3 coaches Virginia Tech should move to hire immediately to replace Kenny Brooks

Tuesday, Kenny Brooks officially left Virginia Tech for Kentucky to take over as the head coach of the women’s basketball team. That leaves a huge hole in Blacksburg that AD Whit Babcock will need to fill and truth be told, do it rather quickly if he hopes to have any retention from the current roster.

It feels like Babcock is going to need to find the right fit for Virginia Tech. He’s very unlikely to get another coach away from a power school and will instead have to go the route of getting a coach from a mid-major or an assistant coach from another school. Or he could even have the answer currently in Blacksburg. Here are three coaches that Babcock should consider to replace Brooks after Shawn Poppie was officially named head coach at Clemson Tuesday.

Lindsey Hicks

Before the 2023-24 season, Virginia Tech promoted Hicks to associate head coach under Brooks. She joined his staff in 2020 and played a role in the development of Elizabeth Kitley, helping her to turn into a three-time ACC Player of the Year. Before coming to Blacksburg, she was an associate head coach at Louisiana Tech. Of course, she could go with Brooks to Kentucky, but it’s apparent that she is a head coach in waiting and will get a chance to run her own program sooner rather than later. Someone who is very familiar with the program and was on Brooks’ staff would be a home run hire, while also adding the possibility of some retention with the current roster.

Lindsay Edmonds

Edmonds has become someone who is reportedly a target of Babcock’s. In three seasons at Rice, she has led the Owls to 56 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth this season. She coached under Brooks at James Madison and worked on Wes Moore’s staff at North Carolina State after her playing days at Appalachian State. She recruited the North Carolina area for Moore and knows the area well with connections. 

Britney Anderson

Last March, Anderson was named an assistant coach at Illinois and has strong ties to Virginia Tech. She played four seasons for the Hokies and helped them make three NCAA Tournament appearances and a WNIT appearance from 2003-07. She joined the coach staffing in 2015 and was part of postseason runs with the Hokies on the bench. She was a big part of the recruiting at Standford under Tara VanDerveer before going to Illinois and would be another hire of a coach who seems to be ready to lead her own program.

Whoever gets the job to replace Brooks is not going to find it easy, but these are three candidates with ties to the school and would seem like they could make a seamless transition. Babcock needs to move to make the next hire rather quickly so the planning for 2024-25 can begin.