Career night vs. Louisville is just the start for Teonni Key: 'She's the key, pun intended.'
Teonni Key was a five-star prospect out of Cary High School in North Carolina, but a series of untimely injuries during her first three college seasons delayed her development. Key missed all of her freshman season at North Carolina with an ACL tear, saw limited playing time as a redshirt freshman the following season, then missed 10 games due to a lower-body injury as a redshirt sophomore in 2023-24.
But a change in scenery has served her well so far. Key, a 6-foot-4 forward, has started all four games for the Kentucky Wildcats under new head coach Kenny Brooks . She's averaging 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per outing while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. We're beginning to see the five-star talents shine with every passing game.
It's not a hot take to say that Key played the best game of her college career during Kentucky's massive rivalry win over No. 18 Louisville on Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum.
"She's going to get better and better and better. Tonight was a really big step for her," Brooks said of Key. "Might have been the best game she's played in her career in college. And to have it be against Louisville, that's something special. So I think she's going to continue to grow from that."
Key was huge for the Wildcats in the 71-61 overtime victory . The redshirt junior played 38 out of a possible 45 minutes, finishing with a career-high 17 points, nine rebounds, a career-high five blocks, and one steal. She shot 7-12 from the field and went 3-4 from the free-throw line.
"She's the key, pun intended," Brooks said with a smirk. "I'm very happy for her. I've known Teonni since she was 11 years old. I recruited her sister, Tamari. I know her family very well. And it's funny, I got a picture of her when I was taller than her.
"When she came here to visit, I think she was here maybe 12 hours and she committed. She was like 'I'm coming.' Because she wanted to be a part of it. She saw what we did at Virginia Tech. We beat (North Carolina) what, six, seven, eight straight times? And she wanted to be a part of that. She's grown so much and I think she's gonna continue to grow and having her for two years, I'm very, very excited about it."
Considering the preseason injuries to a pair of transfers ( Jordan Obi Dominika Paurová ) brought in by Brooks, Key was likely to play a larger role this season than previously expected. But she's been even better than expected at least through four games. Granted, she turned the ball over seven times against the Cardinals (part of a 23-turnover night for UK), but that didn't stop her from coming right back and making a big play. Her shots in the paints and blocks around the rim all seemed to come at necessary moments for the 'Cats.
Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said the plan defensively was to let Key shoot from beyond the arc and then lock her up inside the paint. Key missed her only three-point attempt, which came in the second quarter, instead finding ways to beat the Cardinals' defense near the basket.
"We did a really good of when we wanted to guard (Key). We weren't guarding her outside. I said shoot it all day long," Walz said. "Our problem is then she started to get under the basket and we forgot to guard her there. And she made some layups in the first half. That was part of the plan — when she's out on the perimeter, don't guard her. Get back in there and help on (Clara) Strack and the other ones. But we just gave her too many around the basket.
"But I'll give her credit. She made (her layups) and she stepped up and went 3-4 from the free-throw line as well."
It certainly wasn't a pretty game of basketball from Kentucky, but thanks to the grind-it-out efforts from Wildcats such as Key, it was more than enough to lock up the win.
