Kentucky volleyball has added three big-time transfers – Lizzie Carr and Eva Hudson of Purdue and Molly Berezowitz of Marquette – for its 2025 team to help replace what coach Craig Skinner lost off last season’s Elite Eight team.

However, there is also one other newcomer on campus – true freshman setter Kassie O’Brien of Texas, a high school All-American who had over 4,000 assists during her prep career. She will compete to fill the spot of Emma Grome, a multiple All-American and 2022 SEC Player of the Year who played in every set for four years.

“I knew that I wanted to play at the highest level I could. I stepped on campus, talked to the coaches and everyone made me feel so welcome. I could picture myself there, so I committed to Kentucky,” the 6-foot-1 O’Brien said.

She remembered watching current UK assistant coach Madison Lilley play on Kentucky’s 2020 national championship team when she was named the nation’s most outstanding player because of her play at setter.

“When I found out she would be one of the coaches I was so pumped because she was not on the staff when I first committed,” O’Brien said.

Skinner said O’Brien asked early in the recruiting process if she could enroll early at Kentucky, a rarity for volleyball players. She wanted to do that in part hoping she might be able to work with and learn from Grome.

“I watched her play all I could this season. The way she moves the ball and interacts with teammates on the court is phenomenal,” the UK freshman said.

Her two older sisters, Madalyn and Courtney, both played college volleyball. Madalyn played at Texas Tech, while Courtney played one year at Tech before transferring to Florida International where she will be a senior next season.

“They both graduated early to go to college, so that gave me the idea,” O’Brien said. “Getting up there early will give me time to get used to college life, meet all my teammates and train in the offseason with my team.

“Being the baby, I grew up around the game. I sat and watched their club and high school games waiting for my turn. I could ask them questions and learn. That’s why when they told me enrolling early would really help, I knew that is what I needed to do.”

She said her sisters never made her play volleyball, but watching them made her want to play. She did try basketball and swimming.

“I was too aggressive when I played basketball,” she said. “My sisters would get me out on the driveway every day and hammer me with kills. I guess it made me tougher, so in fifth grade I went full volleyball. I kept playing basketball in junior high, but volleyball was my game.

“My sisters made me strong. They are a big part of the player I am today because they pushed me to be the best. I wanted to be like them. My parents helped lay the foundation and set the examples that helped shape me into the person I am today.”

O’Brien has lofty aspirations. Her goal is to be a starter at Kentucky next season, but she’ll have to compete with redshirt sophomore Ava Sarafa – who had two years working with Grome – for the spot.

“I know nothing is guaranteed and I will have to work for it. But that’s my goal,” she said. “My ultimate goal is to play professionally. I’d love to play for the USA Team someday as well.”

O’Brien describes herself as “very competitive,” but also enjoys having fun and bringing energy to a match.

“I want to hype up my teammates and as a setter put them in the best position they can be,” she said. “I consider myself a physical player, too. I love blocks, big digs and hustle plays. All of it excites me.”

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Former Kentucky standout Scott Padgett still remembers his team’s final loss during its 1997-98 national championship season in coach Tubby Smith’s first year.

The Cats lost 73-64 in Rupp Arena on Valentine’s Day to Mississippi and were booed by some Big Blue fans. The Cats went on to win the next 13 games, including an 86-84 comeback win over Duke in the NCAA regional final and 86-85 overtime win over Stanford in the national semifinals, to finish the season 35-4.

“After the Ole Miss game I was quoted as saying, ‘We were the worst 22-4 team in the history of college basketball,’ ” said Padgett, who hit a key 3-pointer in the Duke comeback. “Not a lot of people know what goes on behind the scenes with a team. We had been to back-to-back national championship games and were used to playing a certain way.

“Tubby got there and we just wanted to do what we had been doing. Tubby had his own way and to be honest, his way was a better fit for us (than Rick Pitino’s would have been). We were not as athletic as the previous two teams and pressing (full court) for 40 minutes would not have made sense for us.

“We had to learn ball line defense, more motion offense. I think a lot of us fought that and it took until that loss to Ole Miss for us to have a team meeting and realize if we keep going the way we are going this is not going to end the way we want. So we bought into his two-a-day practices, 6 a.m. practices. But looking back, if we had not lost to Ole Miss we probably never would have won the championship.”

Padgett, a Louisville native who now is an assistant coach at Mississippi State, grew up dreaming of playing for the Wildcats like many Kentucky youngsters do.

“With no professional sports in our (state), my dream was to play at Kentucky and win a national championship,” said Padgett, an eight-year NBA veteran. “It was so weird at such a young age in life to have your dreams come true.

“I was lucky to go there, but as much as I loved Kentucky the best part was the guys I played with. I am almost 49 and still get on group chats and texts with the guys. We had a special, special group. Very few teams get as close or focused on the process as we did to win that championship. It took me a long time to appreciate that and realize how special it was.”

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She has been one of the nation’s best players this season – she was national player of the week for her play in UK’s first two Southeastern Conference games – but coach Kenny Brooks says point guard Georgia Amoore was “already a star” when she transferred from Virginia Tech to UK.

Amoore had earned All-American honors at Tech playing for Brooks and helped the Hokies reach a Final Four. She now has amassed more than 2,100 points and 750 rebounds in her career.

“Her role here has been different. She has done a really good job figuring on what we needed from her,” Brooks said. “We had Liz Kitley, an All-American center, last year and most defenses keyed on her post play. Now she is the focal point (of the offense) and she has also stepped up her leadership ability. She’s an extension of me on the floor.”

The 5-6 point guard could have taken her chances going to the WNBA after the 2023-24 season, but the Australian native wanted to play another year for Brooks. She’s having an exceptional season and has led the nation in assists most of the season with more than seven per game. She’s also been top 20 in free-throw percentage at better than 90% and top 40 in 3-point field goals per game.

“Nobody works harder than this kid. Nobody wants it more than she does. And she eats, sleeps, drinks it, thinks it,” Brooks said.

She’s had eight games with 20 or more points and 10 games with at least seven assists. Brooks said WNBA teams have been paying attention to how well she has handled the transition to a new team.

“That’s what kids struggle with the most. They’ve been somewhere for three, four years, in some cases five, and then they go to a brand-new situation in that they’re learning to adapt to their new situation, their new surroundings and everything,” Brooks said. “Georgia has done that a year ahead of time coming to Kentucky, taking on a team that only won 12 games last year.

“We have a brand-new squad, new personalities. She’s helped mold that into a winning culture already. I think this will be very appealing to a lot of WNBA teams because they may not need her to come in and be a 20-point-a-game scorer, but what she’s going to be able to do is adapt very quickly to her surroundings and help elevate the teammates around her to get better.”

Whatever success she has, Amoore knows Brooks has been the driving force in her career since she came to the U.S. from Australia. She said even if she might doubt or second guess something he tells her, she knows he “believes too much” in her to question him.

“He has put his belief in me and as long as one person is believing in me it gives me confidence in me keeping doing what I am doing,” she said.

•••

If Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh needs advice or anything else about the ups and downs of an athletic season, he has the perfect source – his brother, Odafe. Not only did he play football at Penn State and become a 2021 NFL first-round draft pick, but he now plays for the Baltimore Ravens.

“I can talk to my brother any time. That is the bond we have,” Otega said.

Middle brother Kaylen Oweh also is a college football player. Otega played running back before opting to give up football in high school to concentrate on basketball where he became a four-star recruit.

“It’s always positivity when I talk to my brothers,” Otega said. “It is all encouragement no matter what is going on. We are a religious family and we keep God first, whether things are going well or going bad. We take pride in staying the same.

“I have always had great family support. Obviously basketball, like other sports, has a lot of ups and downs and things did get magnified more here. I have had occasions before when there were some down times and I always got the same support. BBN has been great, but there’s nothing like that family support when you really need it.”

Especially when that family support includes a proven NFL player who understands dealing with pressure and expectations like few others can.

•••

Quote of the Week: “I really think he is a better coach because he is a girl’s dad and knows that it is hard, but it transfers to the court. They are young ladies first, but he still has to be their coach and he does a great job of that,” Tammy Brown Key, UK junior Teonni Key’s mother, on Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks.

Quote of the Week 2: “He knows what I’m about. We practice every day. We work hard every day. I shoot every day. So it was only a matter of time when I was gonna start making shots. And he knew that. He believed in me. He kept telling me to keep shooting. And today it happened,” UK forward Ansley Almonor, on coach Mark Pope’s confidence in him after he hit three 3-pointers in a win at Mississippi State.

Quote of the Week 3: “He was just like the guy he is now. He was always a guy that was so positive and upbeat about everything. Coach P (Rick Pitino) was yelling at him and he was still positive. I thought that was a superpower of his. When coach yelled at me, I was not always positive,” former UK player Scott Padgett, on former UK teammate Mark Pope.