By LARRY VAUGHT
Four-star defensive lineman Kalen Edwards is from Dyersburg, Tenn., but he was never a Tennessee fan and made that obvious when he said one of the highlights of his life was signing to play football at Kentucky.
“I’m from Tennessee, so Tennessee was in my mind but I had kind of bad blood with Tennessee,” said the Kentucky freshman. “I can’t wait to play Tennessee. I liked the blue when I was a kid. That blue was nice. I like the blue over that (Tennessee) checkerboard looking stuff.”
How did that go over living in Tennessee?
“Well, you keep it to yourself. Before I committed, everybody was wondering what I would do. They would ask, ‘Are you going to Tennessee?’ Everybody in the community, everybody in my school. Every time they asked I’d be like, I don’t know. But I knew where I was going and it was not Tennessee.”
The 6-4, 315-pound Edward picked Kentucky over Auburn and Louisville after playing offensive line, defensive line and tight end at Dyersburg.
Edwards should be a player Kentucky fans quickly embrace. In the Kentucky football media guide he was asked if he could have dinner with one famous person, living or dead, who would he pick? His choice was former UK linebacker J.J. Weaver, a three-time captain at UK who was recently named the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year that is based primarily on a player’s leadership both on and off the field.
The UK freshman said it was Weaver’s story — his father was murdered in Georgia and his high school coach and mentor died of cancer in the same year and then Weaver also suffered a serious knee injury in the same — that touched him well before Edwards got on campus.
“He was a great Kentucky player and just something stuck out to me. I really didn’t know him but his story just touched me.”
Edwards wasn’t familiar with another Randall Cobb, who grew up only a few miles away from the Tennessee camp but was not recruited by the Vols until after he committed to Kentucky. Cobb went on to earn all-SEC honors and have a long NFL career.
“I didn’t know what. I will have to Google him but I like it,” the UK freshman said.
He wants to succeed at Kentucky so he can eventually be in position to help his mother for what she’s done for him.
“She’s a single mom and just worked so hard for me and my three sisters,” he said. “She has always worked super hard and I want to help her by doing something I love. I don’t want my mom to have to work again. That’s one reason I came to Kentucky because I feel like coach Stew (Anwar Stewart) and UK could get me to the NFL so my mom won’t have to work. That’s my big motivation.
“I like coach Stew because he can joke around with you but when it is time to work, it’s time to work. I like that. It’s not always serious but you know you are going to work.”
Edwards said Stewart made that message clear before he committed to Kentucky.
“He straight up told me ‘if you want to hit that main goal (NFL), if you come work with me, and if you put in the effort, I will get you there.’ That’s exactly what he told me when he came to my school and I told him,” Edwards said. “I ain’t gonna say I committed right off. I was still looking around, but when he told me that it was always in the back of my mind.
“You know what was crazy. No other coach told me that. So I knew from then on I definitely was going to Kentucky.”
Oklahoma coach Porter Moser has suffered two heartbreaking losses to Kentucky this season and he believes others will find out in NCAA Tournament play how difficult playing against UK can be even with the injuries coach Mark Pope has had to cope with this season.
“In terms of Kentucky’s team, they got a lot of weapons. They’ve got two really good passing bigs (Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison),” Moser said. “They have some elite shooters. They have (Andrew) Carr. Almost all of them can knock down 3’s. Everybody can shoot.
“It’s tough to pick your poison when you’re spaced out with Otega (Oweh) going downhill the way he does. I think they can make a long run (in NCAA play).”
Why?
“They got some older guys, veterans, winners. I believe their offense is hard to guard. I think getting in this tournament, people are going to have to adjust, five out. Not too many teams have two bigs that can pass like they do,” Moser said. “They run excellent stuff at that five out. I think they’re going to be a hard out.”
The big question for Kentucky will be the status of point guard Lamont Butler who re-injured his shoulder in the win over Oklahoma and played only eight minutes but is expected to be ready for UK’s first game in NCAA play.
“Lamont’s a Final Four point guard. He’s done great things for them this whole year. He gives you an elite defender, he gives you a confident leader at the point. He’s a terrific player. Got a lot of respect for him,” Moser said.
Butler did not play against Alabama when the Cats got routed by 29 points, UK’s most lopsided SEC tourney loss, either. However, even Alabama coach Nate Oats emphasized not to write off UK quite yet.
“Our plan was to try to keep them out of transition, keep them off the 3-point line, pressure them on defense. On offense I thought we could attack them a little bit better downhill than we had in the past,” Oats said. “Obviously it’s a thinner Kentucky team. They’ve got a lot of injuries. (Jaxson) Robinson has been out . And then Oweh got hurt a little bit. Only played 20 minutes. We were fortunate that they weren’t as deep as us.”
Junior defensive back Ty Bryant is not a player getting a lot of attention as Kentucky tries to recoup in the upcoming season. However, he has played in 25 games in two years and started 13 games.
Bryant has 81 tackles in the two seasons and was sixth on the team in tackles in 2024, including making seven tackles against Tennessee and six against Georgia.
“I think Ty’s gonna take a huge jump this year,” Kentucky associate coach Vince Marrow said. “There was a split on our staff actually on whether to take him (out of high school) and some guys (coaches) wanted to see him.
“We got him in camp and he ran a really good time. You knew the character of him and who he was. He came in and played early and contributed as a freshman on special teams and played a huge role last year. He really, really took the next step up for his last year and I think he’s ready to do more.”
Bryant, the son of former UK receiver Cisco Bryant, was recently with Marrow doing community service work with Lexington fifth graders when Bryant was sharing who some of the most extraordinary people he had come across were.
“He’s just mature. He reminds me of a young man right now,” Marrow said. “I am very excited about him. I think this goes across the board. We brought in people from the portal and we got talented, high character kids but you better recruit your roster and you better maintain guys like Ty Bryant on our roster. That’s how you build your team.”
Kentucky women’s basketball assistant coach Josh Petersen has a different way of describing how coaches operate to prepare for postseason play.
“We are like auditors and find everything wrong with the team but we have got to remind ourselves about everything good with the team, too,” Petersen said. “Coach (Kenny) Brooks put together a team in one month and came out with a 22-6 record in the regular season and fourth overall in the SEC.
“It has been a very successful year. You always want more as a coach but you also have to remind yourself how far the team has come and that is something to be proud of.”
Brooks has immediately raised expectations for UK fans that had been missing in recent years and that should only escalate when NCAA Tournament play starts this week.
“That’s the best pressure right now. Big Blue Nation has been tremendous to us as a team and on a personal level to me and my family,” the UK assistant coach said. “That gives you some juice. You have to refocus. We have got a great set of young players.”
Kentucky lost to Texas, LSU and South Carolina late in the season and then lost to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament. But despite going 3-4 in those last seven games, Petersen feels good about UK.
“Our schedule really amped up at the end. We were exposed from a rebounding standpoint a few times,” he said. “Our kids are playing a lot of minutes but there were some great teams we rebounded right with. We just have to keep reminding the kids who we are and sharpen a couple of things to have us ready for the NCAA and then also make sure we are recharged emotionally.”
Former Kentucky Miss Softball Kaylee Tow of Madisonville had an All-American career at Alabama. She’s still the all-time high school hits leader in Kentucky, a mark that likely will be surpassed by UK commit McLaine Hudson, a junior who hit .620 with 93 hits for South Warren.
“Records are meant to be broken, so I will be super happy for McLaine. I’ve heard so many positive things about her. I know she’s going to Kentucky and Kentucky fans will be excited to watch her,” Tow said. “Every time my records get broken, I’m even happier than when I set them because that’s what it’s all about, raising the bar for the next generation.”
Tow works as an analyst for the SEC Network but does not think she has been assigned any UK games this year.
“But usually whenever I fill in on podcasts or get to talk about the SEC in general, I get to talk about Kentucky. I think they have a lot of younger pieces and they have some fresh faces I like,” Tow said. “They’re an interesting team and I don’t really know what to expect from them. I definitely think they have potential and at the same time, it’s just putting that together.”
Tow almost chose to play at Kentucky for coach Rachel Lawson before opting for Alabama. However, she “appreciated” the preseason comments Lawson made when she said she had not done a good coaching job the last few years.
“Really it just came down to loyalty to her players versus loyalty to the University of Kentucky. That’s the most candid I think I’ve ever heard a softball coach be,” Tow said. “I have always loved Rachel Lawson from the time she was recruiting me to playing against her team to now covering them as a media analyst.
“I felt so loved by her in recruiting and almost said yes to her so many times. So UK has a phenomenal coach and person in Rachel Lawson.”
Quote of the Week: “I see a lot of experts are using Kentucky’s injuries as a reason why they don’t think Kentucky can make a deep run. Those same people seem to forget that most of Kentucky’s big victories came shorthanded,” WVLK sports talk show host Larry Glover on UK’s NCAA chances.
Quote of the Week 2: “I played on the first women’s basketball team at Virginia Tech from 1971-74. I’m proud of Georgia Amoore for what she did at Tech, and proud of her success at UK. She’s an incredible player and will have great success in the WNBA,” Ruth Wilkinson on UK point guard Georgia Amoore.
Quote of the Week 3: “When you go through a year like that, you have to challenge every player and say you’re coming in here and you’re going to earn your position, right. No entitlement whatsoever. Everything is going to be earned, nothing is given and we have to get back to that. Nobody is going to be given anything. They’d better go win the job,” Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops on KSR about the upcoming season.