

He averaged 2.6 blocked shots per game last year despite being only a 17-year-old freshman. Quaintance has vowed to be ready to play early in the upcoming season even though UK coach Mark Pope continues to preach patience to make sure he’s fully ready for Southeastern Conference play.

However, nothing is wrong with Quaintance’s voice and point guard Jaland Lowe says he’s talking a lot while watching his teammates practice.

“He’s been talking crazy to us. He’s like, ‘Y’all lucky. I’m gonna be out here blocking y’all’s shots, too.’ He’s like, ‘Y’all know I was leading the country in blocks before I got hurt,’ ” Lowe said.

“We were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll see when you get out here. You’re gonna have to prove it to us.’ ”

However, Lowe suspects he’s going to back up his words, especially since he’s being projected as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

“How naturally he is just in his body — it’s like, ‘Yeah, that guy’s gonna be really special.’ Hands are huge. Length,” Lowe said. “Just a big body. So that’s going to be amazing when he comes back. I’m ready to play one-on-one against him.”

Quaintance knows he’s not the only defensive threat Kentucky has this season.

“I feel like we could be one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Quaintance said. “We have a really long team. We have a lot of height and length on our team.

“We have people pushing full court, guarding full court. We have people in the backcourt in gaps, in help, in rotations and we have a really good chance to be special this year defensively.”

•••

First-year Kentucky receivers coach L’Damian Washington has been able to help persuade four receivers — Denarius Gray, Dallas Dickerson, Prince Jean and Davis McCray — to verbally commit to Kentucky despite UK’s 4-8 finish in 2024.

He’s been able to do that by convincing them that the culture of Kentucky football really has changed from last year and will continue to be better.

“I think you have to be transparent and honest (with recruits), and I think you have to just make sure that the leaders in your locker room continue to uphold the values of the head coach,” Washington said. “When you get that, everybody’s going all in together. In a sense that’s easier said than done. But when the common goal is team first and if you take the selfishness out of it, that’s what you get.”

Players being paid can create splits in the locker room/culture, but Washington said the “money piece” has not been a problem during his short time at Kentucky.

“I haven’t heard one problem about money since I’ve been here. Now my previous place (South Florida), we heard it early on. We got those guys out of the program that were disturbing the locker room, and then we went on to have success,” Washington said.

“But here, I haven’t heard that one time, so it’s a good culture and good leadership in the locker room. I always tell people hard work doesn’t always mean great results. It just gives you a fighting chance, in my opinion, but what I see is a team that’s coming together. Now, I wasn’t here last year, so I don’t know what the offseason looked like. I saw the spring, and I saw what it looks like now, two completely different teams.”

Washington said it has been easy to see players taking more accountability and coming into the coaches’ offices more and more.

“Those guys are in the office to get coached. They’re volunteering their own personal free time to come into the office and meet with us. When that happens and the camaraderie is built, it matters,” Washington said. “They want to be around each other and they like each other. It’s completely different on Saturdays, and they go into battle with each other.”

Washington has another observation that should make UK fans feel better about the upcoming season.

“I see a coaching staff that’s putting in more hours than ever. You got the players buying in and they have come together and that’s how you have a winning season. If you have to ask me, it’s going to be a great fall just based on everything that I’ve seen,” Washington said. “I’ve been around some really good teams and I really like the spirit and teamwork we have. We also have a lot of people willing to do the dirt work and don’t mind doing it.”

•••

Kaelyn Carroll is a top 20, five-star recruit and Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks has liked everything he’s seen so far from the 6-foot-4 freshman.

“KK, she’s special on and off the floor. I think she’s 18, but she acts like she’s 38. She just has a wealth of knowledge. She’s witty, she understands everything, but she’s also a physical presence,” Brooks said at his summer press availability. “When she came in — and I kid you not — we thought she was 6-3, but I think she grew an inch, and she’s like 6-4.”

Carroll, one of only two freshmen on the team, shoots “as well as anybody” that Brooks has seen play.

“Her IQ is really high. Those are the things that we covet. When we got her, we knew it was special because not only did we think she was going to help us on the floor, we felt like she was going to help us in recruiting, in the locker room,” the Kentucky coach said.

“She is a seamless fit with her attitude, and she’s a lot of fun to be around. She’s got that typical Northern, Boston quick wit, tells a joke and I have to think about it for three seconds before I get it, but she’s that smart.

“We’re excited for her. I think she’s going to contribute a lot for us as a freshman.”

•••

Michigan four-star tight end Lincoln Watkins is the first addition to his position group since Vince Marrow left Kentucky and Derek Shay took over as tight ends coach.

Watkins, who had over 30 scholarship offers, liked Shay immediately.

“If I were to describe him I would say he’s a very down-to-earth person and a very humble person,” Watkins said. “He has coached at some great places and what he has done is very impressive to me, but he doesn’t make a big deal out of him which is very admirable.”

Shay was already on the Kentucky staff as a senior offensive assistant run game specialist when Marrow left UK for Louisville. His first recruiting call was to Watkins.

“He’s about letting his players succeed and not making it about him. He’s very vulnerable with us. He’s completely open and honest and tells it like it is. He’s not trying to make something look better than it is.”

He told Watkins exactly how he would be used at Kentucky and offered insights on other coaches that Watkins appreciated.

“He’s not one of those recruiters where you get to campus and it’s like what the heck did I get myself into because he was not honest with me. I loved that about him. He’s all about relationships like the rest of the staff. He feels more like an uncle rather than a coach,” Watkins said.

“That’s important when you’re going to be together every single day for four or five years. It can get old and there will be some hard times, so you need to have people like that in your program, especially position coaches, to take care of players.”

•••

Quote of the Week: “I think I can go in there and not turn the program around, they’ve been doing good things, but put it back on the map,” Cincinnati four-star quarterback Matt Ponatoski, to Rivals.com’s Steve Wiltfong after committing to Kentucky.

Quote of the Week 2: “Louisville, I’m really excited for the energy that’s going to be in that game. That’s always a fun one, and all the fans look forward to it. So I’m looking forward to that game for sure,” Kentucky sophomore Jayden Quaintance, on what game he’s most excited for next season.

Quote of the Week 3: “I want him to be aggressive, I want to see just more growth as a point guard. For him, he’s got a lot of tools, he’s a very smart player. I just want to see him get more comfortable on the court and just keep being aggressive,” Houston Rockets assistant coach Garrett Jackson, on expectations for Reed Sheppard in the NBA Summer League.