Kentucky has 'once-in-a-generation' talent in Amari Williams -- but he could dunk more!

You have to love Big Blue Nation, blunt and straight to the point, never holding back. Amari Williams is a star, obviously, someone capable of doing things very few athletes can at his size. He went for five points, 13 rebounds, four assists and one block in the win over Troy to open the NCAA Tournament, followed by eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and one steal against Illinois. That’s on the heels of a season averaging 10.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest.

Williams did, however, shoot just 2-8 from the field in the first-round matchup, followed by a 4-11 finish in the Round of 32 — several misses being gimmes at the rim. We’ve seen the 7-foot, 262-pound freak-of-nature athlete go coast to coast for poster slams, but he settles for layups at the rim rather than the guarantee of dunks? It was the talk of social media during the Illinois game, then became a question during Mark Pope‘s call-in radio show on Monday.

“How can you get Amari to dunk more?” one fan asked, leaving it at that — no follow-up commentary.

Pope appreciated the approach — and actually agreed with the question, while also pointing out just how dominant Williams has been this season despite that minor gripe.

“I like it because that’s a very specific, direct question. I really appreciate that, that’s beautiful. Thank you,” he said. “So Amari Williams is such a fantastic — I’m telling you, we’re getting to watch a once-in-a-generation guy. You think about his numbers in this last game, he’s 10 rebounds, six assists, one turnover, which is incredible as much as he handles the ball and play-makes for us. Three blocks, one steal. Just unbelievable. So proud of him right now.”

Big-picture, Williams has been a generational talent Pope couldn’t be happier to coach for his final season of eligibility. He’s been everything the team had hoped and then some.

As for those specific instances, though, he said the fifth-year senior tends to rush things, leading to some point-blank misses that could have been vicious slams.

One of the things that happens to Amari is he just sometimes gets a little sped up. It’s why he’s playing so well. I mean, you see a seven-footer race on a close out, jump up in the air, block a three-point shot, collect the rebound, race down and dunk it on the other end, which we saw against Illinois. You don’t see guys his size make that play ever,” Pope said. “He’s leading the break with us, he’s leading transition. He’s under a tremendous amount of pressure from us to be a playmaker, and he’s playing against this drop defense. This weekend, he played elite, elite-level basketball.

“The one thing he would like to do is just slow down a little bit once he gets to the rim, kind of get his feet under him, and I think he will be able to do that. He’s playing so hard, playing so aggressive, playing with so much emotion, and just him in those moments, being able to slow down a little bit is going to be the key for him.”

Tom Leach told Pope that Williams is just one of three players in Kentucky basketball history with 300+ rebounds and 100+ assists, joining Antoine Walker in 1996 and Cliff Hagan in 1952.

That stat doesn’t surprise the Drexel transfer’s head coach — none of them do anymore.

Williams is a special talent he wishes he got to coach another season or two.

“It’s pretty good company. Those are those two really incredible players, and how fun that they’re from such incredibly different generations with really different skill sets, also. That’s actually a great stat,” Pope said. “Amari is putting all kind of historic stats up, and it’s been really fun. It’s been really fun to coach him. I wish I could find a couple more years of eligibility for him.”

Maybe some more Weetabix will help him throw down a couple of big-time dunks in Indianapolis?