A season-ending broken foot for Kam Williams? Don't rule out a return just yet: 'He still has a chance to play again this year.'

Greg Williams Sr. knew something wasn’t right when he saw his son, Kam, limp straight back to the training room early in the second half of Kentucky‘s 85-80 victory over Texas. Playing basketball his entire life, the sophomore guard has always taken bumps and bruises in stride, fighting through anything that’s come his way to stay on the floor. This time, though, Williams walked right past his coaches and teammates on the bench without saying a word, clearly in pain beyond that of a simple turned ankle or banged knee.

When he didn’t return through the back tunnel, Williams Sr. felt that call was coming.

“He’s a warrior,” his father told KSR. “He will battle through little nicks and little pains, but when I saw him go straight there … I knew that it was serious.”

Those initial concerns were justified when the official update came through, confirming a broken foot that would likely require surgery. Talking to his son and the medical staff on the phone, he was understandably devastated, knowing just how hard Williams had worked to get to this point and that he had finally broken through as a starter and consistent contributor — only to have it all ripped away, at least temporarily.

Interestingly enough, though, the first-year Wildcat had no interest in throwing himself a pity party all alone in the training room. His team had a game to win, and he was going to help them get across the finish line however he could, hooting and hollering from the back.

“He’s still watching the game, cheering for the team,” Williams Sr. said.

Once the game went final and the winning streak moved from three to four, Williams was there waiting for his teammates in the locker room, ready to join in on the celebration. They were surprised by his mood after the fact, knowing the news he’d just received and how upbeat he remained, all things considered.

“He wasn’t as down, you know what I’m saying?” Mo Dioubate said. “He didn’t make it seem (as bad).”

“I’ve always taught him to be positive regardless of what’s happening, because no matter what’s happening to you, somebody has had it worse or has it worse,” Williams Sr. added. “You always have to pick the positive out of it.”

Then the magnitude and reality of the situation set in, Williams understanding that his road to recovery was going to be a difficult one and the ball was going to have to stop bouncing for a little while.

“He broke down because he felt like he was letting (his teammates) down,” his dad said. “He felt like he couldn’t be there for them like he wanted to. He didn’t want them to think that he wasn’t trying or anything.”

They, obviously, made sure to lift his chin up and get his mindset back where it needed to be as the clock starts ticking on the rehab process. The Wildcats had already gone through too much as a team to let one more hurdle become the straw that broke the camel’s back. They had been in the trenches together since June, overcoming untimely injuries and demoralizing losses all season with a fall to rock bottom — followed by a gutsy climb out. What’s one more setback?

After all, they always make the comeback that much sweeter.

That’s why spirits are high for the Williams family coming off an admittedly difficult day. They’re all built for this and have a passionate support system helping them through it all.

“You see your son go through so much training and trying to be ready for the moment, and when the moment comes and you’re actually doing well, to see it — I’m not going to say cut short, but to see it delayed, it’s difficult to deal with,” Williams Sr. said. “But, again, knowing that it could have been much worse, I’m happy that it happened that way. …  For BBN to see him go down like that, the outpouring of love and support has really been great.

“He’s in a great place because of that, because he knows he has the support. He’s going to try, to the best of his ability, to get back.”

Just how soon could that be?

Mark Pope said the goal was to “get him back healthy as soon as we possibly can, but he’ll be out for a while,” unclear on whether that means this season or next. That’s to be expected, just minutes removed from the final buzzer and addressing the injury publicly for the first time — Williams’ father said the Kentucky wing gave his head coach the go-ahead to make the emotional announcement with details to come later in the week, so he was only working with what anyone knew.

As for what they’re working with now, it’s a decision between surgical and non-surgical paths, the former giving Williams a six-to-eight-week best-case return timeline. The worst-case timeline is 10 to 12 weeks. Should they opt against surgery, it’s a two-to-four-month timeline with a higher possibility of reinjury.

Fans should expect the former, with a decision expected today and surgery as early as Friday in hopes of beating the bad weekend weather and getting a head start on the recovery process.

That path also keeps a return alive for later this season, potentially in time for a March Madness run.

“With surgery, you would have a pin that can stabilize a fracture,” Williams Sr. said. “Many times you can come back stronger, because you have something that’s reinforcing it even more. … We’re going to leave it up to him, but more than likely, I believe he’s going to choose surgery because it gives him a possibility of being back to battle with his teammates. … He still has a chance to play again this year.”

It’s a tight window, knowing we’re seven weeks away from the SEC Tournament and eight from the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but that’s the goal. Williams’ father said the family will be coming up to Lexington in shifts to help the sophomore guard through the process and “fight off any type of resistance to his recovery” — even if that means throwing a “people’s elbow” here or a “DDT” there, he joked.

“We’re trying to get back. We’re hoping this isn’t a season-ending thing, just because of the time frame. I think it’s possible,” he told KSR. “We have to make sure that he’s fully recovered before he gets back out there. A refracture would just be bad, but we’re upbeat. We’re upbeat. We know it’s a possibility, and whenever there’s a possibility, whenever the crack in the window is open, we’re ready to bust it open and get outside, man.

“We’re ready to make it happen and go for No. 9. We can do it, we can.”

Williams Sr. has visions of Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, his son running out of the tunnel to make his triumphant return against all odds, giving it whatever he has for however long he can give it — ideally with the same result, the New York Knicks using that moment as inspiration to win the franchise’s first championship.

Injury or not, their eyes are still on the same prize in Lexington.

“Being able to give you a few minutes and say, ‘Hey, I don’t know if I can give you 18 to 25, but I can give you a solid five to nine and knock down a shot and defend, you know? A lot of people may not believe it, but this team believes they can win. … His teammates, they see he’s upbeat. He believes he can come back and they know that he’s a warrior. He’s a soldier. He’s been in the trenches with them. … It’s on him. He has to listen to everything the doctors say, he has to really focus on rehab and I know he will do that.”

That’s the goal, but whether or not Williams is able to turn that ambitious dream into a reality, his father has a message for him as he begins day one of that new challenge.

One way or another, he’s always got his back.

“First and foremost, I want him to know I love him. I’m very proud of him,” he told KSR. “Although life throws in these obstacles, I will tell him the same thing my brother told me: obstacles are things that are seen when one loses sight of the goal.

“So, always be upbeat and cheerful, work hard toward your goal, and know that nothing can stop you if you put it in your mind. That’s all I want him to know.”