Obviously Kentucky coach Will Stein is looking for the best possible football players both in the transfer portal and high school ranks. However, he’s partial to multi-sport athletes.

“I love kids that run track, play basketball, wrestle, you name it. If all you are doing is playing football, it is not going to make me not recruit you. But I love to see the athleticism, the competitiveness show up in other sports,” said Stein, the former Oregon offensive coordinator. “What you want high school sports to be is guys that play multiple sports and really take pride in their school. And it shows their loyalty to the school as well.”

Senior safety Ty Bryant certainly meets all those qualifications. As a junior in 2025, Bryant led Kentucky in tackles (76) and interceptions (four) — which also tied for first in the SEC. Bryant also had a pair of tackles for loss and a pass deflection. He was the only UK player to earn all-SEC honors.

At Frederick Douglass High School, he played defensive back, wide receiver, punt returner, kick returner, gunner on punts and place-kick holder. He was Frederick Douglass’ all-time leading tackler with 273, but he was also a five-year letterman on the baseball team. In the classroom, he had a 4.3 grade-point average.

Bryant had plenty of options to leave Kentucky, but is one of 52 players returning from last year’s team. He had serious inquiries from LSU, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama and others.

Stein said it was “huge” to keep Bryant at UK for another season.

“Lexington kid. He’s a program builder. He’s a leader. He’s all-conference. He is a phenomenal person,” Stein said. “His dad (Cisco) played football here (in the 1980s under coach Jerry Claiborne) with my dad, so, obviously, that connection piece was huge. But he’s a damn good ballplayer, and we wanted to make sure that he was on this team.”

Even while Stein was still coaching at Oregon during the college football playoffs, he was evaluating UK’s roster and communicating with UK general manager Pat Biondo and assistant general manager Pete Nochta.

“The first thing that we did was to look at this current roster and who we really needed to dive in and make sure that stayed on this roster in the ’26 season,” Stein said when I asked about the evaluation process for returning players. “We feel really good about the returners coming back.

“It is a bunch of film study, it’s doing our research, and it’s seeing what type of person they are. Do they fit the character that we want on our team? And then, schematically, are they what we look for in each position?

“While I was at Oregon, I was watching tape on our current team. We also have Pat Biondo, who I think is the best GM in the country, who’s done a phenomenal job since arriving here in Lexington, and then added Pete Nochta from Louisville as our assistant GM. And those guys have really spearheaded building this roster along with me, and I like where we stand right now.”

Stein also had to put together a staff. The only full-time position coach he retained was defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, Not only did Stewart play at Kentucky, but he has been UK’s defensive line coach since the 2020 season.

The new UK head coach said keeping Stewart was an easy decision.

“When I thought about Kentucky football before I got here, I thought they had really good D-lines. Anwar is a big piece of that puzzle,” Stein said. “You just feel a bond with somebody when you get here. He was somebody that did whatever it took to help retain the players on our roster and acquire new talent.

“Obviously, he is an alum here. I just felt like when you look at building a coaching staff, you obviously look at the people that are here, who can stay and who can’t. You want to do it in your own way. But there are still people on the staff, like (director of operations) Josh Pruitt, that know a lot about this place that is a need.

“A guy like Anwar … like these are people that I needed early on in the stages. And then they proved that these are the right people for the job. So, yeah, Anwar has been great. Really excited about him.”

One new player Stewart will be coaching is Jamarrion Harkless, another former Frederick Douglass star. The 6-foot-3, 345-pound Harkless transferred to UK after three years at Purdue where he played in 22 games with 12 starts. He was a three-star prospect in high school where he was Bryant’s teammate on the Class 5A state championship team.

“Big interior body that can cause havoc upfront and a guy that has a lot of pride in this city,” Stein said about Harkless. “So excited about him. All the guys in that (defensive lineman) room, I think Coach (Jay) Bateman and crew did a great job of evaluating the talent and then obviously acquiring them through the portal. He is going to be a big addition.”

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Texas men’s basketball coach Sean Miller was not surprised at how well Kentucky 7-foot freshman Malachi Moreno played against his team last week.

“Malachi is a terrific young player. I think he’s one of the best freshmen in the country and certainly has a big role in Kentucky’s team,” Miller said after Moreno had eight points, six assists and four rebounds in 26 minutes in UK’s win against his team.

“I think he’s improving. Everyone likes to judge these guys on one snapshot, but you forget he’s 19 years old and from northern Kentucky. He’s playing in games that he’s never played before. I think he’s only going to continue to get better.”

Moreno, who hit the game-winning shot at LSU, was Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American after leading Great Crossing to the 2025 boys’ high school state title. Still, few expected him to be averaging 8.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 22 minutes per game in late January.

“He’s doing great. He’s really filling up the stat sheet with blocks, assists and rebounds,” UK senior Otega Oweh said. “It helps us a lot when he’s being that efficient and that aggressive.”

Moreno has been forced into a much bigger role because Jayden Quaintance was not cleared to play until mid-December after last season’s knee injury at Arizona State. He played only four games before the knee flared up and kept him from playing.

Kentucky coach Mark Pope calls Moreno “really smart” and liked the way he avoided committing fouls in the win over Texas defending Matas Vokietaitis, who leads the nation in fouls drawn.

“Malachi had a complicated guard all over the court. Complicated in ball screens, complicated curl protects,” the UK coach said.

He also liked that Moreno led the team with assists and had the ball in his hands often to start UK’s offense.

“Halftime I’m putting a play call in, and Malachi’s like, ‘No Coach, we already got it. We already talked about it as a team. We already figured out what we want to do,’ ” Pope said. “He is a coach on the floor as a freshman, as a 7-foot freshman. I’m proud of him, and he continues to get better and better and better.”

•••

Rachel Lawson is starting her 19th season as Kentucky’s softball coach and went over the 400-win mark last season. She took UK to its first Women’s College World Series in 2014 when the Wildcats won 50 games. Lawson has guided UK to eight NCAA Super Regionals in the last 14 years.

Lawson credits athletics director Mitch Barnhart for providing unwavering support of the softball program that includes one of the nation’s best softball facilities at John Cropp Stadium, the host of this year’s SEC Tournament.

“Mitch is an elite athletic director. I know he gets a hard time from some, but that’s the nature of the job. He is an amazing human being. That doesn’t always come through because he has that grumpy expression, but he would give me a kidney if I needed it,” Lawson said.

“He cares so passionately about you. From an AD standpoint, his support for women’s athletics is off the charts. We are the only team in our climate that consistently has gone to the postseason and a lot is because he puts money into travel and facilities for us. We have the longest-tenured staff in the SEC and that matters,” the UK coach said.

She admires that Barnhart’s pattern is predictable.

“If things are not going well he becomes front and center. When you are winning, he just stays in the background,” Lawson said. “He is the type of AD that gets out in front of things and takes bullets for his coaches and people. It is rare to see leaders do that. Most go back and find a scapegoat. Mitch is the opposite of that, but most people don’t realize that.”

Facility improvements at John Cropp Stadium that Barnhart has initiated/approved have made it possible for UK to host the SEC Tournament starting May 5.

“It is going to be an incredible experience. I believe this will be the last time it will be on a college campus for the foreseeable future,” Lawson said. “We want to make sure it is a special experience for athletes on the other teams and their fans, too. Our operations staff has been working on this since last spring. I really trust our staff and what they have done.

“In the past, 100% of the teams that have hosted the tournament have gotten facility upgrades so they could be the host. We are lucky John Cropp Stadium was already in great shape. We have increased seating and even then I suspect the tournament will sell out quickly.”

•••

Cincinnati Moeller quarterback Matt Ponatoski verbally committed to Kentucky when Mark Stoops was the head coach but didn’t hesitate to sign with the Wildcats after Stoops was fired and Will Stein became the new coach. Stein had recruited Ponatoski, a four-star recruit ranked as the 21st-best quarterback in his class, when he was offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Stein called him a “really accurate passer and winner” who put up big numbers against good high school competition.

“Cincinnati Moeller is a fantastic school. He is a two-sport athlete. He was Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball. I mean, that’s pretty incredible,” Stein said. “A Gatorade Player (of the Year) in both. I think he is one of like three guys ever to do that.

“I recruited Matt at Oregon. He was somebody that we were super high on, really wanted, ended up taking another kid just because of the timing of it out at Oregon. But had the relationship with him and his dad and mom, great people. He is extremely accurate, throws the ball on time.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Ponatoski joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss and National Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Mauer as the only players to be named Gatorade Player of the Year in their state in two sports in the same year.

He had a bevy of football scholarship offers, but also drew almost as much interest for his baseball prowess where he could be a high pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft.

Ponatoski plans to also play baseball at Kentucky for coach Nick Mingione.

Stein is not worried about Ponatoski maybe opting out of football if he is a high draft pick.

“Everything that he said to me is that he wants to be a big-time college football player. So is it (the draft) concerning? No. I mean, I’m just really grateful to be able to have the chance to coach Matt,” Stein said.

“I think his best years are to come in football. He is obviously an outstanding baseball player and I would love to get him on the diamond here at Kentucky too and let’s do this thing together.”

Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey is expected to be UK’s starting quarterback next season, but Stein likes other quarterbacks on the roster.

“I like (redshirt freshman) Brennen Ward a lot. I’m excited about Brennen. I’ve gotten to know him more and more just watching his tape from practice here last year and watching his high school tape. Son of a coach. I mean, he can really throw the rock. He has got great intangibles too. I think he is a natural leader, a great communicator. So excited about him,” Stein said.

“We added JacQai (Long) from Marshall, who has played and started games. Carson Cruver from FAU. I think the room is competitive, which is fun. Guys that might not have a ton of experience, but I think the upside of the ceiling on these kids is really high.”

•••

Quote of the Week: “He’s an important player for Kentucky because he comes in off the bench, and he can really change the game. The closer and the more you watch him—he can steal a basketball, he’s physical, he runs and jumps way better than you maybe give him credit for. I just think he’s a really good player,” Texas men’s basketball coach Sean Miller, on Kentucky guard Collin Chandler.

Quote of the Week 2: “You don’t have any nights off. You don’t look down that schedule and say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re good. We’re going to be able to win this game easily. I can rest some kids. I can do this. I can do that.’ Every night we’re playing in the NCAA Tournament right now, and that’s the mindset that we have to have,” Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, on SEC competition.

Quote of the Week 3: “He is 20 and had never been hurt and was thinking he would play forever. Now you get hurt and wonder about the future. I want him to know I love him and it was great when people circled around him and were wishing him the best. If you stay upbeat and work hard, things will work out,” Greg Williams after his son, UK sophomore Kam Williams, broke his foot against Texas.