‘I was coming back.’ Kam Williams elated to finally make NCAA Tournament debut
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kam Williams rehabs broken foot, returns to play for Kentucky ahead of NCAA play.
- Williams eased back via SEC tourney minutes and extensive training-room rehab.
- Teammates and staff kept Williams encouraged, aiding his March Madness debut.
Roughly a year ago, Tulane men’s basketball fell by a single point to top-seeded Memphis in the American Athletic Conference Championship semifinal, squashing the Green Wave’s NCAA Tournament hopes — and those of starting guard Kam Williams.
This season, now clad in a Kentucky uniform, Williams is prepared to make his March Madness debut in dramatic fashion; after seven weeks away due to a broken left foot, the sophomore wing returned for the Cats’ three-day journey in the SEC Tournament with hopes of getting back to action at the perfect time.
He’s expecting to be available when No. 7 seed Kentucky faces No. 10 Santa Clara on Friday at 12:15 p.m. ET in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Last year, we lost in the semis, my old school,” Williams said. “We lost by one. We definitely thought we were gonna be able to get past that game, win the next game and everything…It’s my first one, so I’m ready to make it the best experience I can. Ready to play with the great teammates that I have, great coaching staff. I’m ready to play.”
For Williams, it was never a question of whether he’d return from the injury, which he sustained during UK’s Jan. 21 home win over Texas. On an already injury-depleted roster, Williams’ broken foot may have felt cataclysmic to fans hoping that health wouldn’t further impact the Cats.
Though Williams noted he tries to separate himself from the “buzz” of whatever is said about him and his teammates online, he said it took a while to “get used to” the difficulties that come with being sidelined.
“It’s gonna be hard at first,” Williams said. “I really tried to help them as much as I could while having extended days in the training room, multiple hours, that was something I wasn’t used to doing. But I got through it because I always knew that my goal was to come back and play, so I was willing to do what I needed to do to get back to the court — which I did, and it worked. But I feel way better this week than last week, so I feel ready to play.”
Through his first 19 games of the season, Williams averaged 6.9 points on 44.9% shooting from the field and made nearly 35% of his attempts from long range.
Though he wasn’t necessarily a standout in any of his three appearances in SEC Tournament play, contributing six points, two rebounds, an assist and and two steals in 37 minutes across the three contests, Williams said returning ahead of the NCAA Tournament allowed him to ease back in.
“I definitely worked very hard in the training room to get back,” Williams said. “Well, at least to try to get back to where I was before it happened. Taking those weeks off definitely... (made) it difficult to get back into the Florida game, but those couple games that I had, a couple practices and film and stuff like that, helped me to get back to where I was at.”
While rehabbing his foot, Williams also saw his confidence increase through what he learned watching from the sidelines.
“I’d be at practice kind of talking to them on defense,” Williams said. “Helping them on offense. Looking at the scout, pointing out different things that I may see. Because it’s definitely different seeing it on the side than in the game. It definitely slows the game down for you, so you can kind of point out multiple different things. That definitely helped.”
Injured point guard Jaland Lowe, declared out for the season after just nine games played this year, complimented Williams’ ability to stay involved despite the setback and its disappointments.
“I saw a lot of resilience,” Lowe said. “I saw a lot of days where it just didn’t feel right, or he wasn’t sure about it, this timeframe of everything. He’s so hardworking. He wants to play so badly that he was in the recovery room every single day, multiple times a day, doing what he had to do just to have a chance of coming back and playing. I’m so proud of him because he makes such a big impact.”
Williams said he still isn’t necessarily at 100%. Not because of any pain or lingering issues slowing him down — “I can run perfectly fine, jump perfectly fine,” Williams said — but because the recovery timeline won’t end, he said, for “probably another month to actually be there.” “But it doesn’t really hurt like that,” Williams said. “It’s really just the healing process…I feel good. It’s really just a time thing.”
Williams’ teammates and coaching staff worked hard, he said, to ensure he and other injured Cats remained included and made them feel like necessary parts of the team.
It’s in part, Williams said, a testament to their belief that he was able to return for his debut on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I appreciate them for keeping me encouraged the whole time,” Williams said. “They just kept saying ‘want you back, want you back.’ And I already had it in my head that I was coming back regardless, but having them kind of cosign with the staff made it a lot more easier.”
