Report: Amari Williams to remain committed to Kentucky after conversation with Mark Pope

Kentucky fans can cease worrying whether Drexel transfer commit Amari Williams will actually suit up for the Wildcats, based on a report Thursday from Jonathan Givony.

Williams was the first transfer to pledge his commitment to Mark Pope once he took the Kentucky job. Since landing Williams, though, the Wildcats have been very active filling out the roster with more pieces, including several players who play the four or five, where Williams figures to play.

Whether the growing number of bodies down low was a concern, we don’t really know, but ESPN’s Jonathan Givony did tweet out that whatever qualms Williams may have had with his commitment were shut down thanks to a conversation with Coach Pope Wednesday evening.

“Source: Following a late-night meeting with head coach Mark Pope, Amari Williams will remain committed to playing for Kentucky next season,” Givony tweeted with no other details.

You can never be too sure about commitments in the transfer portal era, and it sounds like Williams is now locked in for good for 2024-25.

Another reporter, Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, who covers the Wildcat beat, tweeted shortly after Givony that Mark Pope actually flew out to Williams to ease any concerns.

“Heard last night Kentucky was working to get that 100% locked down after word got around that folks connected to Williams might be putting out feelers elsewhere. Pope flew to Philly, apparently, to squash that,” he tweeted.

Background on Williams the player

On the surface level, his accolades speak for themselves. Williams is the current reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Conference, where Drexel plays. He’s also made the All-CAA teams in both of the last two seasons.

Statistically, Williams doesn’t wow having scored just over 12 points per game at a mid-major school, which may appear sub-standard for a Kentucky commit. But he was the leading scorer for the Dragons in 2024 and also grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game and blocked 1.8 shots per game.

He was also an advanced-stats king on this Drexel team. Amari Williams finished with by far the highest box-plus-minus and defensive box-plus-minus on his squad in 2024.

In all honesty, he would have rated as an incredibly efficient player across the board, except for one habit nastier than chain-smoking: mid-range jumpers. Williams jacked up 106 shot attempts from what Bart Torvik classifies as “long 2s” and made just 27.4% of them in 2023-24.

From “close 2” range, Williams was solid, converting at 68% around the basket. He doesn’t shoot 3s and he isn’t a particularly bad free throw shooter for a big — obviously, the rebounding, plus-minus and blocked shot numbers are strong, so it’s these jumpers tanking his efficiency as a player. Long 2s are the worst shot in basketball to begin with, and Williams is terrible at making them. Yet, he was allowed to throw up three mid-range jumpers per game, averaging less than one make!

Worry not, Kentucky fans, because Mark Pope will not be featuring a flurry of Williams jumpers in the new-look Wildcat offense. Heck, he’ll be lucky to get off 20 all season at his new home, and that will be a positive development for all involved parties.

This is addition gives the ‘Cats an old bruiser down low, an elite defensive presence and a better rebounder than anyone off their most recent team. Mark Pope is getting off to a fine start.