If you look at pics or clips of this guy, he is not a twig. He has good muscle structure. With big guys the hips and legs determine if he can battle down low. He has good structure. He gets here for summer and gets on our programs, with our dieticians and he will be awesome body wise. He has the eye. He looks to have the motor. That is all we can really ask for from a kid that will be a sophomore. He should be a 12 and 7 guy or so.
Former Tulane wing Kam Williams commits to Kentucky
- Thread starter University-6
- Start date
He was only a freshman . So chances are he will take a big leap
Awesome commitment and fills a huge need for next year. Those that are saying hey is only Freshman and has at least 3 years left are probably wishful thinking. Pretty obvious by his comments and drive he wants to get to the NBA as soon as possible so be happy with 1 or maybe 2 years if he keeps progressing.
There is a zero percent chance that the Kam Williams featured in the videos on p. 1. is 6'8", 190 lbs. That's gotta be a high-school weight or a widely reproduced typo.
I agree!
Again, I LOVE the signing, but don't want to have to rely on him to be one of our top guys next year. If he is starting, it probably means we whiffed on some of these other guys.
This is the kind of kid that teams like Auburn and Alabama have coming off the bench for them right now.
We should be rooting for that quality of depth as well, not signing a kid like this and penciling him in as a starter.
My hope is to have this kid, Jasper Johnson, Acaden Lewis, and ideally one more perimeter guy coming off the bench backing up (hopefully) Donovan Dent, Otega Oweh, and a portal SF like Eaglestaff or someone we aren't aware of yet.
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Tulane fishies 4th in AAC regular season. from what I watched, I like his size, release , and game intelligence. He needs to work on conditioning, motor and explosiveness ….this kid if he gets some more strength in his legs and better conditioning can improve a lot.
Also to work on finishing with left hand and floaters.
Good get!
Also to work on finishing with left hand and floaters.
Good get!
His offensive upside has me giddy, but his defensive potential has me even more excited. Pope has proven he can put out an elite offense. Now I'm hoping he brings in a few more versatile defenders and and shows us he can put together an elite defense the way his mentor was able to.
The Cats MUST get better defensively if they want to compete for a title. This guy seems legit with his length and motor. And someone who can also add some offensive versatility. Whether he starts or not seems to be a key piece and an attempt to fill a specific and essential need.
You don't have to be crazy athletic to be a starter or game changer. Not even at UK. We haven't always had superstars. We had dudes that didn't go to the NBA that still played harder and better than our past NBA players have here. Because they loved it and wanted it. I'd take a mediocre dude that gives me everything he has over a athletic dude that is just here to get to the NBA. It will look flashy and good. But what happens in March with those teams? Blame Cal to but those super athletes were looking pretty flustered while future insurance salesmen were handling them like their dads in the backyard. If those teams really wanted it they would have beat the St peters and Oakland's of the tournaments in spite of coaching. That is how talented those teams were. When no one cares from top to bottom you lose to Oakland with two lottery picks.
Anthony Davis is a good example of effort and want to. If half of our teams over the past decade had given the effort that Trent Noah gives in his 2 or 3 minutes or wanted to win like AD did then we'd have passed UCLA and built Cal a statue. Can't teach passion and I'm tired of players who don't give a damn about UK. No need for anymore players that leave and start wearing other schools colors. Have some pride in your team again.
Trent has already changed the flow of games with his limited minutes. He is smart, he is always in the mix, he just gives effort all the time.
I realize you said he could be a solid roleplayer but it still seemed backhanded and lacks foresight. He is an 18 year old KID. He hasn't fully matured. We are used to freak athletes that grew into their bodies at younger ages. Looks like they never touched many weights in Harlan. Let him get an actual offseason in the weight room or hell an offseason in general that isn't rushed and chaotic.
I like what I’m reading in here . As others have said it’s even better that he has more years of eligibility left .
Uh, Billy Thompson led the Cards to the 1986 NCAA title and has 2 NBA Championships, so I don't know exactly what your were getting at there.....
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I really hope this guy is great. But 1-1 replacement for Brea might be much for a sophomore.
He is a different kind of player. He will not be the guaranteed 3 Brea has been. But, I expect him to be a better defender and rebounder. He will likely be better at the rim than Brea.
Say that all you want. That doesn’t mean we are getting top 15 portal talent to come and sit on the bench. These guys want to get paid, but they also want to play.
Too much arrogance in this. Players on this year's team come from mostly smaller schools. Almonor, Amari, Butler.....where would UK be without them.
Kam has to be a good decision maker he chose the greatest college basketball team in America first . Kam welcome to the family
I could care less about the NBA, yea he had one NCAA title, but Kenny Walker had the better college career in my opinion being a 2 time all American and the schools second all time scoring leader in addition to being all SEC 4 years. I'd rather have Walker, but Thompson had a good career as well.
The way Pope subs if he can play he will get some meaningful clock. I believe Pope is straight with guys he is recruiting.
And I agree that Walker was the better college player. I just thought that if you trying to illustrate an example of a (relatively) low ranked incoming player who turned out to be spectacular vs a highly ranked player who turns out to be a bust, then Thompson wasn't a particularly good choice for the bust side of the argument. Lots of better examples abound.
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KSR has a good story up about juggling this season and the Tennessee game while working the Portal. Pope is after good kids first and foremost over individual talent.
He only took around 7 shots per game. But, some notable games :
Memphis - 16/8/2 1 block
UAB - 24/3/1 2 steals / 2 blocks
Wyoming - 13/8 4 steals / 2 blocks.
Rowan Brumbaugh a sophomore was their leading scorer 15.7 ppg
Kaleb Banks a junior second at 14.7
Asher Woods a junior third at 11.3
Gregg Glenn a junior fourth at 10.6
Cam Williams was 5th at the 9.3
Had a very balanced scoring team, look at UK's roster, good players average in the 9-11 ppg range. They only averaged 75 per game as a team, so the offense wasn't exactly explosive. He was in a well balanced, horrible offensive scheme.
This really sounds like a very good pickup. Could...COULD...show big growth in the next year. Good outside shooter, good size, good defender.
Not much downside to this.
Not much downside to this.
Sure he can start. But it’s not like he can’t come off the bench. Goodness. Probably what you would’ve said about Mason Gillis from Purdue to Duke too- it’s not a knock to come off bench- Hell you’re playing for Kentucky.
LOL, people shitting on the 9 ppg. If he averaged 16-18 he wouldn't be transferring, he would be getting drafted. He will not be here 3 years, kid is very talented. With his shooting and skill set, he is already on the NBA radar. I am thankful he ONLY averaged 9 per game as a freshman. I can name 20 easily, former UK greats that averaged around that and was studs. 6-8 guys who shoot north of 40% from 3 is a very handy tool to have in the box, and not in abundance.
No arrongance at all - see comment from above. Kentucky also does not have championship caliber depth.
“Sure he can start. But it’s not like he can’t come off the bench. Goodness. Probably what you would’ve said about Mason Gillis from Purdue to Duke too- it’s not a knock to come off bench- Hell you’re playing for Kentucky.”
Some people have false understandings of the “bench” - you don’t win a championship without guys who - would start other places, coming off the bench
I really like this addition. Pope isn't tone-deaf, he listened to all the complaints that said we need to get better athletically and defensively. And he probably knew that himself in our games against teams like Alabama and Auburn. Keep in mind he was taking the best he could get last year in an on-the-fly whirlwind where he had to build an entire team. And I would say he did an amazing job given how far this team has come. I think this time around he has more time to be selective and put more emphasis on athleticism and defense, to take more of a chance on guys with high upsides. It isn't just going to be guys that can shoot/score and bring nothing else to the table like some have fearmongered, but shooting ability will still be a key requirement to play in this system. A more athletic Almonor probably isn't a terrible comparison, but what about a more athletic and stronger Jaxson Robinson? Similar height, similar position, similar shooting skill. Before you dismiss that notion, remember that Jax had bounced around and wasn't all that highly thought of until he got in the Pope system. He really seems to have a good eye for under the radar talent.
Besides maybe Jaxson Robinson who had you heard of on this year's team?
Different coach, different world
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