Will Kam Williams return for Kentucky against Florida? The latest injury news
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK is down to nine healthy scholarship players for Senior Day matchup against Florida.
- The Wildcats are without Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance and Kam Williams.
- This marks the 12th straight game missed by all three Kentucky players.
Despite renewed optimism on the injury front, UK basketball will still have only nine healthy scholarship players available for its final regular season game.
Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance and Kam Williams are all listed as out on Kentucky’s availability report for Saturday’s Senior Day showdown against No. 5 Florida at Rupp Arena.
This will be the 12th straight game missed by all three of Lowe, Quaintance and Williams.
Florida has all of its players available for the game. The Gators initially listed junior forward Thomas Haugh as probable to play, but Haugh was later removed from the availability report.
Haugh was Florida’s first player absence of the SEC season Tuesday when he didn’t play in a home win over Mississippi State because of an ankle injury. Tuesday marked the first game Haugh missed in his three-year Florida career.
Haugh leads the Gators with 17.1 points per game. He also averages 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per contest.
The matchup between Kentucky (19-11 overall and 10-7 in SEC games) and Florida (24-6, 15-2) is set for a 4 p.m. start Saturday at Rupp.
The Gators — who have won 10 straight games and 19 of their last 21 contests — have already clinched their first SEC regular season championship since 2014.
For UK, much has been made in recent days about the progress Williams is making in his attempted return from injury. Williams — a 6-foot-8 sophomore wing — has been out for UK since Jan. 21, when he suffered a broken left foot in a home win over Texas.
During his weekly radio show Wednesday night, UK coach Mark Pope struck an optimistic tone when discussing Williams’ recovery. Pope said Williams had begun running and went through a non-contact skill workout Wednesday.
The good news about Williams has continued. During his weekly press conference Thursday, Pope said the plan was to “slip” Williams into some of that day’s practice.
“I don’t know if he’ll get any contact today, but we’re pushing it with him,” Pope said. “But he’s also been working incredibly hard. He’s made good progress. So, we’ll see. The question is, once he gets into any type of full-speed stuff, like, how does it respond? And that’s going to be the question we’ll be asking over the next (few) days.”
Williams started his three most recent games for Kentucky before injuring his foot.
With Williams unable to play Saturday, the next step will be monitoring his recovery to see if a return is possible during next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee. That event starts Wednesday, although UK doesn’t yet know when its first game will be.
Pope is also leaving the door open for a return by Quaintance, who will miss his 16th straight game due to knee issues related to a torn ACL he suffered in February 2025 while a freshman at Arizona State. A 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, Quaintance was UK’s top transfer add during the offseason, but he’s been limited to just four games because of swelling in his surgically repaired knee. Quaintance’s last appearance for UK was Jan. 7.
“I think we’re a lot closer with Kam right now than we are with JQ,” Pope said Thursday. “And so we’ll see. I mean, it’s kind of the finish line here. A lot of it will depend on how Saturday feels and how the SEC Tournament goes.”
Quaintance is expected to turn professional following this season. He’s projected as a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft, although his draft stock has dropped over recent months.
Lowe, a junior guard, is out for the season following a series of right shoulder injuries that required surgery.
Following next week’s SEC Tournament, UK will set its sights on the national postseason. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced March 15, and round of 64 games in March Madness begin March 19.
Despite the injuries suffered by Lowe, Quaintance and Williams, Pope hasn’t yet played freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne or junior forward Reece Potter. Both Hawthorne and Potter are preserving redshirt seasons.
