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Kentucky now has one key player off last year’s team that intends to be back playing for coach Mark Pope next season.
Sophomore Kam Williams maintained he wanted to stay at Kentucky and he will be back with the Cats based on what NBA analyst Jonathan Givony of Draft Express first reported Tuesdayand then Williams’ father, Greg, confirmed.
The 6-foot-8 Williams transferred to UK from Tulane a year ago and averaged 6.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in the 24 games — with seven starts — he was able to play. He shot 36 percent from 3 on 78 tries after hitting 41 percent on 153 attempts the previous season at Tulane.
Williams missed 13 games after breaking his foot against Texas on Jan. 21 but worked to get back and played in the SEC Tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope wanted to retain Williams not only for his offensive versatility but also because of his defensive presence. He not only can guard multiple positions but has the length and athleticism to disrupt most offensive players.
Williams obviously has NBA aspirations but knows playing time is not guaranteed. He originally seemed inclined to wait a bit to see who UK might be adding to the roster but now he’s obviously content to compete for playing time at the 2 or 3 no matter who UK adds to the roster.
Jaland Lowe, Andrija Jelavic, Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison and Jasper Johnson have all decided to transfer even though Jelavic did not rule out a possible return to UK if wanted. Even Denzel Aberdeen, who went through Senior Day and has played in almost 120 collegiate games in four seasons, has put his name into the transfer portal hoping he can get a waiver to play another year of college basketball.
Freshman 7-foot center Malachi Moreno started 30 games last season and announced Monday he would return to Kentucky if he withdraws from the NBA draft but that means nothing will be official on his return until probably mid-June after workouts with NBA teams.
Starting guard Collin Chandler is another priority for Pope to retain and Kentucky native Trent Noah has not indicated if he will stay for a junior season or transfer. Redshirts Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter have indicated they will return and UK has a verbal commitment from four-star high school point guard Mason Williams.
4 Responses
Williams and Noah play the 3 spot. One of them needs to step up and prove that they are a knock down shooter…and they both can fill that role. Whoever loses that competition needs to commit to being the backup with less playing time. Fouls, illness, and injury can result in that backup becoming a starter and they need to play like they were the starter all along. The 3 spot can be a strength for Pope in year 3, but he needs to bring in 2 more big men, 7'0"+ who can rebound, defend, and score in an offense that runs through the post down low and kicks out for open 3s when doubled down low. Oweh, Aberdeen, and Dioubate took way too many forced shots and that brought the rest of the team down. No more HERO BALL shit! Starters get 30+ minutes of playing time. Backups support the team by being ready when called upon. Get a pass first point guard who can make others better with the right pass at the right time. He can score when the ball comes back to him and he will be a lock down defender who doesn't foul.
We need two of the best point guards money can buy. I would get a pass first point guard to start and then a backup who is both a shooter and also gets others involved. We haven't had a starting PG who plays a full year in a long time. We need to go after a short fast PG who can beat everyone down the floor for a easy layup of everyone doesn't hurry back and get there defense set up. Another thing I never see anymore here is PGs who throw the bigs alley oops.
The transfer portal has changed college basketball into a bunch of whores looking for money. If you want to find a good coach, look at a mid major who has to make chicken salad out of chicken shit every year.
So far we have Williams, Moreno, Potter, and Hawthorne. We need Chandler and Noah back too. Noah will finally crack the rotation. It would be stupid for him to transfer now. He's in his junior year and should be the backup 3 behind Williams. I think both Potter and Hawthorne will also be nice role players. Williams Chandler and Moreno would be like bringing 3 starters back that would be huge. You want to bring back as many guys as you possibly can. Going into this year all we brought back was Garrison, Chandler, Noah, and Oweh. Only one of them was a starter. That's what killed us this year besides injuries. In the transfer portal era you have to bring back as many guys who got playing time as possible and hope that they improve. Oweh improved. Chandler improved. Noah and Garrison looked about the same as there first year here. Noah will need to work on his 3 point shot and defense. Also on a pull up jump shot from about 12-15'. Getting Chandler back is crucial. He will be the only guard that we have coming back. Chandler, Williams, and Moreno should all average in double figures next year. Chandler I'm guessing will average about 13-14 PPG next year. Williams will average about 12-13 PPG and Moreno will average about 11-12 PPG. That's that's 36-39 PPG between just those 3 guys. We need a star PG in the Portal and stretch 4 that can knock down 3s. I would go after two PGs in the portal. Also two shooting guards. I would also get 2 more bigs to go along with Moreno, Potter, and Hawthorne. Hawthorne will backup the 3 and 4( on small lineups). Noah could also back up Chandler at the 2.