Today is a day to celebrate America, but three former Kentucky Wildcats are also celebrating new deals abroad. Derek Willis just signed with Paris Basketball after two years in Turkey, Alex Poythress extended his deal with Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Kyle Wiljter renewed his deal wtih Umana Reyer Venezia in Italy.
Let’s start with Willis. The Bullitt County native is in the midst of a successful international career, playing all over Europe after a season with the Grand Rapids Drive (2017-18). Willis has played in Germany, Italy, and most recently, Turkey. This summer, he wrapped up two seasons with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes in the Euroleague, where he averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds over 53 games. He’s staying in the Euroleague with his move to Paris Basketball, which is reloading its roster after hiring Francesco Tabellini as its new head coach.
Willis and his family are currently enjoying some time in their old Kentucky home before making the move to Paris. When word spread that Willis was leaving Anadolu Efes, his wife Keely took to social media to clarify that he’s not retiring, simply changing teams, and is unable to join La Familia, Kentucky’s alumni team in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) due to contractual obligations. I can’t wait to see the content Keely cooks up of their son Wolf settling into their new Parisian home.
Meanwhile, Poythress is electing to stay in St. Petersburg, extending his contract with Zenit through the end of 2025-26 with an option to extend for one more year. This will be his fourth season with the club, which he originally played with from 2020-22. His 169 games played are the seventh most in club history and the highest among all foreign players. He is third in scoring in program history, with 1,659 points. During his time with Zenit, the club has won the VTB United League, the Russian Championships, the Kondrashin and Belov Cup, and silver and bronze medals in the United League and Supercup. This past season, Poythress played in all 60 regular-season and playoff games, averaging 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Poythress won’t be playing in TBT either, but came to Rupp last summer to support La Familia. Although he played for John Calipari, he told KSR he had high hopes for the program under Mark Pope, whom he said “is the right dude to lead [Kentucky] into the next direction. At the time, Poythress was about to rejoin Zenit and excited to continue his career abroad.
“I’m still playing,” Poythress said. “I’ve been playing overseas the last couple of years. Last year I was in Italy, the year before that I was in Israel in Tel Aviv. Hooping’s been good. I get to travel the world and still play the game I love for a living. It’s a blessing.”
In St. Petersburg, Poythress is known as the “King of Dunks.” They are very happy he’s staying put for at least one more season.
Finally, Kyle Wiltjer will continue to live the good life in Venice, Italy, extending his deal with Reyer Venezia for a third season. This past season, he averaged 10.0 points and 3.1 rebounds over 30 games for the club, which competes in Lega Basket Serie A. Wiltjer played for Kentucky from 2011-13 before finishing his college career at Gonzaga. Before heading back to the States for the summer, he reflected on his ninth professional season on social media.
“Another epic year living in Venice, Italy. I am extremely blessed to have called Venice home for the last two years. I have gotten so comfortable that I find myself getting annoyed by all the tourists walking around because I consider myself a local at this point 
Counting my blessings everyday, another season down, 9 healthy seasons traveling the world. 
Thank you to everyone in Venice who makes me feel at home. Extremely grateful.”
Congrats to all three former Cats!
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