Kentucky basketball added another piece to the roster this weekend by way of 6’10” C Amari Williams. Williams comes to Kentucky after spending 4 years at Drexel where he won 3 conference DPOTY awards (2 in the Colonial and this past year in the Coastal Athletic). We’ll take a look at how the new piece fits into the program. If you missed our other previews you can find them here:
Offensively
Williams is not a polished offensive player but has shown consistent efficiency. He rarely takes bad shots but also doesn’t need to be spoon fed on the offensive end (a major problem for Kentucky in the past). He’s effective around the rim and can get to the line where he shot 65% last season.
Williams is a very good passer and can deliver the basketball on time for others. His AST% stands at 17.3% for his career, which is outstanding for a big man. He’s also a good offensive rebounder which Kentucky has sorely lacked since Oscar left for the NBA. Williams is not an offensive superstar but he fills an important role on that end of the floor.
Defensively
This is where Williams shines. He’s an elite defensive player and has been for three years now. The rim protection is obvious with a 7’5” wingspan providing length at the back end, his BLK% is low mainly because guys stop challenging him. It’s more than rim protection though as Williams has also shown himself to be an excellent defender in space and on ball screens.
Williams also has incredible hands for a guy his size and his length closes off passing lanes without pulling him out of the paint. To go with all that he’s also an excellent defensive rebounder. His DRB% stood at 26% this past year (for reference Oscar’s was at 27%) and Williams prides himself on finishing out defensive possessions, something Kentucky really struggled with last season.
2024 Outlook
The roster is obviously not settled with rumblings that another commitment could be coming soon from another big (a guy who played Amari in England would be a…Great addition) but Williams is a perfect start. Williams will be stepping into the SEC where he will no longer be a physical outlier but I see no reason why his skill-set won’t immediately translate.
If anything, I think playing with better players can bring the best out of him on both ends of the floor. We’ll see how the rest of the roster shakes out but I think Kentucky has found their starting 5 man. They’ve also found a guy who wants to win and most importantly is willing to do the work that leads to winning. Even if it goes unnoticed.
