All-American Kaylee Tow Almost Missed Brother’s ‘wow’ Moment at UK

Former Alabama All-American Kaylee Tow with her brother, Zach, at Big Blue Madness.

She’s had her share of historic athletic moments but almost missed one of her brother’s biggest moments Tuesday because she was cleaning her apartment in Charleston, S.C.

Kaylee Tow, a former Kentucky Miss Softball at Madisonville North Hopkins, was a three-time All-American player at Alabama who started 257 games in her five-year career (2018-22) and hit .314 with 228 hits, including 34 homers, and 181 RBIs.

Her brother, Zach, was a basketball player at Madisonville North Hopkins who averaged 12.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game his senior season and played in the 2019 state tournament.

He earned a walk-on spot on the UK basketball roster this year after an open tryout — coach Mark Pope called it a one-day contract that had to be renewed constantly

Zach Tow had been on the UK bench this season but never in uniform until Tuesday when teammate Lamont Butler, who had suggested the idea to Pope, presented Tow with a jersey in the team’s pregame speech. If that wasn’t enough, Pope put Tow and other walk-on players into the game with 0.2 seconds in the win over LSU.

“I went to a lot of games when I was around at Christmas but was not there Tuesday. My father is retired, and he goes to almost every game,” Kaylee said.

Zach Tow has a group text message with his family but did not let them know he would be dressing after he got the jersey from Butler.

“Dad came into the game and was not paying attention, and Zach was trying to get his attention to show him he was in uniform,” Kaylee said. “Then Dad sent the message that he was dressed for the game. Even then, I did not think he would get in the game with the way the season has gone and having to earn his spot every single day. Everything paid off Tuesday night. It was so cool to see that happen for him.

“But I did almost miss it because I was cleaning my apartment, but thank goodness I saw it. I turned to the TV and saw the arena going crazy. I thought the game was over, and then there was my brother on TV. My jaw about hit the floor.”

Zach Tow grew up a huge Kentucky fan in western Kentucky. Kaylee said her brother had some Division II and Division III basketball offers but had friends already at UK and decided to join them rather than play small college basketball. He joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was voted president of the fraternity last year, a role he had to give up when he made the basketball team.

“Only God could have put him where he is now. My mom randomly sent him the tryout link. He decided to go and was approved 24 hours before the tryout but had to have a TB test, and he was told it would take four days to get the results back,” Kaylee said. “He figured he would not be able to go to the tryout, but when he woke up the next morning, the test results were in his inbox, and he was able to go and make the team. It was a miracle.”

Kaylee, the state softball all-time hits leader with 359, met UK coach Mark Pope at Big Blue Madness, and he told her about Zach’s one-day contract but that he was “putting a lot of one days together” even though the other players had been together for months before Zach joined the team.

“He would not have wanted it any other way. He wanted to know he earned what he got and it was not given,” she said. “It was tough and grueling to go through every day on a one-day contract, but the man he is now versus the man who began this process is totally different. I don’t know how he got through it, but he is humble and the perfect person to make it through that process.”

Even though Kentucky was winning by a big margin, she never expected her brother to get into the game. She understood from her playing career that coaches did not owe players a chance to play.

“He deserved it, but we are a family that does not feel like coaches owe you anything, so we don’t expect anything,” she said. “I think Lamont presenting the jersey to him speaks to the man he was and adds to Zach’s legacy for what he’s done.

The family had a FaceTime chat after the game, but most were still in disbelief at everything that had happened.

“We had accepted him not getting a jersey and were fine with that and still happy for him. We were in disbelief that he got a jersey and then got to actually play the same night. His work all paid off in one night,” Kaylee said.

Tow remembers Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy always talking about “moments of wow” being created that are remembered forever.

“This was one of those moments of wow for Zach and all of us,” she said. “I won’t ever forget it. So many people have reached out to tell me how proud they are of Zach. I grew up in athletics and had a great journey. But because this was so unexpected, Zach’s moment is almost a little bit sweeter because our family did not think we would experience this again. We are just over the moon happy.”

Even though she went to Alabama, Kaylee also grew up a Kentucky fan who always wanted to play at UK. She’s a faith-based person who prayed for guidance about her career choice and eventually felt Alabama was where she was destined to be.

“Now I have reconnected with Kentucky athletics because of my brother,” she said. “I never thought I would wear blue again, but when I landed in Lexington for Big Blue Madness, I realized when I got off the plane I had nothing blue and had to get that corrected.”

She doesn’t know if her brother will be in uniform Saturday at Missouri or next week at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

“I am going to the SEC Tournament and certainly hope he is (in uniform). I have his jersey that I am going to proudly wear and still cannot believe that my brother finally got his UK jersey and got in a game,” she said.