Kam Williams with his father, Greg Williams Sr. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kam Williams was a three-star prospect and ranked as the No. 46 small forward in the 2024 recruiting class by 247Sport but he quickly showed he was underrated when he started 28 games as a true freshman at Tulane.
His final game last season he was 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range as he finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in a season-ending loss to Memphis, a NCAA Tournament team.
The 6-8, 190-pound Williams averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game last season. He shot 41 percent from 3-point range and started 28 games.
He hit the transfer portal after the season and quickly committed to Kentucky and coach Mark Pope. He had 13 games in double figures at Tulane and led all freshmen in the American Conference in minutes played at 32.1 minutes per game.
Williams also considered Florida, Louisville, Baylor, Texas, LSU, Texas Tech, Arkansas and USC but he picked UK without even making a visit to Kentucky.
Guards Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh) and Denzel Aberdeen (Florida) are also part of UK’s transfer portal class along with center Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State) and forwards Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama) and Adriatic League (Croatia).
Williams probably has been the least talked about player in Kentucky’s portal class but maybe that should change.
NBAdraft.net has already released a 2026 NBA mock draft with BYU signee AJ Dybantsa listed No. 1 to match his recruiting ranking. Duke signee Cameron Boozer is listed fourth, North Carolina signee Caleb Wilson fifth and Tennessee signee Nate Ament sixth. All were one-time UK recruits.
Quaintance, a 6-9 power player, has been projected as a potential top five pick but is “only” No. 11 in the NBAdraft.net projections. He’s coming off a knee injury and once he proves he’s full healthy his ranking likely will rise.
But guess who is No. 16? That’s right — Williams.
“The main thing when Kentucky called was that they not only said they wanted him but also told him to look at Koby Brea and that is what they wanted him to be,” Williams’ father, Greg Williams Sr., said. “That gave him a goal. Somebody they had on the team, they thought he could come in and work and be like him. That showed me they really did their homework on him.”
Kam Williams grew up in Lafayette, La., a Kentucky fan because the Cats were producing so many high NBA draft picks and NBA stars.
“I always knew that my dream was to get to the NBA, so watching them and all the stars that they created, it was really just something that not many people get the opportunity to have,” Willams said. “They really sent a lot of people to the league. I wanted to be just like them.”
And if NBAdraft.net is right, he may get that chance a lot quicker than some have anticipated.
3 Responses
Most likely, he will be backing up Dioubate at the 3 spot. If so, can he get enough playing time to get on the NBA radar? Maybe in 2026/27.
He averaged 9.3 ppg at Tulane. If he would have played for us last year I’m guessing he would have averaged about 5-6 ppg. He is a elite athlete. He can guard 4 positions. He is a great defender and is probably the best shooter on the team. For as many 3s as he shot he was shooting almost 42% a clip. I think he will be better this year and average around the same. About 9 ppg. He will probably be the 6th or 7th man on this team. If he would stay 2 years I can see him being a lottery pick. Use this year playing against sec competition and get a feel for it. Then take over starting duties and might just be the man on the team his second year. Don’t throw rocks at me but I think we will be even better in 26-27. Popes third year will give us a taste of how Kentucky basketball will be from here on out. The one thing I worry about but nobody is talking about is I could possibly see a strike like what’s in pro sports. You see that Ziegler for Tennessee is suing the NCAA for a 5th year of eligibility. Problem is he’s played 4 years at Tennessee over 140 games he’s played in already. If the NCAA allows this imagine all the players that will be seeking a 5th year of college ball. If Ziegler is allowed to play its quite frankly unfair. Tennessee might just be trying to ruin college basketball. If he’s allowed to play as a graduate senior after already playing 4 years there could be over 1,000 athletes sue the NCAA for a extra year. That’s why I’m saying a I could see college players who don’t get paid even a quarter of what the next player is making could hold out on playing over money. Its actually worse than the NBA now. I think that’s why the NBA wad pushing for NIL so they could ruin college basketball and start farm leagues for the pro as college teams. With the athletics departments becoming LLCs anything is possible.
Mr. Wren makes sense. Hey Ziegler and Tennessee, take the 4 years as are the rules. You are a good player, but it would be so very unfair if you (and thus perhaps others) to give you another year. The money must not have been good enough for you at TN. And perhaps prospects in the NBA are not there. You have graduated but just do not like your prospects so therefore you want another year. Too bad. I am sorry you feel like this. Surely whatever degree you earned will enable you to get a nice job for now and your future.