By LARRY VAUGHT / For the Daily News

Almost immediately after Boyle County senior Montavin Quisenberry flipped his college commitment from West Virginia to Kentucky he started “getting a lot of love.”

“Kids in school, teachers at school, there was just a lot of love because if you commit to Kentucky in this state, everybody loves you,” Quisenberry said. “All the love did surprise me some because it is from people I don’t even know or have never heard of just showing love. Now everybody is on the bandwagon.”

Quisenberry has played on two state championship teams since transferring to Boyle for his sophomore year and has put up electrifying numbers. That’s why West Virginia coach Neal Brown, a former Boyle County all-state player, recruited him long and hard.

“It was a hard conversation when I had to tell him (Brown) just because he’s a great guy. He’s helped me through all this. He did all that he could do and did a lot for me, but he just told me that he was fine with wherever I went,” Quisenberry said. “He just wanted what was best for me. He kept it real the whole time and did when I told him.

“He understood the whole thing. He was very down to earth when I talked to him and just gave me a little more advice.”

Brown also played at UK after leaving Boyle and then was Mark Stoops’ first offensive coordinator at Kentucky. Quisenberry said he had also grown up a Kentucky football and basketball fan.

“It is somewhere I wanted to play at even when I was younger,” said Quisenberry, who plays a variety of positions on offense and also starts on defense.

That love for UK made it more difficult for him when he felt Stoops and UK were not making him a priority recruit despite his success and huge numbers again this year. However, his play against Ohio powerhouse St. Edward changed that perception. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Quisenberry ran for three touchdowns, threw for one score and had an interception he almost returned for a score.

“After that game, I feel like they saw what I could do against better talent. That’s what they were talking about when I got to go up there for my official visit. That game showed them a lot,” Quisenberry said.

He has rushed for 586 yards and 10 touchdowns this year and caught 38 passes for 671 yards and 11 touchdowns and even thrown two touchdown passes. He only has one kick return touchdown this year because teams do not kick to him.

The Boyle standout admits it was hard when he didn’t feel like he was a priority for UK like some other in-state players were.

“Obviously it was a school I really liked and I was getting so much more attention from Louisville and West Virginia,” Quisenberry said. “But they (UK coaches) came down, talked to me and told me what I wanted to hear. I just thought changing my commitment was the best thing to do.”

Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow was “honest” with Quisenberry about how he would be used on punt return, kick return, slot receiver and more to be the explosive, versatile player Quisenberry believes he can be in the Southeastern Conference.

“I’ll be happy on special teams, in the backfield or wherever they want me to get matchups on linebackers and safeties so I can make a play,” he said.

He understands the Kentucky offense has been one of the nation’s lowest scoring teams and that the Cats have now lost four straight games to drop to 3-6.

“I feel like it will all be better next year because there will be a lot of new players next year,” Quisenberry said. “I know it’s hard to play as a freshman. I know I will have to work on my body as much as I can before the college season starts and I feel like I’ll be fine.”

Quisenberry weighed about 155 pounds when he got to Boyle just over two years ago and has now added about 20 pounds without losing any of his quickness or elusiveness. His strength is also better, with all his lifts dramatically better than two years ago.

“I do feel like I’ve gotten faster. The past two seasons I ran like a 4.45 (second 40-yard dash).Then this year, I feel like I’m getting faster,” said Quisenberry, who said no one has caught him from behind since his sophomore year.

His cutting ability helps separate him from other players as he has that uncanny knack for being able to change direction at full speed.

“I worked on that with my dad when I was younger, just watching highlights of other players and doing something that the defense wouldn’t be expecting,” he said.

Even though few teams kick to him, Quisenberry says a big kickoff return excites him more than anything. He likes “busting through a hole” and just running away from defenders, much like Barion Brown has been able to do at UK the last three years.

Quisenberry realized early he could be an elite football player.

“My first grade year we weren’t really that good. So then my second grade year, I kind of got the hang of it. My parents just told me to keep the confidence, and I just stayed with it the whole time through high school,” he said. “I started playing quarterback in seventh grade. Then we moved over here and (Boyle) coach (Justin) Haddix has done a good job of getting me the ball and teaching me the game.”

He threw for over 1,000 yards and ran for over 1,000 yards as a freshman quarterback at Garrard County and says that experience has helped make him a better receiver and runner.

“You learn to understand spacing, timing at quarterback, so that helped me a lot,” Quisenberry said.

He will enroll at UK in January after hopefully helping Boyle win another Class 4A state championship, but that means he’ll give up his high school senior basketball season.

“It was a hard decision because I like basketball, but I know I need to get ready for my first season at Kentucky,” he said. “Vince (Marrow) is very trustworthy and they have told me they feel like I have a chance to play next year, so I need to be ready for that.”

•••

Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr has a passion for basketball that not every college player today has.

“I love basketball, I study basketball. I’ve watched basketball throughout the years. My dad played basketball and he taught me how to play. And he told me, ‘Practice that 15-footer on the baseline. This is my shot,’ ” Carr said.

“All that has slowly phased out of the game nowadays. So, it definitely has evolved and the only way to continue to get better is to grow with it.”

That’s the attitude that Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope knew immediately he wanted to be part of his first UK team and part of why he thinks Carr will be special for the Cats this season.

“Andrew Carr is such an elite-level decider. Like he’s really a capable decision maker. One, he’s a 66% two-point shooter which is pretty incredible and he shot 38% from the three last year. So he’s really wildly efficient at making shots,” the Kentucky coach said.

“He makes shots. He stacks decisions. It’s something we saw in film from him last year at Wake Forest, where he is turning the ball and someone jumps in the passing lane and he can actually stack a decision where he reads it correctly, gets downhill, gets to two feet, makes another ball fake and then finally completes a pass or play. There’s not that many guys his size with his ability to make shots and finish shots that can stack decisions like him.”

Pope sees him as being difficult to guard because he is both a 6-11 scorer and playmaker. Pope knows smaller teams could present defensive matchup issues for Carr, but believes he will be able to cope.

“He’s got to race around the floor and guard smaller guys,” Pope said after UK’s exhibition win over Minnesota State. “I thought his attention to detail on the defensive end was really terrific. It was much improved from his defensive performance from our first exhibition.”

•••

Sophomore Clara Strack could potentially be one of the most versatile women’s basketball players ever to suit up at Kentucky.

Coach Kenny Brooks says she can legitimately play four positions even though she’s 6-5 and Strack joked she prefers center/power forward, but wouldn’t mind playing point guard at times.

“Last year she was the baby of the group (at Virginia Tech). She was supposed to be a freshman this year age-wise,” Brooks said. “What she has been able to do from her freshman year to sophomore year has been tremendous. She has played four positions for us this preseason and handled it all very well.

“I think you will love watching her play. She has a quiet confidence and is very versatile, very mobile.”

He said she is one of the smartest players he’s ever coached and understands what the coach wants done. That’s why she says the one Brooks personality trait the team will best reflect is attention to detail.

She also understands how to say the right things.

“I don’t think we really have a ceiling,” she said when asked about the team’s potential. “We have all the pieces. We came from different teams, different backgrounds but if all the pieces come together I don’t think we really have a ceiling.”

•••

Otega Oweh scored 13 of UK’s first 19 points combined in the first two exhibition games and coach Mark Pope said the Oklahoma State transfer has merely “taken opportunities available” to him because of the way UK plays and spreads the court.

“He’s got a calmness about him that’s really great and his physicality of the game is really special and he can hurt you in a lot of different ways,” Pope said. “He’s just got consistency.

“What’s really been brilliant is watching him grow. His game is growing every single day. He’s doing things more consistently than he’s ever done before in his life and that’s really exciting. He’s making a contribution in every possible way.”

I asked Pope if Oweh had been even better than expected since arriving in Lexington.

“It is who he is and why we recruited him. He is a big-time player. I saw him up close last year in a game and scouting (when BYU played Oklahoma State). He’s everything he was advertised to be,” the UK coach said. “He’s incredibly physical. He’s an elite defensive player. He’s unbelievable getting to the rim, has a terrific motor and can do damage on the glass.”

Pope said it has been fun to see Oweh drive to the basket, especially early in games, and not have defenses sagging inside to stop him.

“He is racing to the rim and is being smart enough about where to attack at the rim with half a body to finish over and he’s very good at that,” Pope said.

•••

Gina Potter of Lexington describes herself as someone who “loves all things BBN” and she certainly loved the first Hoops & Heels event last week that Kentucky coach Mark Pope and his players put on for UK basketball female fans in Rupp Arena.

While everything about the clinic impressed Potter, she was “extremely impressed” by coach Mark Pope’s wife, Lee Anne, and the couple’s four girls — Ella, Avery, Layla and Shay.

“They were very approachable and made you feel as if they had known you for years. They were extremely generous with their time and engagement,” Potter said “Their presence adds an incredible amount to the program because, just like their parents, they truly care about the fans of BBN and they show it by being their real authentic selves when engaging with fans.

“Lee Anne and Mark have done an excellent job raising these strong beautiful young women. Lee Anne is not only a good role model for her daughters, but for every woman. She is what every female should strive to be in life. She is the perfect combination of grace and bad-asser.”

•••

Quote of the Week: “There are a lot of things going on with this program that are concerning. There is chaos below the waters and I am not sure what is causing it. But whatever it is, it is detrimental and getting us to play at a level that is almost unwatchable at times,” former UK all-SEC defensive back Van Hiles, on the UK football program.

Quote of the Week 2: “I do not want my team to play wild. I just want them to be wild after they play good. I want them to play under control. They are getting better at having the bravado and confidence we want them to have, but still be respectful,” UK coach Kenny Brooks, on his players’ excitement after making big plays.

Quote of the Week 3: “Sorry I am late. I will not make a habit of that,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope, when he was 10 minutes late for a press conference last week.