Kentucky Basketball: Keion Brooks, Jr. living out a basketball dream

He has enjoyed his time in Lexington

Entering his third year in Lexington, Keion has had a lot of good times on the court, and he is ready for more.

In his first season at Kentucky in 2019-20, the team went 25-6 with current pros Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards, Ashton Hagans, and Brooks, Jr.’s classmate Tyrese Maxey. As a freshman the forward appeared in every game making six starts and finished the year with one of his favorite games as a Wildcat, he said, “My freshman year, right before the shutdown for the pandemic, we went into the game (against Florida) shorthanded, without Ashton (Hagans), Immanuel (Quickley) was SEC Player of the Year he fouled out. Me and Johnny Juzang had to step up in their absence, we ended up pulling out the win after being down 17.”

As quick as he was to point out that win against Florida, he was just as quick to say he hasn’t had a disappointment while at Kentucky. He did say if he had to pick one, “It would be not being able to play in the tournament, I haven’t done that yet. Especially my freshman year, I feel like we had a really, really good team that could’ve made a run.”

With his first two years at Kentucky not ending the way, he (or his teammates) had envisioned, Brooks, Jr. is eager to get this next year underway.