BYU women’s volleyball head coach Rob Neilson announced on May 22 the signing of transfer middle blocker Kelli Jo (KJ) Burgess for the upcoming season.
Burgess, a Lehi, Utah native and graduate of Oklahoma, will join the Cougars for her final year of eligibility. She spent two seasons at Oklahoma, where she was named an AVCA All-Central Region Honorable Mention and earned a spot on the All-SEC Second Team last season. Burgess recorded 195 kills with a .411 hitting percentage and tallied 136 total blocks, including 18 solo blocks. Her performance included a career-high of 11 blocks in a match against Kentucky in 2025.
Before transferring to Oklahoma, Burgess played two years at Utah. She redshirted her sophomore year in 2023 but made an impact as a freshman by being named AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year and earning selection to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team. During that season, she led all Pac-12 freshmen in hitting percentage (.376) and blocks per set (1.20), ranking among the top six nationally among freshmen in both categories in 2022.
Burgess attended Lone Peak High School where she won three state championships. She was recognized as a Second Team AVCA High School All-American in 2021 and was named Deseret News 6A Player of the Year, along with earning First Team All-State honors twice.
She is also known for her family connections to collegiate athletics: her father is Chris Burgess, BYU men’s basketball assistant coach, while her younger sister Zoey plays volleyball at Arizona State. With this addition, Burgess becomes the fifth member of BYU’s incoming class for summer 2026.
