Kentucky may still be playing in the NCAA Tournament but the Wildcats just landed its first commitment of the 2025 portal season in Tulane freshman wing Kam Williams.
“Not many people get opportunities like this, so I wanted to pull the trigger fast,” Williams told Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “More people are waiting to fill that spot, so I had to take advantage.”
Williams (6-8, 190), who is currently ranked as the No. 24 overall transfer and No. 4 small forward in the transfer portal by 247Sports, averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks while shooting 41.2% from 3-point range while starting 28 of 33 games as a freshman for the Green Wave this season. On the season, Williams made 63 of 153 attempts from beyond the arc.
According to ESPN, Williams chose the Wildcats over Florida, Louisville, Baylor, Texas, LSU, Texas Tech, Arkansas, and USC among others.
“My dream is to play in the NBA,” Williams told ESPN. “Kentucky’s culture and background shows that they care about their players, especially developing them into the best players they can be.”
As a 19-year-old freshman, Williams scored in double figures 14 times this season, including a season-high 24 points on 6 of 8 3-point shooting in an 85-68 win over UAB in the regular season finale on March 9.
A native of Lafayette, La., Williams was rated as a 3-star prospect and ranked as a top-200 recruit nationally in the 2024 class according to the industry average 247Sports Composite.
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope‘s inaugural 9-man transfer portal class ranked No. 5 nationally by 247Sports and featured No. 20 Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State), No. 31 Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), No. 33 Jaxson Robinson, No. 44 Lamont Butler (San Diego State), No. 67 Andrew Carr (Wake Forest), No. 84 Amari Williams (Drexel), No. 87 Koby Brea (Dayton), No. 122 Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia), and No. 316 Ansley Almonor (Fairleigh Dickinson).
In the 247Sports final re-rank of the 2024 transfer class, Oweh (No. 7), Williams (No. 18) and Butler (No. 19) were each ranked inside the top 20.
Kentucky will lose Robinson, Butler, Carr, Williams, Brea, and Almonor, who are each out of eligibility. Kriisa, who hasn’t played since Dec. 7 after undergoing surgery to repair a broken foot, is eligible to apply for a medical redshirt and could return but is not expected to.
The NCAA introduced the transfer portal Oct. 15, 2018, providing athletes a path to explore their options. Players do not need to ask permission from their coaching staff in order to transfer. They merely need to request that compliance enter their name. Usually, it takes 24-48 hours for a player to appear following their request. Schools are free to contact a player without restriction once their name appears in the portal.
While a player entering their name in the transfer portal means they intend to explore their options, it does not necessarily mean they will leave. A player is free to withdraw his name at any time. However, schools are under no obligation to keep a player on scholarship once they enter the portal.
