New Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has already lined up a transfer portal visitor
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Kentucky introduces new basketball coach Mark Pope
Click below to read more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com about the introduction of former UK player Mark Pope as the new Kentucky men’s basketball coach.
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Mark Pope hasn’t yet been formally introduced as the Wildcats’ new head men’s basketball coach. That will come later Sunday during an introductory ceremony at Rupp Arena.
But Pope has already lined up his first transfer portal visitor to Lexington.
On Sunday afternoon, On3.com reported that Amari Williams — a 6-foot-10 forward with a 7-foot-5 wingspan who previously played at Drexel — would be coming to Kentucky for an official visit on April 21 and 22.
A native of England, Williams has played all four seasons of his college career at Drexel, a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, which was previously known as the Colonial Athletic Association.
Across those four seasons with the Dragons, Williams has career averages of 10.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He also has per game averages of 1.8 blocks and 1.6 assists as a college player.
Williams has a reputation for being one of the best defensive bigs in college basketball. He won the last three CAA Defensive Player of the Year awards and led the conference in blocks in each of the last three seasons.
Williams had 186 blocks at Drexel, which was the fifth-most in program history. He was selected to the CAA First Team in each of the last two seasons.
During both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, Williams averaged more than 12 points per game for Drexel. He’s appeared in 105 career college basketball games and has made 79 career starts. Williams played and started all 32 games for the Dragons last season.
Williams began starting at Drexel in the 2021-22 season, and he’s averaged more than 20 minutes played per game in each of the last three seasons.
Williams entered the NCAA transfer portal while also declaring for the 2024 NBA draft last month.
In addition to Kentucky, Williams is also set to visit St. John’s, Creighton and Indiana over the next week.
Williams canceled a planned visit to Florida.
According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa, Williams is ranked as the No. 88 overall transfer this offseason, as of Sunday afternoon.
Williams was unranked as a prep prospect out of England.
Pope, Kentucky’s new head coach who will be formally introduced at Rupp Arena on Sunday, has a mostly blank slate to work with as he constructs his first UK basketball roster.
Between players entering the NCAA transfer portal, declaring for the NBA draft and decommitting from what was a six-player incoming recruit class, there are precious few pieces currently in place for Pope in Lexington.
Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State) and Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas) have committed to new schools via the NCAA transfer portal. In addition to Bradshaw and Ivisic, the other members of last season’s Kentucky team in the transfer portal are Joey Hart, Adou Thiero and D.J. Wagner.
Also from last season’s squad, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Ugonna Onyenso have declared for the 2024 NBA draft. Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves have exhausted their college eligibility.
Four of the six players that Calipari had lined up as part of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class have decommitted from the UK program, including all three of Kentucky’s McDonald’s All-American recruits.
In-state guard Travis Perry, the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school boys basketball history, is the only one of those six recruits expected to remain committed to UK.
On Tuesday, former BYU signee Collin Chandler announced he was following Pope to Lexington. Chandler, a combo guard, was a four-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting class before going on a two-year mission trip. He will make his college basketball debut in the 2024-25 season.
College basketball players have until May 1 to enter the transfer portal. The early-entry deadline for the 2024 NBA draft is April 27, and players who enter the draft with remaining NCAA eligibility will have until May 29 to remove their names from consideration and return to school.
This story was originally published April 14, 2024 at 12:44 PM.
