Today, I was given another reason to be excited for the upcoming UK Hoops season, and her name is Jelleah Sidney. Sidney is transferring after playing one season at Chipola College in Florida, and will have 3 seasons of eligibility for the Cats. She is a native of Queens Village, NY and most likely was drawn to Kentucky because she was teammates with current Wildcats Jennifer O’Neil and Brashey Ali at St. Michael Academy in high school.

Sidney will bring a quality to the UK Hoops team that they lack, and that is height. While the Wildcats are undoubtedly one of the fastest, fittest, and most athletic teams in the country, one thing that has really hurt Kentucky against the powerhouse programs around the nation is the lack of height in their lineup. The biggest current players are Samarie Walker and Azia Bishop, both capable but fairly inexperienced players. This deficit of height definitely was shown the UK’s final game last year against UConn where the paint play of the Huskies completely dominated Kentucky. Mitchell was obviously aware of this during the offseason and is very pleased to have snabbed Sidney for her to play for the blue and white.

Sidney is a 6’2 power forward and Coach Mitchell said she has a skill set that includes “many of the intangibles we look for” and that she will “add immediate impact to our program”. He promised that “Big Blue Nation will love watching her play“. I’m already excited for the newest addition to the Wildcat family. Welcome Jelleah, future bestfriends? Nah, could never do that to Samarie…

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