Sophie Galloway was sure she did not want to go to the University of Kentucky after her distinguished high school track career ended at Marshall County.
     It was nothing against the UK track program. She just felt she needed to get away a bit more from home. However, a lot has happened since she initially signed with Tennessee.
     The coach who recruited her at Tennessee left for Arkansas, so before the school year started she got her release from Tennessee and transferred to Arkansas. However, that move did not work quite as well as she expected and now she’s transferred to Kentucky.
     “I just decided it was best to leave Arkansas. I talked to other schools but none compared to UK,” said Galloway, a four-time Gatorade Kentucky Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. “(Head) Coach (Lonnie) Greene and (assistant) coach (Kris) Grimes are both great with jumpers and multi-event athletes.
     “I thought in high school I was ready to get away from where I would know a lot of people. After getting to college I realized you don’t see that many people because you are busy. I will know a lot more people at UK, so I will have to watch my back but I will also have a lot of people to support me.”
     Galloway admits she made a “quick decision” to attend Arkansas and didn’t officially visit any schools. She was impressed by Arkansas’ facilities, which might be the best in the country. Her family took a quick unofficial trip to Arkansas where the facilities sold her. However, she eventually found out the coaches wanted her as a 400- and 800-meter runner and not a multi-event athlete.
     “That’s not what I had trained for. I want to do what I love,” Galloway said. “Me and the Arkansas coaches had no problems at all. I just wanted coaches who knew about more than sprints and distance. I want coaches who know about jumping.”
     Galloway dreams of competing in the Olympics in the heptathlon — 100-meter high hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin, and 800-meter run. At last year’s Class AAA state track meet she long jumped 19 feet, 3 inches; triple jumped 41-7 3/4; and finished the 100-meter high hurdles in 14.1 seconds to win all three events. She set Class AAA state records in the hurdles and triple jump that broke her previous record by about two feet.
     That ended her prep career with eight state championships (there was no state track meet in 2019 due to COVID). Galloway also finished third in the nation in the Outdoor Nationals heptathlon in Oregon in July where she won the 100 hurdles (14.12), finished second in the long jump (18-10 1/2), third in the high jump (5-7 1/4) and 200 (25.31), fourth in the shot put (34-2 3/4), sixth in javelin (106-2) and 11th in the 800 (2:40.17).
     Galloway worried the uncertainty about her college future impacted her training the last six months. She says her mind “drifted away” when she first found out her coach was leaving Tennessee.
     “Then when I got to Arkansas we just did conditioning. We ran seven days a week,” Galloway said. “I did not step on a jump it or runway or mat or touch an implement. I haven’t really specifically trained for the long jump or high jump or really anything since July.
     “I hope that is going to be a lot better here (at Kentucky). Everything at Arkansas was getting in shape and the rest will come. But I was taught for years that drills you do to help your technique and details matter. You have to train your brain as much as your body whether it’s track, football, baseball or any sport.
     “Not getting to train was bothering the crap out of me. I have always made practices harder than meets. I like to work. I missed getting to do that.”
     Galloway won’t compete in the indoor season that has already started and is not certain about her eligibility for the outdoor season.
     “I need to get settled in first. I will be there to support the team and coaches,” Galloway said. “I can just take a redshirt year.”
     Galloway knows she will compete in the heptathlon but could also complete in the triple jump and likely the 4x400 relay at UK.
     “Maybe I can do the open high jump. You might see 10 events out of me,” Galloway laughed and said.
     Galloway helped persuade her friend Meg Wilson to come to UK in August

Sophie Galloway was sure she did not want to go to Kentucky coming out of Marshall County High School but seven months later is thrilled to now be on the UK track team and watching basketball games at Rupp Arena.

when she transferred from Miami University (Ohio). The two had trained together in Nashville. Now they might get to run on a relay together.
     “I was moving in and she saw me out of her window and she came running out to see me,” Galloway said about Wilson.
     She is also looking forward to training with UK sprint standout Abby Steiner.
     “It’s going to be great to be around Abby. She might lap me on a sprint, but she will make me better and faster,” Galloway said.
     Galloway’s family is also happy to have her at Kentucky since they are all die-hard UK fans.
     “My parents were always supportive but my grandparents were upset I was so far away,” Galloway said. “All of them bleed blue. They are so glad there is no more ugly orange or red that they have to wear.
     “I have found out in the last few months this is all a business. Some things blew up but I am where I need to be now. This all benefitted me. Being alone and away from my family, I grew up. It was not the most fun experience but I survived.”
     She’s also proud she ended up with a 3.6 grade-point average at Arkansas — she had a 3.91 GPA in high school — despite the worries about her track future.
     Galloway has already had one bittersweet moment at Kentucky. She went to the UK-Georgia men’s basketball game last weekend. It was her first time in Rupp Arena since she played basketball for Marshall County in the state tourney where the Marshals lost the state title game to Sacred Heart.
     “I told my mom and dad I was liable to cry because I still think we should have won state,” Galloway said. “That feeling will never change.”

     Leg cramps in the second half kept TyTy Washington from fully showing what he could do in UK's loss at LSU. However, LSU coach Will Wade made it clear before the game how impressed he was with the Kentucky freshman.
     "Washington's gonna be a lottery pick and can score at all three levels. Makes 3’s, gets to the rim. Really, really good in the mid range,” Wade said.” I think about half the shots are in the mid range. Like I said, he's gonna be a lottery pick.”
     Washington came back in the next game against Georgia and played like a lottery pick in a win over Georgia when he had 17 points and a school-record 17 assists (he broke the mark previously held by John Wall). He also had five rebounds and two steals
     Wall played on John Calipari's first team at Kentucky in the 2009-10 season and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
     “It's John Wall. I watched a bunch of highlights of him at Kentucky and watched him in the NBA a lot,” Washington said after the Georgia win. “To break records is exciting. Kentucky has had a lot of other great point guards.
     “I hope nobody breaks it (his record), but the next person who does, congrats to them.”
     I asked Washington if he had ever had 17 assists in a game before.
     “I’ve had 17 assists on @NBA2K (a video game) before, but that’s about it,” Washington laughed and said.
     Earlier this season Washington had a double-double with points and rebounds. He's the first UK player with a double-double with points and assists along with points and rebounds since Ashton Hagans in the 2018-19 season.
     Kentucky coach John Calipari says Washington has the same flexibility/versatility that former UK guards Jamal Murray, Brandon Knight and Tyrese Maxey had. All three could play point guard but also score.
     “He can be away from the ball and we can still do things with him so he can make basketball plays,” Calipari said.

     When Phil Collins lived in Lexington and worked for SuperAmerica, his company teamed up with then Kentucky basketball coach Tubby Smith to support local charities.
     “He gave more of his personal time to the community than any coach we have ever had and that includes (John) Calipari, who does a great deal,” Collins said. “The big difference is that nothing was too small for Tubby and Calipari likes to focus on the big things. I am not saying that is bad, just different.”
     Collins’ granddaughter, Devon, was one of the SuperAmerica Grandkids selected to present an $85,000 check to Smith in 1998 for his Kids Foundation.
     “He signed a basketball for her and the other five kids involved,” Collins said. “He would also frequently show up at SuperAmerica convenience stores unannounced and sign autographs for customers making donations.
     “Tubby also sent a signed basketball to me at my retirement celebration.”
     That retirement gift surprised Collins because the only time he had met Smith was at the $85,000 check presentation that was handled by SuperAmerica’s marketing department. His retirement party was a private affair with some SuperAmerica management associates and their spouses.
     “I was not expecting any gifts, just an evening with close friends and I don't actually know who arranged for the signed basketball. It was presented to me at this dinner party. They also gave me a limited print of a Kentucky Wildcat with the American flag behind it that was also signed by Tubby,” Collins said. “Tubby really didn't have to do this, but he did! Things like this just seem to be part of who he is and his signature on these items makes them a great deal more meaningful.”
     These kinds of memories just keep getting shared by UK fans who were thrilled recently to see Kentucky retire a jersey for Smith.

     Oscar Tshiebwe has a passion for rebounding few players do but also credits his time playing soccer as a major factor in why he’s now the nation’s top rebounder.
     “I started playing basketball when I was 15. Before I played soccer and goalie. You have got to catch everything (playing goalie),” Tshiebwe said. “I fly for everything (to stop a goal). Somebody kicks the ball, they better not score. That really helped me when it came to basketball.”
     How did it help?
     “Every time you shoot the ball my mind is like a goalie and I do not want anybody to score. I feel like a goalie protecting the goal. For basketball, what I did in soccer as goalie helped me out. I tried to find the ball and go get it. I just want to go get the ball.”
     He did credit West Virginia coach Bob Huggins for helping him understand positioning better and where to go to look for the ball after a missed shot. Huggins even had him run in practice if he didn’t go to the opposite side of the goal from where the ball was shot.
     “That really helped me stop watching the ball,” Tshiebwe said. “I feel like I can get the ball. Nobody in the country can stop me from getting a rebound.”
     After 15 games, Tshiebwe was averaging a nation best 15.2 rebounds per game along with 16.1 points per game. He's shooting 61.7 percent from the field.

  Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week 1:

     “I watched him work out and we know he is a good player and he is going to be really good. We have got to figure out the plan. I am pretty sure Coach (John Calipari) has something in store for him,” junior Keion Brooks on freshman Shaedon Sharpe.

Quote of the Week 2:

     “He can stop, start, and explode with rare suddenness. His twitch shows up both as a runner and a receiver. He can set up releases with his effervescent twitch and get defensive backs off-balance with his sheer energy as a player. Beyond that, he has the vertical athleticism to leap for tough grabs,” Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings on UK receiver Wan’Dale Robinson’s draft potential.

Quote of the Week 3:

     “This decision is a decision that affects you for the next four years of your life and sets you up for your future, and thinking about all that stuff and being the first person in my family to go to college I just wanted to make sure I put myself in the best position to succeed. I’d say the people, the state and the brand they’ve built as an offensive line,” five-star offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin to 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong on why he picked UK over Michigan State.