KSR Today: Kentucky beats up Louisville on and off the court

The plan all week was to use this Friday morning edition of KSR Today to gloat about Kentucky volleyball walking into Louisville’s trap and taking over the Cardinals’ trap at the KFC Yum! Center — a preview of what’s to come on November 11. And trust me, we will. It was a performance worth bragging about, falling down 2-1 before absolutely clobbering UL in sets four and five to pull off UK’s first victory in the rivalry since 2019. No better place to end the streak than in a sea of red, sending them all home sad and wondering what could have been.

But first, uh, did Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey square up outside Tay Kinney’s apartment a few weeks ago? Or did I dream that?

What happened between Pope and Kelsey?

Remember that midnight meeting to open the recruiting period at the four-star guard’s apartment in Atlanta way back when? How do two coaches meet with a kid at the same time? Funny you ask, because that’s why the two sides allegedly got into it.

As Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ tells it, Pope was supposed to meet with Kinney right at midnight and Kelsey was on the schedule immediately after. The former showed up late, so the latter decided to cut the line and start his visit early.

Then they started throwing haymakers and hitting each other over the head with metal chairs — not really, but Pope was apparently not thrilled about it all.

“I was told Pope was upset,” Polacheck reported on KSR Happy Hour. “There were some words exchanged. I was told it’s an exaggeration to say they nearly came to blows, but there was definitely some animosity between the two.”

The irony is that neither school is expected to land Kinney, who is set to make his commitment on September 28 — Kansas is the heavy favorite with Arkansas trying to make a late push coming off an official visit to Fayetteville. Kentucky had been falling off before that midnight meeting to the point Pope’s trip to Atlanta was a head-scratcher to begin with, but Louisville had the recruitment teed up by adidas and — assuming this thing ends the way it’s been trending — completely whiffed.

Maybe that was all part of Pope’s plan, sabotaging Kelsey’s meeting with Kinney and steering the standout guard elsewhere?

Now, the actual on-court beatdown between the Cats and Cards

Funny that this all comes out on the day Kentucky takes on (and down) Louisville in a top-10 volleyball showdown on national television? What a night it was for the Wildcats, heading into the Yum! Center and leaving with a 3-2 upset victory for the program’s first win over the Cardinals since 2019.

Brooklyn DeLeye had a career night with 24 kills, followed by Eva Hudson with 17, Brooke Bultema with 11 and Lizzie Carr with 10. Kassie O’Brien added 30 assists through three sets, followed by Ava Sarafa with 25 and two digs in her place after O’Brien was forced to sit down the stretch with cramps. Hudson also went for a career-high 21 digs while DeLeye had 14 and O’Brien added 10.

Kentucky moved to 6-2 on the year with a second top-10 victory after previously knocking off No. 5 Penn State on its home floor — on banner night, no less.

Up next? The Washington Huskies inside Historic Memorial Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.

These Cats are rolling, folks. It doesn’t get sweeter than beating your arch-rival on the road.

Bye week blues

Most teams are preparing for their week-four opponents, but not Kentucky. Unfortunately for us, it’s a bye week, with the Wildcats next set to play a week from Saturday at South Carolina.

Right now, it’s about getting better and healthy, not game prep. What did they learn from their two MAC wins and one SEC loss? Can they build upon the good and take away the bad? Mark Stoops met with reporters on Thursday to talk about where things stand during the early break.

It’s been a really good start to the week. I’ve been very pleased with the players and how attentive they’ve been, they’ve been practicing with the intent to improve. I appreciate that,” he said. “We needed to have a really good day today, and we had a physical practice. I feel like we’re making improvements. We need to have another great one tomorrow and try to continue to move forward.”

Cutter Boley is the next John Wall

How are things going at quarterback? Stoops is happy with new QB1 Cutter Boley, who is getting comfortable in his new role after Zach Calzada went down with a shoulder injury against Ole Miss.

“You can see him getting better. Just improving and being more comfortable but I’ve said that all the time,” Stoops said. “I’ve said that after every practice, right? For a young guy, each rep that he takes in a game or in practice he’s getting better. And he’s getting more comfortable.”

Boley is clearly feeling himself, doing the John Wall Dance as the face of a new era — just as Wall was back in the day on the hardwood.

No need to teach him the 🕺 pic.twitter.com/fna2QR3I1N

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 18, 2025

A sit-down with Andrija Jelavic

The Croatian Sensation is making himself right at home in Lexington as he prepares for his debut not only as a Kentucky Wildcat, but playing college basketball in general.

How did he get here? Jelavic said it was the easiest decision he’s ever made in a sit-down interview with Keith Farmer of BBN Tonight. All it took was one phone call from Coach Pope to seal the deal — no questions asked.

“At one point, my agent told me, ‘Kentucky is interested in you.’ Since that moment, we knew we wanted Kentucky,” he said. “… The moment Mark Pope called me and said that he wanted me to be a part of this team this year and everything, I instantly said, ‘Yes, I want to be here.’ We didn’t even talk about the details and everything. I instantly committed.

“He said, ‘Tell your agent that you want to commit.’ I told him and I instantly committed — I didn’t even talk to the other college coaches. So Mark Pope was the first and only coach I spoke to about that.”

Kentucky’s nine SEC opponents will be announced next week

We know the Wildcats’ 2026 schedule will be brutal, but just how tough will it be for the program? We’ll find out next week when the SEC rolls out its nine-game conference slate — including permanent rivals — for all 16 teams on Tuesday.

The new 3+6 format guarantees every school will be able to host a home game with every team in the league at least once every four years. Rivalries will be protected first, but they will also likely consider geography while also balancing winning percentages.

We’ll see what that looks like for Kentucky in the coming days.

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Until then, enjoy your Friday, BBN! Let’s have a bye week(end).