By LARRY VAUGHT
Megan Wilson was always sure she was going to be a successful college athlete. However, she thought her sport would be soccer, not volleyball.
“I played soccer from first grade until my sophomore year of high school,” said Wilson. “I had started my recruiting process for soccer when I just made an abrupt switch to volleyball. I did gymnastics when I was little. I swam through middle school. I did basketball from sixth to eighth grade and dropped it my freshman year.
“My sophomore year I started high school volleyball. I was 6-3 and felt I had a chance of doing well and picked it up right away. I started on the lowest team at my club and the next year I was pulled up to one of the national teams. I had been playing soccer and volleyball at the same time but then I quit soccer and moved up to the national team.”
She became a top-50 national recruit in the Prep Volleyball rankings and was an Under Armour All-American. Now she’s ready to make her mark on the Kentucky volleyball team after transferring from Oklahoma. The 6-4 Wilson was an all-Big 12 selection last season when she averaged 3.64 kills and 4.6 points per set and hit .241 on the season. She had 20 kills against Texas Tech and had 11 matches with 15 or more kills.
Once she put her name into the transfer portal, Wilson knew almost immediately Kentucky was the right fit for her.
“As soon as I came on my visit I loved the coaches. Craig (Skinner) is amazing. I met the girls and liked them. I felt I had a purpose here,” Wilson said. “I had watched Kentucky play and once I went into the portal, I made a list of my top 10 schools.
“Craig is pretty intentional with relationships off the court. You don’t see that a lot any more. It’s more business with a lot of coaches. My first conversation with Craig, it was nice to be around somebody who cared about you as a person. I just feel like you don’t see that with a lot of coaches.”
Wilson uses her size well at the net but also set an Oklahoma record for service aces in a single season last year with 56 — ninth best nationally. She averaged a conference high 0.55 service yes per set.
“When I got to Oklahoma I transitioned to outside hitter and it was my first year of really serving and it was pretty difficult that first year. My sophomore year it kind of clicked for me. I have been continuing to work on it since I got here and using some different techniques,” Wilson said. “Right now that is probably the most confident part of my game. I can rely on that.”
Wilson said she connected with her new UK teammates faster than she ever has with any group of teammates.
“The first month here was a little shaky and more stressful than I expected but I love this team,” she said. “What is most exciting to me is that I see a lot of players burnt out from playing so long. I feel I have not tapped into what is possible for me to be. Craig is great at pushing me and knows I want to be the best.”
Wilson grew up in Houston but traveled a lot with her dad, who she says is her best friend.
“We would go on trips four times a year just to get away and it would usually be something outdoors,” Wilson said. “We spent a lot of time hiking. I grew up around horses and was always around livestock. I have found a few places around here to hike and have been to the (Red River Gorge) twice.”
Wilson is a communications major at UK but would like to do anything outdoors after graduation. She’s interested in wildlife conservation or something dealing with the environment.
Jamal Murray was a late signee for Kentucky before the 2016-16 season started after he had scored 30 points in the Nike Hoop Summit and earned MVP honors. The Canadian had a fabulous freshman season and was picked seventh in the 2016 NBA draft by Denver, the team he now is playing for in the NBA Finals.
On April 12, 2021, Murray suffered a torn ACL and did not play in another game until Oct. 19, 2022 — a span of 18 months. However, he’s not worried about the past.
“I’m not thinking about whether I’m back or not. I’ve been back since the day I came back. It’s just about trending in the right direction and continuously getting better,” Murray said during his team’s sweep of the Lakers. “I had some ups and downs during the season, some sore days where I couldn’t play, and those sucked.
“Played my first back-to-back (games) in January or something like that. It’s just been trending. Every month I feel my knee get better and more solid and more consistent in the way it’s going to feel. Wo just to be here and be playing this many minutes at this time has been — we’ve prepared for this. I’m just glad I put the work in during the rehab to be able to perform and be at my best.”
His best has been really good. He averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game in the sweep of LA and shot 38 percent from 3. He averaged 20 points per game during regular-season play but is averaging 27.7 points per game in 15 postseason games.
“I mean, once he gets going, it’s kind of hard to turn him off,” NBA star LeBron James said. “We watched one clip where we allowed him to see the ball go in because we didn’t match up in transition. Jamal is one of those guys in our league that if you — he’ll run off 20 in a quarter or 30 in a half.
“Everyone in our league knows that, especially when he gets going and he gets to bouncing and shooting the 3-ball, shooting the mid-range, posting up smaller guards. He can score at all three levels of the game — from the paint, from the free throw line and also from the three-point line. You tip your hat. He’s a hell of a player.”
Murray said he does not play as “rushed” as he did before his injury and is a more willing passer if he’s in a “bad spot” on the floor.
“Getting to watch the game from afar for a couple seasons or a season and two postseasons helped me,” the former UK star said.
Denver coach Michael Malone said Murray’s biggest improvement this year was just being healthy.
“Getting over the mental hurdle of reminding myself, I can get back to not just a level I was at in the bubble, but how do I surpass that?” Malone said. “I remember being on the bus with him, going to the airport after he did the injury in Golden State the next day and he had tears in his eyes. That was the message, ‘Hey, man, you’re going to come back from this, and not only are you going to come back, you’re going to be better.’
“In that moment, that’s really hard to believe that. His first thought was, ‘Man, are you guys going to trade me?’ Really that was his — I am damaged goods. Are you going to trade me now? I hugged him, I said, ‘Hell no, you’re ours. We love you. We’re going to help you get back, and you’re going to be a better player for it.’
“I think what he’s doing in these playoffs is just a reminder of a guy that we drafted seven years ago that has continued to find ways to improve and really show out on the biggest stage in the world.”
Malone knew the Nuggets had a gem in Murray who is now more than just an elite scorer.
His scoring, his play-making, his rebounding, as well as his defense, and when he’s doing all of those things on a consistent basis, to me, he’s one of the best guards in the entire league,” the Denver coach said.
Kentucky football fans certainly know that quarterback Will Levis was not as good overall in 2022 as he was in 2021 but they also knew he dealt with not only a faulty offensive line at times but also injuries he did not encounter in 2021.
Greg Cosell of NFL Films went on Nashville radio’s “104.5 The Zone” with Brent Dougherty and Ron Slay to talk about Levis, the second round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans.
“Levis got hurt early in the season, and in fact, was told by the doctors that he probably shouldn’t even be playing,” Cosell told Slay and Dougherty. “Levis said, ‘No, that ain’t happening, I’m playing football,’ and (Kentucky) had to change their entire offense.
“Everything they did through the month of August through the first two, three weeks, they had to scrap a lot of that because he just physically couldn’t do it. So he did not look anywhere near as good this year as he did in 2021.”
However, Cosell said pre-injury Levis was really good and could return to that form with the Titans as he gets over his 2022 injuries.
“I remember last summer watching his tape from 2021 and saying if he had a good year, he could be the first pick in the draft,” Cosell told the show hosts. “I was told by this particular coach that when the NFL came in, in the month of August, the scouts came away from watching Levis in the month of August and training camp for Kentucky saying, ‘This guy’s phenomenal.’
“But then he got hurt. Two injuries, not just one.”
How good could incoming freshman guard Rob Dillingham be for Kentucky next season?
“I know he’s excited about getting on campus and playing with the guys coming in,” Yahoo/Rivals national basketball writer Krysten Peek. “There is nobody quicker than him with the ball in his hands in this recruiting class.
“If he wants to change the pace of the game he can single handedly do it,” Peek said. “He can turn the corner, draw the defense and dish or finish at the rim.
“Nobody in high school finishes at the rim better than he does. I do not know how that will translate with his size in college. I do not know how he will do against players three or four years older than him.
“His outside jump shot is really coming along. I saw him make several 3’s in competition and not just in drills. I thought that was very positive the last time I saw him.”
Peek thinks Dillingham will have a huge role in determining how successful Kentucky is next season.
“He will be the wild card next year. He will either fit in and they figure it out or there is going to be some personnel issues with who do we play,” Peek said. “But Rob is a very dynamic, explosive player.”
Quote of the Week: “I don’t see that we have any problems. For us in football, it still comes down to relationships no matter what we are spending. If your program is wrecked or the culture messed up, you are not going to get anyone to come. You can always use help but mainly I just go recruit,” UK football recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow on whether UK needs a bigger football recruiting budget.
Quote of the Week 2: “He is crazy good. He is big. He can shoot. He is long and athletic. He plays how he wants to play. He is super, super good,” Kentucky signee Reed Sheppard on future teammate Justin Edwards.
Quote of the Week 3: “I have no regrets about what happened last year. I feel like every situation I was put in helped me get to where I am today. And without those ups and downs that we went through, I might not be here,” Kentucky freshman Cason Wallace on last season preparing him to be a likely NBA draft lottery pick.