LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kenny Brooks was too busy to celebrate his birthday.
It was five days before Christmas, and a good mid-major team was in town seeking a signature victory. And the coach was consumed with leading his Kentucky women’s basketball team past a potential trap game.
The Wildcats didn’t let that happen. After Kentucky had beaten Belmont 84-78, Brooks finally took a moment to exhale. The birthday vibes? Still on hold.
“I think the cake can wait until tomorrow,” he said with a laugh inside his office at Memorial Coliseum.
Since late March, when Brooks announced he was leaving Virginia Tech after eight seasons, the pace hasn’t slowed. After a lifetime of playing and coaching in his home state of Virginia, including 14 years at his alma mater, James Madison, Brooks’ move to Kentucky was one of the biggest of the offseason in women’s college basketball. It was made more so when former Hokies star Georgia Amoore, one of the country’s top point guards, transferred to Kentucky in April.
“I wasn’t looking to leave,” Brooks told ESPN. “But I…
