Amari Williams injury update: Mark Pope reveals recovery timeline for Kentucky center

After an injury in Kentucky’s final exhibition, Mark Pope has provided the latest on Amari Williams.

While speaking with the media on Thursday, Pope revealed that Williams has a designation of day-to-day. That’s after further testing yesterday as he’ll be taking it tentatively over the next few days.

“Yeah, so, imaging was really good, really positive. He’s day-to-day right now,” Pope said.

“He won’t do anything – you know, just do free throws today. We’re hopeful that he’ll be back soon but we’ll kind of proceed with all the caution and urgency that we possibly can,” said Pope.

Williams left in the opening minutes of the Wildcats’ win over Minnesota State after tweaking his leg. He immediately went to the locker room where they tested him before ruling him out for the remainder of the game. Following that victory, Pope said they thought he was okay with this being the result of his examinations on Wednesday.

“I think he’s fine,” Pope had said postgame on Tuesday. “X-rays came back solid but we’ll get some more imaging tomorrow. We’re hopeful he’ll be back soon.”

In his three minutes of play before his exit, Williams got two rebounds. That comes after he had 12 points, six assists, five rebounds, and a block in 20 minutes during their first game against Kentucky Wesleyan the week prior.

Brandon Garrison then came in in Williams’ place and played well against the Mavericks. He scored a dozen by making six of nine attempts, including a huge dunk off a pick and roll, with four rebounds, an assist, and a block in 19 minutes.

Of all of the new transfers at UK, Williams is among the most important as the starting center through the preseason. That’s with what he does at his size both defensively and as a part of their offense.

Kentucky will monitor Williams’ availability ahead of their season opener against Wright State on Monday. However, this status is already a relief in the bluegrass with him being assessed on the daily.