Kam Williams has spent the last stretch of his Kentucky career in an unusual role: not as a wing on the floor, but as the person keeping time.
That’s where he’s been while working back from a second foot procedure, and Mark Pope said at UK Media Day that the junior could miss the upcoming exhibition games as Kentucky keeps building toward November. Pope is still hopeful Williams will be ready for the start of the regular season, but the timeline has already pushed him through all eight weeks of summer workouts, practice, the opening of the fall semester and now into preseason.
For Williams, the delay has meant finding other ways to matter. Pope said the Tulane transfer has been so good at running the clock that one of the managers might lose his job over it.
“He’s done an admirable job all summer long working the clock,” Pope said. “In fact, I probably might fire one of our managers because Kam’s doing so much better.”
Williams laughed off the joke, but the message was clear: if he can’t help Kentucky on the court yet, he’s going to help wherever he can.
“That’s where all the dirty work happens,” Williams joked about his time - well, keeping time. “(The manager) just so happens to mess up a lot, but then they called me in and I’m just like, ‘I’ll save everyone.’ Me being so good at doing his job is going to get him kicked off, so I’m about to tone it down a little bit.”
There’s been plenty of work behind the scenes, too. Pope said Williams has been a film room regular and has also spent the downtime building up his shoulders while his lower body has been sidelined.
The waiting has not turned into sulking. It’s been more about staying plugged in and keeping the edge sharp.
“I’m just trying to out-lift everyone,” he continued. “I’m trying to catch up to Franck (Kepnang)-but I think that’s low-key impossible, because Franck is like 300 pounds, I don’t know. He’s a freak of nature [laughs].”
Williams has also tried to make his voice count from the sideline. Even while he was out, he has been coaching, cheering and making sure he stays part of the conversation. He knows that when a player disappears physically, he has to be louder in every other way.
“I always want to make an impact any way I can,” he said. “Even if I’m not playing, I’m making sure my voice is heard, regardless if it’s echoing a play or echoing a defensive scheme that we have going on, whatever it is.
I try to help anyone that I can in that nature. I definitely try my best to be vocal in some way, regardless if it is on the court or off the court.”
The road back has included some real milestones. Williams said he’s now running, jumping and taking part in individual workouts. Pope saw him getting shots up on Media Day morning and said he didn’t personally see him miss during that short stretch.
“I liked that,” the third-year coach said with a grin. “I liked that a lot.”
Williams said the progress has been significant, especially considering where he started.
“Obviously, starting from week zero to where we are now, from being not able to walk on a scooter or whatever, stuff like that, to being able to run, cut, jump,” Williams added. “It was obviously a progression, obviously a positive mental space you had to get into, but I wouldn’t be able to do it without teammates and the staff, the trainers, just everyone kind of checking in every day, asking how I’m doing, how I’m progressing, helping me in different ways.
“Without them, I’m not gonna say that it wouldn’t have happened, but they definitely sped up the process, for sure.”
The target remains the start of the regular season, and Williams said he still has just over a month to get back into game shape. He hasn’t played full-contact basketball since March, so the rust will be there at first. But the hope is that the early restriction is temporary and that he can eventually settle back into the form he was showing before the injury in January, when he was making a real two-way impact.
That’s the version Kentucky needs. And it’s the version Williams still believes can carry him toward his bigger goal.
He came to Kentucky with first-round draft ambitions, and the injury interruptions have only made the path more complicated. Williams said the focus now is on getting healthy and improving every part of his game.
“Really just improve every way I can. First of all, we have to stay healthy.
That’s obviously number one. You ain’t gonna draft a player that’s not healthy,” Williams told KSR of his professional dreams.
“But then two, you really just get better in all ways possible. I’m not a master at anything yet.
If I was a master at anything, I would have been in the league already, obviously. So really just perfecting my craft, regardless of whether it’s ball handling, IQ, shooting, defense, whatever.
“Just anything, everything across the board, I want to be the best at it. I have to improve all those things this year if I want to reach my goal.”
That individual chase fits neatly with what he says he’s seen around the program. Williams has been watching a team that values winning above everything else, even if it means sacrificing shots, touches or personal numbers.
“Everyone, they just want to win. No matter how somebody might have to sacrifice shots, points, or having the ball in their hands a lot, everyone just wants to win,” Williams said. “So regardless of what we have to do to get the win, I just know that everyone here has a winning mindset and we all have the same goal, which is to win the championship.”
For Williams, that’s the point of coming back. The draft dream is still there. So is the chance to help Kentucky chase something bigger.
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