Eva Hudson was a top-25 recruit coming out of high school and one of the first college coaches to reach out to her was Kentucky’s Craig Skinner.

However, she decided to stay in her home state and play for Purdue where she became the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022 and a three-time all-Big Ten selection.

Now Hudson is at Kentucky after transferring and UK fans can have their first chance to see her play Sunday when Kentucky hosts Ohio at Memorial Coliseum.

“I felt like my time at Purdue was coming to a close. One of the things I want to do is get farther in the NCAA Tournament and really just get better and grow as a player,” Hudson said when explaining her decision to transfer. “Entering the transfer portal was really a hard decision, probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever made.

“Once I got in there and started talking to Craig I knew this was the place I needed to be. Craig was one of the first people to reach out to me, which was nice because in my previous recruiting process he had reached out and I am glad he reached out again.”

Hudson, who led the Big Ten with 4.81 kills per set last season, says Purdue was “definitely what I needed” to start her career close to home in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“As a senior in high school I was afraid to go as far away from home, not that I am super far away still. I grew up around the Big Ten, so that is one thing I wanted to do, too,” she said. “But as the game is changing and all the conferences are becoming really good, I knew that I could branch out.”

“I am super, super close with my family. My mom had gone to Purdue and played volleyball. That was a really big deal for me, but times change. She was super, super supportive. From the beginning of my recruiting process in high school she said this was my decision and she had no say in it and would support me, and she has stayed that way now that I am at Kentucky.”

Her mother introduced her to volleyball when soccer was her sport of choice at the time.

“I was really into soccer, but I kept growing and she said maybe I should try this volleyball thing,” she said. “Both of my parents coached me at one time, my mom in volleyball and my dad in basketball. We have a very athletic family and they wanted us to try everything.”

She believes playing soccer and softball helped her eye-hand coordination in volleyball. It also helped develop her stamina and taught her to work with new people at a young age.

Something obviously worked because she had double-digit kills in 62 of 64 matches she played at Purdue. The 6-foot-1 Hudson led the Big Ten with 567 kills last season and also had 288 digs to help Purdue tally a 27-7 record with a 16-4 mark in Big Ten play and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Hudson credits her competitive personality for part of her defensive prowess.

“My mom says when I grit my teeth, then she knows I am here to play. It helps being surrounded by great teammates and wanting to do it for them,” the new UK player said.

When Skinner reached out to her about transferring to UK, she knew only two players – Brooklyn DeLeye and Lizzie Carr, who had already transferred from Purdue to UK a few weeks earlier.

“I had a few conversations with Brooklyn DeLeye through USA stuff and knew she was super sweet and an absolute badass. The other person I knew was Lizzie. But other than that, I didn’t know anyone,” Hudson said.

Hudson played with outside hitter Chloe Chicoine, a two-two all-Big Ten pick, at Purdue. Chicoine transferred to Louisville after the season ended.

“I played with Chloe and it was amazing and having someone to push you every day was something I appreciated in her and wanted to do again. Having Brooklyn in the same position doing the same thing is a healthy competition and great competition to make each other better,” Hudson said.

Hudson has enjoyed every day life in Lexington. She likes having more food options than West Lafayette, Indiana, offered the last three years. She also has enjoyed the “beautiful weather” and didn’t mind the cold, snowy days.

“At Purdue we would be walking to school in 1-degree weather all the time. Here it is 30s more, so we are good. This is nice and not nearly as much snow, even when it did snow,” she said.

She also likes Memorial Coliseum and is looking forward to her first match in the facility.

“I loved playing at Purdue in the close atmosphere and crazy student section we had. Nebraska, Wisconsin (arenas) are about this big. It doesn’t faze me as much to be in a bigger atmosphere and this is a great facility. I cannot wait to see what it is like with UK fans here,” she said.

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North Laurel’s Reed Sheppard played in the 2022 and 2023 state tournaments representing the 13th Region, while Trent Noah of Harlan County played in the state tourney in 2024 and reached the championship game.

Several “mountain” teams were in last week’s state tournament, including North Laurel, and the Sheppard/Noah impact is still being felt in mountain basketball and apparently will for quite a while.

“Back here in the mountains, basketball is king,” said Breathitt County coach Jeff Honeycutt. “What they did just adds to the history of sports in the mountains. I watched Richie Farmer, John Pelphrey, The Unforgettables.

“When a mountain (player) does good at the University of Kentucky, people really rally around him. I can’t describe the feeling you get from the fanbase. Everybody wants your team to win, but if you are from the mountains you have that identity and the fans love you.”

North Laurel coach Nate Valentine knows what Sheppard, who is now in the NBA after being a first-round draft pick, and Noah did by joining the Kentucky basketball program to influence mountain basketball.

“What they have done shows guys there is hope and they can do it. If you want to play in the NBA, put your mind to it and shoot for that and don’t let anybody laugh at you,” Valentine said. “I said that early to Reed.

“Those guys worked at it. To see those guys improve like they have has been unbelievable. It’s no secret they have God-given ability, but made the most of it and got in the gym and worked. Every kid who plays at North Laurel thinks they are the next Reed Sheppard and I tell them I hope they are.”

He might not be the next Reed Sheppard, but 6-8 junior Reece Davidson of North Laurel – Sheppard’s cousin – made a name for himself at the state tourney. He had 41 points on 16-for-22 shooting and 10 rebounds in a quarterfinal loss to Montgomery County after having 35 points and nine rebounds in a first-round win over Breathitt County.

Western Kentucky coach Hank Plona was in Rupp Arena and saw him play.

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Because Kentucky is “very slanted toward a pro-style” offense with a lot of ball movement, it is easier in a lot of ways for coach Mark Pope to find players that fit his system the best in the transfer portal.

“They actually have the skill sets that translate to what we do. There are some advantages, some real, substantial advantages to recruiting guys out of the portal,” Pope said.

During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, he said he was also “intentional about recruiting great human beings” like he had on this year’s team.

“Every single one of them can see something more important than themselves in the world, right? Every single one of them has been really intentional about getting to know their teammates and loving them and fighting for them and playing for them,” Pope told Rome. “It’s what our guys have done, working to build bonds with each other. That’s given us a chance to withstand all the adversity that we’ve faced during the course of the season.”

Pope has already been active in the transfer portal with the commitment from Tulane freshman Kam Williams, a 6-8, 190-pound forward who averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks and 32 minutes per game while starting 28 games last season. He also shot 41% from 3-point range.

Williams told ESPN he also considered Florida, Louisville, Baylor, Texas, LSU, Texas Tech, Arkansas and USC but he picked UK without even making a visit to Kentucky.

College basketball analytics guru Evan Miyakawa (EvanMiya.com) says one thing jumps out at him about Williams.

“He’s probably a good knockdown shooter but for playing so many minutes at Tulane, he didn’t shoot that much and barely scored,” Miyakawa said.

Kentucky added eight transfers last season and Miyakawa warned that every one of those players except Almonor was ranked higher in his transfer portal database than Williams is this year.

“If UK is getting Kam Williams to be a valuable rotation piece, then I think it is a pretty decent addition. But if the hope is that Williams will be a top three or four player on the team, I’m not as sure about that fit,” Miyakawa said.

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Kentucky played in Indianapolis last weekend in the NCAA Tournament and will be back at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 27, 2026, to play Indiana. The Kentucky-Indiana series will start back next season when UK hosts Indiana on Dec. 20 in Rupp Arena.

“I love everything about it,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said about the renewal of the UK-Indiana series. “I think these rivalries are really special in college basketball. I think this rivalry has incredible history. I think it’s great for college basketball. There’s nothing about it that’s not great. I’m really excited about it.”

The teams played regularly until 2011. After UK’s national championship team lost in Bloomington, Indiana, and IU fans stormed the court, then Kentucky coach John Calipari chose to end the series rather than go back to Bloomington to play.

The series was renewed before Calipari left for Arkansas. Kentucky will host IU on Dec. 18, 2027, before the Cats have to go to Bloomington on Dec. 15, 2028.

Pope played in 69 games his two seasons at Kentucky under coach Rick Pitino after transferring from Washington. Two of those games were against Indiana.

“I have such beautiful memories of Kentucky-Indiana in the RCA Dome and looking up in the arena and seeing the aisle way where it was split, where it was all blue/white all across the arena on one side and all red and white on the other side of the stadium,” Pope said.

Kentucky won 73-70 in 1994 at Freedom Hall in Louisville when Pope had seven points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes. The 1995 game at the RCA Dome was an 89-82 Kentucky win and Pope had three rebounds, a block, two turnovers and four fouls in 11 minutes off the bench for UK’s eventual national championship team.

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Quote of the Week: “I don’t know if you find out what your culture is until things get hard. With as many new players as we have, it does feel different. I do feel that from a blue collar and urgency standpoint every roster spot is available. The competition has showed that,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, on spring practice approach.

Quote of the Week 2: “Heart is heavy right now, but just want to thank BBN. Dreaming about playing for Kentucky was one thing, but actually doing it has changed my life forever. You guys gave me another place I can call home and I will never stop thanking you all for that,” Koby Brea, after UK’s Sweet Sixteen loss to Tennessee.

Quote of the Week 3: “I’ve been in several sad locker rooms since the 2022 (NCAA) tournament. Tonight, I was struck by the perspective – great appreciation for the opportunity, pride in the accomplishments, and gratitude toward each other, their coach and #BBN. Disappointed, yes. But not defined by one game,” WLEX-TV/BBN Tonight anchor Maggie Davis, after UK lost Tennessee to end its season.