Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope talks to the media on Thursday, March 27, 2025, as the Wildcats prepare to play Tennessee on Friday in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis. Pope was asked about his time with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats are still playing in the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament.
But, that hasn’t stopped Pope and the UK coaching staff from already looking toward the 2025-26 season.
That was evident Friday morning — the day of Kentucky’s Sweet 16 matchup in Indianapolis against longtime SEC rival Tennessee — when the Wildcats got a commitment out of the NCAA transfer portal from former Tulane freshman guard Kam Williams.
ESPN first reported Williams’ commitment to the Wildcats.
“Not many people get opportunities like this, so I wanted to pull the trigger fast,” Williams told ESPN. “More people are waiting to fill that spot, so I had to take advantage.”
A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, the 6-foot-8 Williams spent his freshman season close to home at Tulane in New Orleans in the American Athletic Conference.
The 19-year-old Williams — who functioned as a wing for Tulane — averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game for the Green Wave this season. Williams started 28 times and played in all 33 of Tulane’s games this season.
According to ESPN, Williams also considered schools such as Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, Louisville, LSU, Southern California, Texas and Texas Tech during his brief time in the portal. Williams entered the transfer portal on Monday, the first day that the portal was officially open.
“My dream is to play in the NBA,” Williams also told ESPN. “Kentucky’s culture and background shows that they care about their players, especially developing them into the best players they can be.”
Kam Williams (3) averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game for Tulane this season.
Kam Williams (3) averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game for Tulane this season.
247Sports national basketball analyst Travis Branham told the Herald-Leader that he projects Williams as a late-blooming forward.
“I really like this pickup for Kentucky — getting a late-blooming forward with all the tools and high upside,” Branham said. “He is continuing to gain more and more confidence and has the ability to defend multiple positions, and he’s continuing to grow as a shooter. He’ll fit in well with Kentucky’s offensive scheme and provide size and length on the defensive end.”
Williams’ shooting splits were certainly a major reason why UK targeted him as its first transfer portal add for next season’s roster: Williams shot 48.5% from the field and 41.2% on 3-pointers in his first college season. This made Williams one of the top shooters available in the portal.
“The key with him will be gaining strength and confidence,” Branham added. “He could see a rapid rate of improvement if that all comes together. He’s one that is already well on the NBA radar.”
ESPN reported that Williams was planning on testing NBA draft waters this offseason while also entering his name into the transfer portal, but he will no longer do that.
According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa, Williams ranked as the No. 179 available player in the transfer portal, as of Friday morning, out of more than 1,300 portal entrants.
Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope watches his team during an open practice at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Thursday, March 20, 2025, a day before Kentucky’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Troy.
Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope watches his team during an open practice at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Thursday, March 20, 2025, a day before Kentucky’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Troy. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens
Kam Williams (3) shot 48.5% from the field and 41.2% on 3-pointers in his first college season, making Williams one of the top shooters available in the transfer portal.
Kam Williams (3) shot 48.5% from the field and 41.2% on 3-pointers in his first college season, making Williams one of the top shooters available in the transfer portal. Chris Jones
Kentucky basketball to use NCAA transfer portal to fill out 2025-26 roster
Pope and the Wildcats won’t have to do a full-scale rebuild of the Kentucky basketball roster this offseason like they did one year ago.
Pope’s first UK squad in the 2024-25 season didn’t include a single returning scholarship player from the season prior.
Six players from the 2024-25 UK team are expected to now be out of NCAA eligibility. Guard Kerr Kriisa could receive a sixth year of eligibility due to his injury issues, but Kriisa is not expected to be part of Kentucky’s roster for next season.
The UK scholarship players who still have eligibility are guards Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh and Travis Perry, forward Trent Noah and center Brandon Garrison.
Chandler, Perry and Noah were freshmen in the 2024-25 season. Garrison was a sophomore and Oweh was a junior.
Currently, the Wildcats are set to bring in three freshmen for next season: Left-handed guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis and in-state center Malachi Moreno, who is a McDonald’s All-American selection and was this year’s Kentucky Mr. Basketball winner.
During the March 24 edition of his weekly radio show, Pope discussed UK’s planned transfer portal strategy for this spring.
“We have a dozen massive Excel spreadsheets that we’re updating literally minute by minute,” Pope said on March 24, which was the first day the transfer portal officially opened for NCAA Division I men’s basketball players.
”… Guys have seen the massive success that our transfers have had this year and I expect that we’re going to have great success recruiting in the portal.”
According to CBS Sports, Kentucky is the only team in the last 20 years to reach the Sweet 16 after returning zero points from the previous season.
Previously on Feb. 13, Pope also discussed his transfer portal approach during a weekly press conference when answering a question about Ansley Almonor, a portal addition in May 2024 from low-major school Fairleigh Dickinson.
“We have a bunch of different prongs of our portal attack. And one of them is the ‘Moneyball’ space of how we run with guys in the portal. Of course, there’s all the guys we know that are super public facing, high-ranked portal guys. So there’s a bunch of different areas in that space where we attack the portal,” Pope began.
“But the ‘Moneyball’ part of it is really interesting, too. … You have your Excel spreadsheet with all of the columns of data, and we start to say, ‘OK. Let’s forget the algorithm that puts all that data together, and then ranks players.’ Let’s just only go to these three data points and throw out all the other data. And see who raises to the top of the list if we do that.”
That’s how Almonor became a ‘Moneyball Guy’ for Pope in year one at Kentucky, and exemplifies the template UK uses to find hidden gems in the portal.
Tulane freshman guard Kam Williams defends Memphis guard Colby Rogers during a game in the 2024-25 season. Williams has committed to Kentucky basketball as a transfer portal addition for next season.
Tulane freshman guard Kam Williams defends Memphis guard Colby Rogers during a game in the 2024-25 season. Williams has committed to Kentucky basketball as a transfer portal addition for next season.
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