Meet the 2022-23 Kentucky Wildcats: Third-year walk-on Kareem Watkins fills important need
READ MORE
Need to know: Where every Wildcat fits for 2022-23
Meet every member of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team through a series of preseason stories.
Expand All
We’re getting to know all 15 of the 2022-23 Kentucky Wildcats. Here is what to expect from one of the UK juniors. Watch Kentucky.com for stories about all of the remaining Cats as the preseason unfolds.
Kareem Watkins
Uniform number: 25.
Height/weight: 5-8, 175.
Position: Guard.
Class: Junior.
Age: 20.
Hometown: Camden, N.J.
High school: Kingsway Regional.
Watkins’ role in 2022-23: Watkins enters his third season as a Kentucky walk-on after joining the Wildcats just a few days before the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
He arrived in Lexington with plenty of family intrigue, the stepson of Dajuan Wagner — one of John Calipari’s first star players with the Memphis Tigers — and the stepbrother of DJ Wagner, who at that time was the undisputed No. 1 basketball recruit in the 2023 class.
The younger Wagner remains a top-five national prospect, and all indications are that he will ultimately commit to UK and join his brother in Lexington next season.
Watkins has created his own role with the Cats over the past couple of years, however. He’s played only 15 minutes total across two seasons at UK — with no college points and just one shot attempt to his name so far — but Calipari has used him as a practice stand-in when the team’s point guards haven’t been able to go for scrimmages. Watkins isn’t going to see meaningful minutes in games this season either, but he’ll continue to serve that role in the Wildcats’ practice sessions.
The 5-8 guard is also incredibly athletic, turning heads at Kentucky’s Pro Day with a 43-inch vertical leap this fall. Watkins averaged 8.7 points per game as a high school senior.
This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
