Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Jeremy Cannon
Heading Off To School Away From Home Nothing New For CU Freshman Kai Volcy
July 17, 2018 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – After spending the past six years attending school away from home, heading off to college away from home seems normal for University of Colorado women's basketball freshman Kai Volcy, a 6-foot-4 post player.
A native of Bloomfield, N.J., Volcy attended The Groton School, a boarding school in Groton, Mass., from eighth grade through high school, about four hours from home. She then spent last year at The Hun School, a prep school in Princeton, N.J., only about 45 minutes from Bloomfield.
"My school was more academically driven than sports oriented," Volcy said. "So I didn't really get a lot of exposure to basketball or get a lot of good experience playing there. I did five years, eighth grade through 12th. Then I actually did a post-graduate year just last year at a different boarding school. That was a little bit more for basketball. I've been away from home for six years."
"She is very mature, well-spoken, and articulate as college freshmen go," CU head coach JR Payne said. "She has been away from home for her entire high school career. She would get to go home for vacations and summers, but her academics have been a huge priority for most of her life."
Volcy comes to CU with high expectations for her academics, as well as her basketball future. She will be studying pre-med to go into pediatrics, following the medical-field footsteps of her mother, Kellie, a nurse. She is also considering taking something academically from her father, Frantz. Now a civil engineer, he used to work in finance, and Volcy is considering working on a minor in that area as well.
She also developed her love of basketball from Frantz, who played basketball at Seton Hall for four years and was part of the 1989 team that lost in overtime to Michigan in the 1989 national championship. However, Volcy is still young in the game as she did not start playing until the summer before her freshman year of high school.
"In ninth grade, the coach at my boarding school asked if I wanted to be on the team," Volcy said. "I was walking around 6-foot-2 and not playing a sport. So he was like, 'You have to do something. Why not try out for the team?' So it just developed from there and I started getting interest."
Coming from a high academics school, her college options for basketball were limited so she enrolled at The Hun School a year ago to continue her strong academic endeavors, but also expose her to better basketball.
The combination of academics and basketball has already drawn comparisons to Haley Smith, a 2017 graduate from CU, who scored over 1,000 points, while majoring in chemical engineering, and is now in Stanford's School of Medicine.
"When we first met Kai when she came on her official visit here, we said Kai is like the 6-4 version of Haley Smith, who everybody loves," head coach JR Payne said. "Haley is one of the most amazing young women to ever come through this program. Just in her character, her love of academics, her desire to be really great at anything she did. Kai is a lot like that. She is extremely driven academically. She was already asking for more summer classes. She only had to take one but she really wanted to take another one. So we had to get approval to get her another summer class. She is that type of person."
On the court, she provides the Buffs with a low-post presence that will be important after the graduation of four-year letterwinner Zoe Correal. Volcy is the only true low-post player on CU's roster and will be counted on to defend and rebound against some of the top post players in the country on a nightly basis in the Pac-12.
"She doesn't have any idea what her ceiling is," Payne said. "I don't think any of us do. We really feel like she has so much untapped potential. She has had good coaches, good trainers, and all of those things, but she just hasn't ever really dedicated her life to basketball. She will continue to dedicate herself academically because her heart is in that part of her life. But I also think now for the first time, she is really dedicating herself to basketball on the same level as she is academically. I think we are going to skyrocket and blossom from a basketball standpoint."
Volcy was an all-league player as a senior at The Groton School in 2016-17, but really shined during her year at The Hun School. This past winter, she averaged 12.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, and was named to the Times of Trenton All-Prep team. An all-around athlete, she was also a two-time team MVP in track and field at The Groton School.
"She has great hands," Payne said. "She can catch pretty much anything. She runs pretty well. She is very mobile for her size. She is like a blank sheet of paper. She doesn't have any bad habits. She doesn't have anything that we think would take a long time to fix."
More than anything, Payne is impressed with her ability to learn quickly.
"She is very eager to learn...A lot of kids come in and they have been taught something a certain way. We might do it differently. I told her one thing [on Monday], 'You have probably always done this, but we do it this way.' The very next possession, she went out and did it the way I asked her to do it. It was something fundamental—footwork-wise, defensively. She fixed it. She is very eager to learn and see how great she can be. That is a huge plus for us."
Volcy is also the second member of the Buffs with a unique diet. Sophomore guard Peyton Carter is a vegetarian, but Volcy takes it a step further and is a vegan. Vegetarians refrain from consuming meat, but vegans avoid all animal products, including eggs and dairy.
Unlike Carter, who grew up as a vegetarian, Volcy is new to her dietary choices.
"I'm going on my fifth month doing it," Volcy said. "But I have been vegetarian for close to a year now. I basically just started doing it just to see if I could. It wasn't really any deeper decision than that. It has been a little bit challenging just being limited to what the [school cafeteria] has to offer because it doesn't always have the most appealing things for vegans. Overall, though, it is way better than New Jersey. Boulder is definitely the place to be for good eating and alternative eating.
"Obviously, being healthier is always the goal. Knowing I was going to be playing basketball at a high level, I wanted to do the best thing I could for my body."
A native of Bloomfield, N.J., Volcy attended The Groton School, a boarding school in Groton, Mass., from eighth grade through high school, about four hours from home. She then spent last year at The Hun School, a prep school in Princeton, N.J., only about 45 minutes from Bloomfield.
"My school was more academically driven than sports oriented," Volcy said. "So I didn't really get a lot of exposure to basketball or get a lot of good experience playing there. I did five years, eighth grade through 12th. Then I actually did a post-graduate year just last year at a different boarding school. That was a little bit more for basketball. I've been away from home for six years."
"She is very mature, well-spoken, and articulate as college freshmen go," CU head coach JR Payne said. "She has been away from home for her entire high school career. She would get to go home for vacations and summers, but her academics have been a huge priority for most of her life."
Volcy comes to CU with high expectations for her academics, as well as her basketball future. She will be studying pre-med to go into pediatrics, following the medical-field footsteps of her mother, Kellie, a nurse. She is also considering taking something academically from her father, Frantz. Now a civil engineer, he used to work in finance, and Volcy is considering working on a minor in that area as well.
She also developed her love of basketball from Frantz, who played basketball at Seton Hall for four years and was part of the 1989 team that lost in overtime to Michigan in the 1989 national championship. However, Volcy is still young in the game as she did not start playing until the summer before her freshman year of high school.
"In ninth grade, the coach at my boarding school asked if I wanted to be on the team," Volcy said. "I was walking around 6-foot-2 and not playing a sport. So he was like, 'You have to do something. Why not try out for the team?' So it just developed from there and I started getting interest."
Coming from a high academics school, her college options for basketball were limited so she enrolled at The Hun School a year ago to continue her strong academic endeavors, but also expose her to better basketball.
The combination of academics and basketball has already drawn comparisons to Haley Smith, a 2017 graduate from CU, who scored over 1,000 points, while majoring in chemical engineering, and is now in Stanford's School of Medicine.
"When we first met Kai when she came on her official visit here, we said Kai is like the 6-4 version of Haley Smith, who everybody loves," head coach JR Payne said. "Haley is one of the most amazing young women to ever come through this program. Just in her character, her love of academics, her desire to be really great at anything she did. Kai is a lot like that. She is extremely driven academically. She was already asking for more summer classes. She only had to take one but she really wanted to take another one. So we had to get approval to get her another summer class. She is that type of person."
On the court, she provides the Buffs with a low-post presence that will be important after the graduation of four-year letterwinner Zoe Correal. Volcy is the only true low-post player on CU's roster and will be counted on to defend and rebound against some of the top post players in the country on a nightly basis in the Pac-12.
"She doesn't have any idea what her ceiling is," Payne said. "I don't think any of us do. We really feel like she has so much untapped potential. She has had good coaches, good trainers, and all of those things, but she just hasn't ever really dedicated her life to basketball. She will continue to dedicate herself academically because her heart is in that part of her life. But I also think now for the first time, she is really dedicating herself to basketball on the same level as she is academically. I think we are going to skyrocket and blossom from a basketball standpoint."
Volcy was an all-league player as a senior at The Groton School in 2016-17, but really shined during her year at The Hun School. This past winter, she averaged 12.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, and was named to the Times of Trenton All-Prep team. An all-around athlete, she was also a two-time team MVP in track and field at The Groton School.
"She has great hands," Payne said. "She can catch pretty much anything. She runs pretty well. She is very mobile for her size. She is like a blank sheet of paper. She doesn't have any bad habits. She doesn't have anything that we think would take a long time to fix."
More than anything, Payne is impressed with her ability to learn quickly.
"She is very eager to learn...A lot of kids come in and they have been taught something a certain way. We might do it differently. I told her one thing [on Monday], 'You have probably always done this, but we do it this way.' The very next possession, she went out and did it the way I asked her to do it. It was something fundamental—footwork-wise, defensively. She fixed it. She is very eager to learn and see how great she can be. That is a huge plus for us."
Volcy is also the second member of the Buffs with a unique diet. Sophomore guard Peyton Carter is a vegetarian, but Volcy takes it a step further and is a vegan. Vegetarians refrain from consuming meat, but vegans avoid all animal products, including eggs and dairy.
Unlike Carter, who grew up as a vegetarian, Volcy is new to her dietary choices.
"I'm going on my fifth month doing it," Volcy said. "But I have been vegetarian for close to a year now. I basically just started doing it just to see if I could. It wasn't really any deeper decision than that. It has been a little bit challenging just being limited to what the [school cafeteria] has to offer because it doesn't always have the most appealing things for vegans. Overall, though, it is way better than New Jersey. Boulder is definitely the place to be for good eating and alternative eating.
"Obviously, being healthier is always the goal. Knowing I was going to be playing basketball at a high level, I wanted to do the best thing I could for my body."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
WBB: Colorado vs New Mexico | November 6th 2025
Friday, November 07
Desiree Wooten at media day ahead of the 2025-26 season | The Buffalo Stampede: Women's Basketball
Monday, October 13
Erianna Gooden at media day ahead of the 2025-26 season | The Buffalo Stampede: Women's Basketball
Monday, October 13
Jade Masogayo at media day ahead of the 2025-26 season | The Buffalo Stampede: Women's Basketball
Monday, October 13