The 2025 Commonwealth Girls’ High School Basketball class has exceptional talent, providing the University of Kentucky with a goal-rich environment to improve its program through recruitment.

Let’s see just how talented the junior class is next season and how the Wildcats have historically been successful in acquiring top state contenders.

Last week, espnW released the latest edition of its 2025 class HoopGurlz Hiring RankingIt is primarily considered the most popular rating of high school girls’ basketball. three State recruits top the Super 60, with Sacred Heart’s Zakia Johnson (No. 3), Mercy’s Leah Macy (No. 11) and George Rogers Clark’s Ciara Byers (No. 35) all topping the list. Got inside 40.

Johnson, Macy, and Byers make up the Commonwealth’s most representative class in espnW’s rankings since HoopGurlz featured five Kentuckians, including four in the top 50, in 2018.

Counting the 2025 high school class, only 22 Kentucky players have been ranked nationally by HoopGurlz since 2013, 14 of them in the top 40. Meanwhile, both official rankings for 2024 currently have no Kentucky representatives. And while 2025 will continue to change throughout the senior season of each class, the trio’s share price will only rise over time.

Johnson, Macy and Byers have yet to commit to school, but Kentucky Women’s Basketball has offered scholarships to all three as of May 17, when Byers tweeted that he had received an offer from England. July 2020 for Johnson and August 2021 for Macy. Before Buyers this spring.

What are the odds that the Wildcats will receive one or more of these contracts?

Going back 10 years, the UK secured signatures from 18 ranked high school graduates. Seven of the 18 signatories were in-state recruits. Makaira Epps (No. 37 in 2013) is the only Kentucky native in the top 40 to sign with the Wildcats after graduating from high school during that period.

breakdown

Below is a complete look at the espnW ranked recruits from the 2013-2023 high school class who graduated from Kentucky high school and/or were signed to the UK at some point during their college career.

2023 graduates

0 from Kentucky, 0 UK signatories

2022 graduates

1 from Kentucky, 2 UK signatories

▪ No. 69 Tiona Heron, DeSoto (DeSoto, TX): UK/Texas

▪ No. 94 Amiya Jenkins, Anderson County (Lawrenceburg, Kentucky): United Kingdom

Notable points: Amiya Jenkins, the only Kentucky to make it into espnW’s 2022 hiring list, is an up-and-coming sophomore at a British university. Tiona Heron transferred to the University of Texas after missing her freshman season at British University to recover from her open-heart surgery.

2021 graduates

1 from Kentucky, 1 UK signatory

▪ No. 65 Tiarra East, Butler (Louisville, Kentucky): Temple

▪ No. 87 Jada Walker, Henrico (Richmond, VA): UK/Baylor

Notable points: Jada Walker, the sole English signer from espnW’s 2021 recruiting class, has joined Baylor after his second season with the Wildcats.

2020 Graduates

2 Kentucky natives, 3 UK contractors, 2 UK transferees

▪ No. 19 Maddie Shale, Lyle (Union, Kentucky): Oregon/UK

▪ No. 29 Treasure Hunt, Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tennessee): UK/Arizona

▪ No. 43 Enya Russell, St. Vincent Pallotti (Baltimore, MD): South Carolina/UK

▪ No. 83 Nyah Leveretter, Westwood (Blythewood, SC): UK

▪ No. 91 Erin Toller, Sacred Heart (Louisville, Kentucky): UK/Georgetown University

Notable points: Of the two recruits from Kentucky, only Erin Toler was originally contracted to England. Toler was then fired during his second season. Of the original three British contractees, only Nia Leveretter remained after Toller was fired and Treasure Hunt moved to Arizona State after his second season. However, the Levaletters are joined by Kentucky native Maddie Shah from Oregon and Enya Russell from South Carolina for the 2022-23 season.

2019 Graduates

0 from Kentucky, 1 UK signatory

▪ No. 62 Deasia Merrill, Villa Rica (Villa Rica, Georgia): UK/Georgia

Notable points: The only UK signatory to espnW’s 2019 recruiting rankings, she missed her freshman year in the UK due to a knee injury before transferring to Georgia State University.

2018 graduates

5 Kentucky natives, 2 UK contractors, 3 UK transferees

▪ No. 17 Robin Benton, Greater Atlanta Christian School (Norcross, GA): Auburn/UK

▪ No. 25 Jazmin Massengill, Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tennessee): Tennessee/UK

▪ No. 30 Micasa Robinson, Ashland Blazer (Ashland, Kentucky): Louisville

▪ No. 32 Ryne Howard, Bradley Central (Cleveland, Tennessee): UK

▪ No. 34 Olivia Owens, Niskayuna High School (Niskayuna, NY): Maryland/UK

▪ No. 37 Sagan Robbins, Mercer County (Harrodsburg, Kentucky): Louisville/Tennessee-Martin

▪ No. 44 Grace Berger, Sacred Heart (Louisville, Kentucky): Indiana

▪ No. 70 Blair Green, Harlan (Harlan, Kentucky): UK

▪ No. 90 Ciaja Harbison, Male (Louisville, Kentucky): St. Louis/Vanderbilt

Notable points: Of the five top 100 rookies in the state, Blair Green is the only one to sign for England. English freshman contractees Green Howard and Ryne Howard both played their entire careers in England. The Cats also welcomed the transfers of Robin Benton, Jazmin Massengill and Olivia Owens for the 2020-21 season.

2017 graduates

2 Kentucky natives, 1 UK contractee, 1 UK immigrant

▪ No. 4 Chasity Patterson, North Shore (Houston, TX): Texas/UK

▪ No. 24 Lindsay Duvall, Brit East (Washington, Kentucky): Louisville/NKU

▪ No. 71 Jaelyn Penn, Butler (Louisville, Kentucky): Indiana/UCLA

▪ No. 85 Keondra “Keke” McKinney, Fulton (Knoxville, Tennessee): England/Charlotte

Notable points: Neither of the two Kentucky entrants have spent any time in the UK. No. 1-ranked player Keke McKinney signed with England, played four seasons there before moving to Charlotte during his graduation season.

2016 graduates

2 from Kentucky, 1 British Contractor

▪ No. 5 Erin Boley, Elizabethtown (Elizabethtown, Kentucky): Notre Dame/Oregon

▪ 35. Lindsay Corsaro (Indianapolis), Great Britain/UCLA

▪ No. 84 Breanna Glover, Glasgow, Kentucky: Ole Miss/Campbellsville/WKU

Notable points: Neither of the two Kentucky entrants have spent any time in the UK. A McDonald’s All-American player, Corsaro signed with the Wildcats in the fall, but in the spring he requested a release of the State Statement and signed with UCLA instead.

2015 graduates

4 from Kentucky, 4 UK signatories

▪ No. 53 Baturi Kamala, Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ): UK/UConn

▪ No. 55 Taylor Murray, Annapolis Area Christian School (Severn, Maryland): UK

▪ No. 58 Maci Morris, Bell County High School (Pineville, Kentucky): UK

▪ No. 79 Alexis Robinson, Ashland Blazer (Ashland, Kentucky): Colorado

▪ No. 93 Morgan Rich, Scottsville, County Allen (Scottsville, Kentucky): UK/Oklahoma

▪ No. 94 Leona Cleaver, Elizabethtown (Elizabethtown, Kentucky): Louisiana Tech University

Notable points: Of the four top 100 recruits signed to the UK, two were from Kentucky. Taylor Murray and Machi Morris are the only two British contractees to have played their entire careers for the Wildcats.

2014 graduates

1 from Kentucky, 2 UK signatories

▪ No. 20 Alyssa Rice, Reynoldsburg (Reynoldsburg, Ohio): UK

▪ No.66 Alexis Jennings, Sparkman (Harvest, Alabama): UK/South Carolina

▪ No. 73 Ivy Brown, Larue County (Hodgenville, Kentucky): WKU

Notable points: Neither of the two top 100 recruits contracted to Britain were from Kentucky. Only Alyssa Rice completed her career in England, while Alexis Jennings moved to South Carolina after her second season with the Wildcats.

class of 2013

4 Kentucky natives, 3 UK contractors, 1 UK immigrant

▪ 5. Rinne Harper, Whitney Young (Chicago), UK/Ohio

▪ 6. Rebecca Greenwell, Owensboro Catholic (Owensboro, Kentucky): Duke

▪ No. 37 Makaira Epps, County Marion (Lebanon, Kentucky): United Kingdom

▪ No. 67 Chrishae Rowe, Santiago (Corona, CA): Oregon/UK/Ole Miss

▪ No. 72 Kaibin Goodin Rogers, Marion County (Lebanon, Kentucky): UK/WKU/Union University

▪ #90 Dow China, Louisville Christian Academy (Louisville, Kentucky): Middle Tennessee/Florida Gulf Coast

Notable points: Of the three top 100 recruits signed to the UK, two graduated from high school in Kentucky. Of all the players signed in England, Makaira Epps is the only one to have played his entire career there. After a successful freshman season at the University of Oregon, Chrishe Rowe moved to the UK, He was sacked by head coach Matthew Mitchell before the 2015-16 season. Before signing Ole Miss.

Kentucky’s Class of 2025 is a national treasure. Everyone wants to be in and the race is on.