KSR Today: Cutter Boley as QB1, in-home visits, and a volleyball sweep

by: Zack Geoghegan8 hours agoZGeogheganKSR

Photos via Kentucky Sports Radio and UK Athletics

Good morning, folks! Kentucky football plays a game in a couple of days, and there might just be a new face lining up under center.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley is expected to suit up as QB1 on Saturday, multiple sources have informed KSR. The Bluegrass native has been taking the first-team reps in practice this week while the usual starter, Zach Calzada, has been recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered over the weekend in the Wildcats’ loss to Ole Miss.

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan will go from a seventh-year signal caller to one who has only appeared in a handful of college games, but it’s been clear through two games that the passing offense is not up to snuff. Boley will have his opportunity to change that starting this weekend. He came into the game against the Rebels and quickly tossed a 38-yard dart to Hardley Gilmore. The Big Blue Nation will be hoping for more of that against Eastern Michigan to complement Kentucky’s productive run game.

KSR’s Adam Luckett has a Bio Blast breakdown of what you need to know about Boley going into the Week 3 matchup, which you can read here. Once you’re done with that, make sure to load up the latest episode of 11 Personnel to hear Luckett and Nick Roush go in-depth on what the QB change means for Kentucky moving forward.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Before we get too far into this morning’s KSR Today, we should take a moment to recognize the 24th anniversary of the tragedy that happened in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Life is shorter than we think. Take some time today to tell someone you love them.

9.11.01.

We will #neverforget pic.twitter.com/aTlCOhXidb
— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) September 11, 2025

Kentucky coaches on the recruiting trail

Kentucky assistant coach Jason Hart was putting his West Coast connections to work yesterday, stopping into Prolific Prep (CA) to check in with a trio of the Wildcats’ top targets. Hart went to see five-star 2026 SG Caleb Holt, five-star 2027 SF Bruce Branch III, and four-star 2027 PG Nasir Anderson. Holt, who will visit Alabama this weekend, is coming off an official visit to UK last weekend (and his father spoke about it with Jacob Polacheck of KSR+), while Branch and Anderson are two juniors high up on the staff’s Big Board.

Hart wasn’t the only assistant out putting in the legwork, though. Mikhail McLean caught up with five-star 2026 PG Deron Rippey Jr. yesterday. Head coach Mark Pope even made his way out to see a top recruit yesterday. More in-home visits from UK coaches are expected in the coming days. Jacob has the latest below in this week’s Here Comes the Boom.

Want more Kentucky basketball intel? Join KSR Plus for access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Happy Birthday, Mark Pope!

And speaking of Pope… He’s celebrating his 53rd birthday today! The Big Blue Nation should feel lucky to have him. Make sure to sneak in a few extra “beautifuls” into your conversations today. Happy B-Day, Coach.

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Happy Birthday, @CoachMarkPope 🎉 pic.twitter.com/gmA70AI00O
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) September 11, 2025

Volleyball Cats swept in Texas

Craig Skinner’s squad was coming off a sweep against the defending national champions this past weekend. Taking down Penn State in Pennsylvania was enough to move Kentucky up to number three in the national poll. But reality hit last night in Texas as No. 7 Pitt pulled off a sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-23) of its own against the Wildcats.

Junior star Brooklyn DeLeye recorded her 1,000th career kill (the 19th player in program history to pull that off), but that was where the good news stopped for UK. Pitt dominated this one. Kentucky now falls to 3-2 on the season (both losses to top seven teams) with another important matchup on the way. The ‘Cats will finally play a couple of matches in Memorial Coliseum this weekend.

Saturday, Sept. 13 vs. No. 10 SMU | 3:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, Sept. 14 vs. Houston | 2:00 p.m. ET

Big-time summer gains

The 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball team was putting in serious work this summer.

As a team, the Wildcats gained 55 pounds of muscle collectively, improved their average jump height by two inches, average sprint speed by 1.1 miles per hour, and upped their average lower body strength by 15 percent. Those stats were shared in a practice highlight clip by the team, which also included Jaland Lowe diving for a loose ball, Collin Chandler finding Malachi Moreno for an alley-oop, Trent Noah banging a three, and Otega Oweh throwing down a lob.

Summer gains …

+ 55 Pounds of Muscle Collectively 💪⬆️
+ TWO inches Average Jump Height 🚀
+ 1.1 MPH Average Sprint Speed 💨
+ 15% Average Lower Body Strength 🏋👀 pic.twitter.com/j8tfcbWVnX
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) September 10, 2025

UK also recently posted the height and weight changes for each player since last season’s measurement check-in.

Player	Old Height	New Height	Old Weight	New Weight
Otega Oweh	6’4″	6’4″	215	220
Denzel Aberdeen	6’5″	6’5″	190	195
Jasper Johnson	6’4″	6’5″	175	180
Kam Williams	6’8″	6’8″	190	205
Andrija Jelavic	6’11”	6’11”	N/A	225
Collin Chandler	6’5″	6’5″	202	205
Trent Noah	6’5″	6’5″	220	220
Brandon Garrison	6’10”	6’10”	250	245
Jaland Lowe	6’3″	6’3″	188	170
Jayden Quaintance	6’9″	6’10.5″	215	255
Braydon Hawthorne	6’8″	6’8″	175	190
Mouhamed Dioubate	6’7″	6’7″	215	220
Malachi Moreno	6’11”	7’0″	230	250
Reece Potter	7’1″	7’1″	215	230
Walker Horn	6’3″	6’3″	185	190
Zach Tow	6’5″	6’5″	220	220

De’Aaron Fox’s new colorway

De’Aaron Fox’s newest shoe is inspired by his college playing days. Under Armour’s Curry Brand announced Wednesday the release of the Fox 2: ‘Lexington’, a two-toned black and blue colorway that pays homage to his lone season playing ball for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2016-17. The shoes will officially go on sale this Friday (September 12) with a price point of $120.

“The ‘Lexington’ colorway pays tribute to his UK roots and that pivotal moment in his journey, launching from Lexington to the League,” Under Armour’s press release stated. The shoe also features Fox’s logo with a black strap across the top, all tied up with blue and white laces.