Kam Williams expects to be on the court for the start of the 2026-27 season

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 07: Kam Williams #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrates after making a shot in the second half against the Missouri Tigers at Rupp Arena on January 07, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images

One of the dark clouds that has hovered over the Mark Pope era in Lexington is injuries. Year one, year two, and now heading into year three, we hear that word floating and continue to hope for the best with these athletes and the injuries tied to them.

One of the players that has unfortunately seen some time sidelined due to injury is Kam Williams. Last year, against the Texas Longhorns, Williams suffered a foot injury on a routine play. Since then, he has worked his tail off, recovering from immediate surgery to return within such a short window, and ultimately made that happen by returning to be with the 2025-26 squad as they went into the postseason.

We recently learned from Mark Pope that Williams underwent a second surgery, which delayed things a little bit for the rising junior, heading into his second season in Lexington.

Then on Thursday, Williams met with local media and opened up about his recent surgery.

“It was really a clean-up thing,” said Williams. “Obviously, I was preparing to come back for the summer, like in May or whatever, and started working out more and more. Then went up for another imaging process or whatever, and we just didn’t like how it looked in a way. So we just decided that it was the best opportunity we needed to take advantage of, which was getting it cleaned up.”

Williams also added, “It was kind of like a no-brainer for me — at least because it gave me the best chance to have the best healing process.”

Many fans were understandably worried when pictures surfaced of him in a boot and on crutches recently. The words of Williams should calm some nerves as he seems to be right back on track after doing what everyone involved thought was best.

Williams was asked if he will be around for the opener against Manhattan on November 3, and his response: “For sure.”

Obviously, an ideal situation would have had Williams on the court, fully healthy months ago, but that isn’t reality. From this point on, we can hope that he is back for the season when it matters most that he is back to 100%, and we can trust that he will be after speaking with such confidence to the media this week.

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