Almost every time McLaine Hudson steps on a softball field, she impresses someone.

However, she decided to make her verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky in October so she would no longer have to worry about impressing college coaches.

“I grew up a big Kentucky fan,” the versatile South Warren athlete said. “My dad grew up in Louisville, but he converted to a UK fan. Mom was always a Kentucky fan. They both went to Western Kentucky. My sister and I grew up going to UK basketball and some UK football games. We loved Kentucky.”

Kentucky coach Rachel Lawson certainly is going to love having Hudson in two years.

In her sophomore season with the Spartans, Hudson helped her team reach the state semifinals. She hit .620 with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and 81 runs scored. She broke the state’s all-time single season record for hits with 93. She went 36-for-39 on stolen bases. She was named the Class 3A player of the year by the Kentucky Softball Coaches’ Association.

“I got close in my eighth-grade year to breaking the record. I hit a home run at John Cropp Stadium (at UK) to get the record. I was running around the bases jumping up and down. It had been a goal of mine since eighth grade,” she said.

Kaylee Tow of Madisonville-North Hopkins has the state career all-time hits record with 359 from 2012-17 (she also held the previous single season mark of 90). Going into her junior season, Hudson has 297 hits — 63 away from breaking Tow’s career mark.

‘I think it is important to keep pushing yourself. I am trying to prepare myself to play in the SEC which is the hardest conference in a lot of sports, but especially softball,” Hudson said. “If I break the (hits) record, that would be great and hopefully if I stay healthy and we have the kind of year I think we will, I can do it. We didn’t lose a starter off last year’s team and we really want to win state next season.”

Hudson has athletic genes. Her mother was a softball player and her uncle, Travis Hudson, is the veteran volleyball coach at Western Kentucky. She started playing softball — and soccer — when she was young, but quit soccer to concentrate on softball. She admits her uncle thought she would be a terrific volleyball libero, and even Lawson told her the same thing.

The 5-foot-5 junior does play basketball. She had scored over 1,100 points going into this season and averaged 16.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season. This year she is averaging 22.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

“When I am not playing softball, I do play basketball. I enjoy it because it is a really competitive sport, too, and brings out the fire in me. I don’t work as hard at basketball as I do softball, but I like playing,” she said.

Hudson can play multiple positions in softball, but is primarily a shortstop even though she did play second base for USA Softball.

“Playing for Team USA was a surreal experience,” the UK signee said. “The team I was on was so talented. Every person on that team was amazing. We scored a lot of runs.”

Hudson was so impressive at an OnDeck National Elite Camp where a Team USA official saw her and gave her a bid to the USA tryout camp that had about 400 players in various age groups and she made the cut to the 18U national team.

“Only 16 made the cut, so it was pretty amazing for me to do it,” she said.

She was back in Vero Beach, Florida, in mid-December for an invite-only showcase in front of the U.S. Junior Women’s National Team selection committee. Her team won to qualify for nationals in the summer.

Hitting is something she’s always been able to do. As a freshman she hit .597 with 71 hits, 46 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples and 13 homers and was successful on 36 of 38 steal attempts. The year before she hit .570 as an eighth-grader with 85 hits, 28 RBIs, nine doubles, six triples and seven home runs and was not thrown out on 25 steal attempts.

“I am kind of a little shocked myself with how many home runs I have hit,” she said. “My first home run came in the seventh grade. When I was younger, I was more of a singles and doubles hitter but now it has translated to where I can also hit home runs in high school.”

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Kentucky offensive lineman Wallace Unamba, a 6-6, 332-pound transfer from New Mexico, appreciates the opportunity he has to play in the Southeastern Conference.

“I wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. Actually, I was a zero-star recruit,” the tackle said.

He eventually went to Kilgore College, a community college in his home state of Texas, because he saw the success rate the school had of getting players to the Division I level. He became a three-time junior college All-American thanks to a redo with the COVID season.

“That kind of helped put Kilgore on the map because I was the first three-time All-American,” he said.

Unamba transferred to Florida Atlantic for the 2023 season, but “stuff did not go well and I redshirted.” He transferred to New Mexico in 2024 where he did not allow a sack and graded out well in pass protection.

While NIL funding seems to be a primary factor in the transfer portal, Unamba said that is not why he’s at Kentucky.

“Everybody was offering about the same. I just wanted to be in a higher conference and improve my ability and chances to get to the next level (NFL),” he said. “Playing in the SEC was obviously a factor. It’s the best overall conference in America and if you want to reach your full potential and go to the NFL, why not go to the SEC and play with and against future NFL linemen?”

He’s also a big fan of UK offensive line coach Eric Wolford.

“He told me about his background and the presentation he showed me in the O-line room about the stuff he does and guys he has brought in and sent to the league (NFL) just popped out at me. He already has a plan for me and now I just have to put in the work,” Unamba said.

“He visualizes me playing right or left tackle. If I drop some weight, I will play left tackle. If my weight stays up, I will play right tackle. My main goal is to be able to play every single position, including center if I am able to snap accurately. The more versatile I can be, the better it will be for me and the team.”

He admits when he visited Kentucky that the football facilities surprised him. It was his first trip to a SEC football facility and he was blown away.

“I had only been at small schools and I had never seen the kind of stuff Kentucky had. It really was mind blowing,” he said. “I had watched Kentucky last season when they were playing Georgia, but other than that I really had not kept up with Kentucky. During the season I had to focus on myself, but before games on Friday in the hotel room or on bye weeks I would look at other schools. But I had no idea the facilities would be anywhere near like what they are at Kentucky.”

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Purdue transfer Lizzie Carr helped the Boilermakers finish 27-7 last season — that included a 16-4 mark in the competitive Big Ten. She averaged 1.52 kills per set and hit .301. Carr also averaged 0.63 blocks per set and had five solo blocks and 65 block assists last season.

“She is a great person from a great family,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner.

That “family” includes Kentucky basketball player Andrew Carr, a transfer from Wake Forest this year.

Lizzie Carr redshirted her freshman season in 2022 and played in 30 sets over 18 matches in 2023. She was named to the Big Ten All-Academic team and also won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2023.

The 6-6 Carr will be able to participate in spring matches and have two years of eligibility remaining at Kentucky. The middle blocker played club volleyball in high school for East Coast Power Volleyball and her team finished fifth at the AAU Nationals.

“The best of Lizzie Carr is still to come,” Skinner said. “She is versatile and tall and played the right side and the middle. We will give her opportunities at both to see what she can do.

“We have definitely added height at the net we have missed a lot. When you are going against some of the most physical athletes in the country it is nice to have size at the net and she brings that.”

Skinner also added another Purdue transfer, Eva Hudson, after Carr made her move. Hudson led the Big Ten in total kills with 4.81 per set last season. She was Big Ten Freshman of the Year at Purdue in 2022, a three-time all-conference pick and an American Volleyball Coaches’ Association All-America in 2023.

The 6-1 outside hitter gives Skinner another dynamic player to go with sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye, the SEC Player of the Year and one of four finalists for national player of the year. Hudson hit .455 and .562 in her two NCAA Tournament matches this season and hit .287 for the 2024 season on almost 1,500 swings.

“She is an extremely talented player who adds a dynamic level of attacking to our offense,” Skinner said.

DeLeye hit .294 last season with 531 kills. She also had 56 service aces and 179 digs.

“At times because Brooklyn is so talented we relied on her too much,” Skinner said. “We have got to have balance to win matches in the (NCAA Tournament) Sweet 16. She likes taking a lot of swings, but we’ve got to have more balance and not rely on her all the time.”

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Coach Kenny Brooks has been able to lead the UK women’s basketball team to some impressive wins in non-conference play. Brooks and his staff have ACC experience, but will be coaching in the Southeastern Conference for the first time starting with Mississippi State on Jan. 2.

“I think we are ready. It’s fun for us,” said Kentucky assistant Josh Petersen, who had been at Miami before joining Brooks’ staff. “This is a new adventure for all of us (on the coaching staff), but we know the SEC well. We have all coached against SEC teams, so we know what is coming.”

Petersen didn’t deny that UK had things to “tweak and work on” before SEC play gets underway.

“I know it sounds so cliche, but how we continue to build and work together and how we can get more efficient is what we have to keep doing,” Petersen said. “Every game we grow as a team. We get into SEC play and have to know what our bread and butter will be.’

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Quote of the Week: “I play with relentless effort, I want fans to know every time on the field you will get my all. I made a commitment to this team and BBN to go win and to win it takes people doing their jobs because taking strain off others helps everyone out,” Kentucky linebacker Landyn Watson, a Marshall transfer, on what he will add to UK.

Quote of the Week 2: “The beautiful thing is we know who she is. She does not get rattled. She is all about the team. The whole team feeds off that and she steadies the team in every way possible,” Kentucky women’s assistant coach Josh Petersen, on point guard Georgia Amoore.

Quote of the Week 3: “We got $15 a month. Back then they called it laundry money. I could take my laundry home so I could get another Big Mac. The first day of every month we lined up and would run to get that envelope with three $5 bills,” former UK All-American Jack Givens, on what his “NIL funding” was like at UK from 1974-78.