The positive Kam Williams updates keep coming — maybe this end-of-season return happens after all?
Mark Pope hinted at it last week, the second-year coach saying he was ‘optimistic’ about the sophomore wing suiting up in Kentucky blue before the Wildcats put a bow on 2025-26 in March Madness. He’s not crazy, understanding there are only a handful of regular season games left and only two promised in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments — ‘the timeline is tight,’ he said — but they weren’t gonna rule him out until he was 100 percent sure there was zero chance of playing.
“We’re optimistic, because we’re always optimistic. The timeline is tight,” he said of Williams. “I don’t know how much publicly he’s been talked about with the specifics of his injury — I’ve been really vague, right? But there’s a real chance that, at some point, if we extend the season out long enough, that he can come back and help us. We’re excited for that to happen.”
One week later, Williams continues to trend in the right direction, Pope sharing the news on his radio show late Wednesday evening that the boot is off and he’s now getting shots up at the Joe Craft Center.
Even if those shots are just glorified layups.
“Kam is out of his boot, and he was actually on the court today shooting, like, four-foot shots, stationary,” he said. “I don’t know if that was legal, but he is eager, eager to get back.”
Again, no promises on a comeback with just three matchups left in league play vs. Vanderbilt, at Texas A&M and vs. Florida in the finale — then whatever happens in Nashville and beyond. But Williams is working toward that possibility, just in case his availability and the team’s survival over the next month overlap.
“He’s still a ways away, there are still a lot of question marks with how fast we can go, but man, he’s anxious to kind of jump back in this,” Pope concluded.
Williams is currently averaging 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 20.0 minutes per contest across 19 games, shooting 44.9 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three and 95.0 percent at the line. We may not see the 6-8 sophomore at his best again until he’s a junior, but whatever he’s got left to give for the Wildcats this season, it appears he’s going to do his best to help his team win some games in March.