Mason Williams finishes off beautiful preseason, proving he should be a starter for Kentucky Basketball

When Kentucky Basketball landed Mason Williams on March 27, everyone assumed it was just because he was a package deal with his father, who would be hired as an assistant at Kentucky a few days later. 

Skip ahead seven months, and that 4-star from Tennessee Collegiate has been the best guard in our backcourt through the preseason for Kentucky.

Through three exhibition games, Williams has turned a lot of heads early in his career. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 14 points per game, has added five assists vs. three turnovers through three exhibitions, and has four steals to his name. Williams also sits toward the top of the team in box score +/- with a +42 through the three preseason contests. 

So far, the starting backcourt hasn’t necessarily lived up to the hype, but Williams has provided some steadiness, which is shocking for a freshman just getting thrown to the wolves right away. It doesn’t help that Kentucky already has some injury bad luck, with a depth guard in Jerone Morton already missing time due to injury, so Williams is stepping up at a crucial time with essentially a three-guard backcourt for the Cats right now. 

When Williams checked in at one point during the UCF game, it was an immediate 7-2 run sparked by him. We heard from Mark Pope all offseason that Williams has a “college-ready body”, and we’re seeing it in full effect now.

When the game against the Knights went to overtime, the first bucket of extra time came when the freshman lost the ball, dove on the floor to get it, and passed to Milan Momcilovic for a 3, shifting the momentum in Kentucky’s favor early in overtime.

The kid is just a game-changer, playmaker, hard worker, and he’s only going to get better with time.  

It isn’t just Big Blue Nation taking notice; it’s the entire country. Some of the biggest college basketball media members have already posted that the star freshman is much further along than anyone believed.