Amari Williams withdraws from NBA Draft, will play at Kentucky

Mark Pope’s hard work has paid off in his fight for Drexel forward Amari Williams, who will now officially be a Kentucky Wildcat in 2024-25.

First, it was landing the three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year’s commitment to begin with — Pope’s first transfer addition as head coach. Then, a follow-up flight to Philadelphia to solidify that pledge amid concern ahead of the portal deadline he may be reopening his recruitment following the signing of Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison and Utah State’s Great Osobor decision to head elsewhere, ultimately landing at Washington.

Now, the final step of the process, one most assumed was coming — you just never know until you know.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Williams has officially withdrawn from the 2024 NBA Draft, locking him in with the Wildcats in Pope’s debut season in Lexington.

Kentucky's Amari Williams tells me that he will withdraw from the 2024 NBA Draft following his workout today.

Transfer from Drexel.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 28, 2024

Williams was the second of what has become 11 scholarship additions for Kentucky thus far with two spots to go, the 6-11 forward considered one of the top shot-blocking talents in the portal.

“At times, Amari Williams looks like a man among boys on the court,” Pope said at the time. “He is a three-time conference defensive player of the year, which is incredibly hard to do. He is bringing a big presence to the game and is going to serve as a rim-protector and rebounder. Amari is a gifted defensive player who can switch onto any position, one through five, which will add security to how everybody else feels on the court.

“Offensively, he is dangerous at the rim and he’s one of the special passers in college basketball. Amari can make all of the reads, all of the passes, all of the plays and he fits into exactly what we want to do on either end of the court.”

Williams averaged 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.8 blocks per game in 22.9 minutes of action as a senior at Drexel with 32 starts. Now, he’ll be bringing that production with him to Lexington — officially.