He is a 13-year NBA veteran who was the head coach at Jackson State the previous four years before joining coach Mark Pope’s staff at UK this season. He’s already making a name for himself with his recruiting prowess.
“He’s been great. He’s a winner,” UK redshirt sophomore center Reece Potter. “He came from the NBA and just his stories and stuff about how much we all want to get to the next level. It’s another person for us to listen to. We have coach Pope that has played (in the NBA) and now we get to listen to another great coach being able to push us.”
Recruits have praised Williams for the relationships he establishes and recent UK commit Ryan Hampton, a top 10 player in the 2027 class, admitted it was Williams who closed the deal with him. He’s been nicknamed the “Closer” and Potter believes it is a great nickname.
“He’s loving it, so I feel like that’s a great nickname for him. The Closer is pretty sick and he was able to close some deals and it was pretty awesome for us,” Potter said.
Potter calls him a “fun-loving coach” who can also be a “hard ass” when needed.
“I feel like all coaches are a little hard ass when it comes down to it. They have to be if we are not doing the right things,” Potter said. “We’re still young men, so sometimes we aren’t the most focused. But him being able to teach us every single day … he did it at the highest level and was a very impactful player at that level. He’s able to work with all of us and help us experience stuff that makes us better.”
