Kentucky volleyball will open what it hopes can be a special season in just over two months and two transfers off NCAA Tournament teams – Molly Berezowitz of Marquette and Lizzie Carr of Purdue – love the overall talent that coach Craig Skinner has on his team.

Carr, the younger sister of former UK basketball player Andrew Carr, averaged 1.52 kills last season for 27-7 Purdue. The 6-foot-6 Carr had 87 kills in her two years at Purdue.

“It’s cool to see how hard we can compete and how good you can make the people around you,” said Carr, a middle blocker. “Everyone is constantly pushing you to be the best version of yourself as a leader, a person, a teammate and player.”

Carr has always believed a team can only be as good as its backup players are because “they are the ones competing against you every day.” She says Skinner mixes up players on Blue and White teams in practice and they consistently beat each other.

“Every single person is good enough to have a starting spot. It’s cool to see how each person is pushing others to be better and kind of make you uncomfortable in a good way because you have to figure out how to compete at the high test level every day in practice and that makes for a great team,” Carr said. “We’re just so deep and have so much stuff that we are really going to have a good team.”

Berezowitz, a libero, had a season-high 21 digs in Marquette’s NCAA Tournament win over Utah and hit double-digit digs in 10 matches last season. Her older sister, Maddie, was on UK’s 2020 national championship team.

“I played for a high level team at Marquette, and when I got here, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is better than I ever imagined.’ I thought I was playing at the best level that I could be at and then getting here, these people just make you so much better,” said Berezowitz, a junior. I think that it starts off the court. This is just such a good group of girls.”

Kentucky had all 14 players, including three true freshmen, on this year’s team on campus the second semester to give the Cats a huge head start on this season.

“We all got to train and compete all spring and we didn’t want to take that opportunity for granted that we had with everyone here,” the Marquette transfer said. “Usually teams get six months to be together, but we will have almost a whole year and teams don’t get that very often.

“I really see something different in this team. It really starts with how we act together off the court, and that just really transitions on the court. Obviously it helps just having so many talented players. It’s fun getting in the gym every single day and you’re battling every single day. I think that if we have that mindset in every single game, we’re going be hard to beat this season with the talent we have.”

The team’s leader will be junior All-American Brooklyn DeLeye, one of the nation’s top four players last season when UK reached the Elite Eight. Berezowitz played against her in club volleyball in high school, but didn’t pay a lot of attention to her the last two years even though her Marquette teammates did.

“My teammates at Marquette would talk about BK (DeLeye). I don’t know how to really explain it, but you can just rely on her to get it done. She is super relatable,” Berezowitz said. “She just has that presence where we all trust her. It’s also cool because we also have (Purdue transfer) Eva Hudson on the pin, so it’s like having that combo out there that we can rely on to finish points. But I love playing with her (DeLeye) and she certainly has lived up to that All-American standard.”

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Jayden Quaintance is working his way back from knee surgery in the spring, but Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope is confident the Arizona State transfer will make a full recovery in part because “we have the best performance team in the country” working with him now at UK.

The 6-9 Quaintance is already being projected as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft even though he does not turn 18 years old until July 11. He could be starting his high school senior season in Kentucky and be eligible.

“He is really physically talented. He’s on the most elite of elite levels with his physical talent,” Pope said.

Quaintance originally committed to Kentucky and coach John Calipari in November of 2023 and considered staying with the program when Pope took over but instead headed to Arizona State for his freshman season. He averaged 9.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 29 minutes per game despite being the youngest player in college basketball last season.

He’s a defensive stopper who Pope knows will be a “difference maker” for Kentucky.

Pope has said Quaintance reminds him of former Clemson star Dale Davis, Pope’s teammate with the Indiana Pacers during Pope’s rookie season. Davis played 16 years in the NBA.

“Dale Davis was an elite-level shot blocker, an incredible athlete. He could really run the floor and punish you at the rim. He was an intimidating presence and Jayden is like that,” Pope said.

However, Pope also likes Quaintance’s ability to do things offensively and believes he’s “destined to be a star” at Kentucky.

“Jayden has unbelievable timing and is incredibly mobile. He can also surprise you with the way he can put the ball on the floor. That’s some of why I think he’s going to be a star,” Pope said.

Kentucky sophomore Trent Noah admits it is even hard for him to believe that Quaintance can be so good and still not be 18 years old yet.

“He has an incredible build. I mean, that’s why he’s a NBA style player. I’m ready for him to get healthy and play alongside him,” Noah said.

Noah played against Quaintance and UK freshman Jasper Johnson when they were on the same AAU team two years ago.

“The two of them were really good together, so I kind of know him (Quaintance) from that and it was easy to tell even then just how good he was going to be,” Noah said.

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New Kentucky receivers coach L’Damian Washington recruited Ashton Cozart when he was coaching at the University of Oklahoma, but the No. 214 ranked recruit by 247Sports Composite ended up signing with Oregon over Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Oklahoma.

The Texas native left Oregon after one season and played the 2024 season at Southern Methodist and had one catch for 24 yards in four games before entering the transfer portal again. This time Washington was successful and Cozart committed to the Wildcats in May.

“He early enrolled at Oregon at age 17. He then transitioned home (to SMU). He battled anxiety really hard being away from home,” Washington said.

Once he got back to Texas at SMU, Washington said Cozart felt the pressure of being a top 30 receiver in his recruiting class and dealt with depression at times.

“He played a little bit last year, but all those receivers returned and he had a lot of pressure on him,” Washington said. “He got help this spring from a performance anxiety standpoint, and we worked through that.

“My job is to meet these kids where they are, wherever they are, whatever phase they are in life. My job as a coach is to meet them right there. Ashton Cozart, he’s 6-3, 200 pounds. He can stretch the field vertically, and I believe in him because he has speed, size and a ton of potential.”

Washington believes adding Cozart and Hardley Gilmore, who played at UK as a true freshman in 2024 before transferring to Nebraska, after spring practice ended has bolstered UK’s receiving group going into next season.

“Two great additions to our receiver room that I think will make us better and help us put Kentucky football where it needs to be to make sure everybody’s proud of what we’re bringing,” Washington said.

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Trent Noah was a prolific scorer at Harlan County High School, where he averaged 29.9 points per game during his senior season when his team reached the state championship game and he finished with 3,707 points, the fifth-best mark in state history. He averaged 32.3 points per game in four state tournament games and hit a tournament record 19 3-pointers.

Last year at UK he played in 24 games, averaging 2.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game as a freshman. Noah had eight games with three or more rebounds and had a season-high 11 points in a key win over Tennessee when he became just the third player in program history to connect on three or more 3s off the bench against an AP Top 5 opponent.

Noah worked to get “bigger, stronger, faster” in the offseason like coach Mark Pope wanted him to do. He says “continuing to bring gravity on the floor, to open up driving lanes” is what he knows he needs to do.

However, Pope has also talked to him about “locking down the defensive end.” That’s a part of Noah’s game that has been overshadowed by his offensive prowess.

“He (Pope) thinks I can be a really good steals guy. He talks about the defensive IQ, and then the defensive abilities, kind of two different things,” Noah said. “He thinks that I have a really good defensive IQ, and if I can just put those two together then he sees a strong defender in me.”

So what would it take for Noah to become a “steals guy” for Pope?

“I guess here and there take some more chances, maybe shoot a gap or two, kind of doing things a little outside of the box,” the UK sophomore said. “Otega (Oweh) is really good. He’s supposed to be here, but he takes a shortcut and it ends up well. I guess you just gotta take a little risk and see the play ahead.

“Last year, especially at the beginning, I thought I was very behind. I was just trying to hang in there and trying to pick up on the game. Now I have a year under my belt. I know where I need to be, and then hopefully it puts me in the right position before the ball even comes.”

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Quote of the Week: “I’m telling them that BBN is going to show them nothing but love. Even when we’re not playing as good, they’re still going to love you. When you’re playing great, they’re going to love you of course. I was just telling them about playing in Rupp (Arena). It’s something that you’re never gonna forget. They’re just gonna have to see it for themselves like I did,” UK junior Brandon Garrison, on his message to new teammates about UK fans.

Quote of the Week 2: “I did everything I could to keep him here. He was one of my good friends, and he’s an excellent player, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what’s best for you, and that’s what he thought was best for him. I love and wish him the best, not looking forward to playing him, that’s for sure,” UK sophomore guard Trent Noah, on trying to keep Travis Perry at UK before he transferred to Ole Miss.

Quote of the Week 3: “I am terrible at golf, but I have a great driver. I think I am probably about a 12 (handicap). I am not very good. Really, I’m horrible. I can hit my driver, but I’m terrible at everything else. I swing it like a baseball bat, but I hit it straight,” Kentucky basketball transfer Reece Potter, on a unique ability he has off the court.