This UK basketball starter is available to play again for the Wildcats
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK sophomore wing Kam Williams is available to play for Kentucky in the SEC Tournament.
- Williams has been removed from UK’s availability report for game against LSU.
- The 9 seed Wildcats are facing the 16 seed Tigers to begin SEC Tournament in Nashville.
For the first time in seven weeks, Kam Williams is available to play for Kentucky basketball.
The sophomore wing — who broke his left foot Jan. 21 during a home win over Texas — was removed from UK’s availability report Wednesday morning ahead of the Cats’ SEC Tournament opener against LSU on Wednesday afternoon.
Because he was removed from the report, Williams is available to play for Mark Pope’s team against the Tigers.
Williams had been listed as probable to play on the game’s initial availability report, which was released Tuesday night.
The first-round SEC Tournament matchup between 9 seed Kentucky and 16 seed LSU will start at 12:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
With Williams back in the fold, Kentucky now has 10 healthy scholarship players available. Following Williams’ injury, UK played its final 12 games of the regular season with just nine healthy players. The Cats have also been dealing with long-term injury absences for junior guard Jaland Lowe and sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance.
There was plenty of recent optimism about Williams’ potential return. Last week, Williams began running and went through non-contact skill workouts. He also took reps during practice.
Williams continued to be part of Kentucky’s practice sessions this week. During Pope’s pre-SEC Tournament press conference Tuesday morning, the UK coach left the door open for Williams to play against LSU.
“We’ll see how his foot responds this evening and tomorrow,” Pope said. “I think he’s somewhere in the vicinity of could play or could not play. And we’ll just see how that goes.”
Williams is averaging 6.9 points per game while shooting 34.8% on 3-pointers, 44.9% from the field and 95.0% from the free-throw line this season. He started his three most recent games for Kentucky prior to injuring his foot.
“We would love to have some playing time, in-game playing time, for him to get back a rhythm and do those things. If we get a chance to play him, it’ll just be a little bit of a mystery to him and to us in terms of how quickly he’s going to shake off the rust,” Pope said of Williams’ possible return. “... He’s exactly where he’s supposed to be in terms of recovery.”
With Williams off the availability report, Kentucky is set to get a boost in player depth for the postseason. Pope frequently discussed fatigue-related issues for his team over the final weeks of the regular season.
In addition to Williams, junior forward Brandon Garrison was also removed from UK’s availability report Wednesday morning. Like Williams, Garrison was listed as probable on the Tuesday night version of the report. Garrison has appeared in all 31 games for Kentucky this season.
Lowe and Quaintance remain out for Kentucky. Lowe is done for the season after undergoing surgery to address a series of right shoulder injuries. Quaintance will miss his 17th straight game due to knee issues related to a torn ACL he suffered in February 2025.
