Williams Prepared to Take On Knock-Down Shooter Role for Cats
Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope wants to have several good shooters on his roster every year. Last season, Pope’s first at UK, proved just that.
This season, the Cats appear to be stacked with good shooters once again. But one player believes that he’s the best shooter of the bunch.
Sophomore Kam Williams met the media on Tuesday to discuss his transfer to Kentucky and how practice is going so far this summer. But when it came to talking about who the best shooter on the team is, Williams did not mince words. When asked what his score as a shooter would be in the EA Sports NCAA Basketball video game, with 99 being the highest possible rating, Williams showed his confidence.
“99,” he said, without hesitation. “That simple.”
As a freshman at Tulane last season, Williams proved that he can put the ball in the basket at an efficient clip. He shot 48.5 percent from the floor, including 41.2 percent from three-point range, while averaging 9.3 points per game. The Lafayette, Louisiana, native scored a season-high 24 points against UAB in the regular season finale for the Green Wave. He was 6 of 8 from behind the arc in that contest.
Williams actually committed to Kentucky while the Cats were still playing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. While it was not a normal recruitment, Williams saw opportunity and he struck while the iron was hot.
“I would say [the recruitment] was a little different, because normally, you would come visit here, and you talk and then make a decision,” Williams said. “But I noticed that they needed shooters. They had shooters on the team who were leaving. So, I felt like I could have just filled one of those roles kind of fast, and then they can go recruit whatever they need.”
Pope spoke very highly of Williams as his commitment to the UK program became official.
“Kam is a beautiful kid who is not only an elite-level shooter but also an elite 1-through-4 defender,” Pope said. “He has a ton of gravity to his game and has untapped athleticism that is going to make his ceiling really high.”
Williams has looked to a UK returnee as someone he wants to emulate this season.
“Otega (Oweh), he’s really been helping me the most,” Williams said. “He’s a veteran to the team, so if there’s something that I am kind of questioning, I just ask him and he tells me right then and there.”
As the Cats hope to look even more like the offense that Pope wants to see, which will include shooting more three-point baskets, Williams figures to play a prominent role in making that happen.
