[-STAT-]

Very unfortunate situation all around.

Rowe has dealt with so much in her career, dealing with knee injuries that had set her back only for her to come back stronger, being in the spotlight at a young age, her dream always wanting to play for Kentucky, then realizing that dream and being a part of the Lady Cats, a great representative of Eastern Kentucky. Even with 2 coaching changes and the ever-revolving door of the transfer portal, Rowe still stuck it out through it all. Even tho her playing time dipped quite a bit this past season, she was still a fan favorite, and from all accounts I have seen and read the last few days, a great teammate, consummate professional who was a great veteran presence on this team, even with so much roster turnover.

I understand that Coach Brooks done as good of a job as he could in his first season, got some great players in the portal, won over 20 games, got to the round of 32 in the Tournament, had a great season. By looking at the roster they lose quite a bit, and that left open 7 scholarships for next season, I'm sure he will hit the portal hard to fill out the rest of the roster, but all this could've been avoided. Even if the scholarship was still pulled, I bet she would still want to be on the team even as a walk-on, but that would still be doing her a disservice.

All in all it was definitely a bad look, I feel bad for Cassidy who has committed & dedicated so much time and effort and really became a great influence on young girls, especially here in the mountains who have that dream of playing for Kentucky, that it can come true with hard work. Brooks has received a lot of heat for this, and rightfully so, but as long as he keeps winning, I guess that's all that matters.