KSR Today: Kam Williams and Jayden Quaintance Interview Day

We’ve probably reached the slowest part of the offseason. We’re coming off the high of Matt Ponatoski’s commitment Sunday night, with a smattering of other football recruiting announcements scheduled over the next few weeks. Basketball recruiting heats back up this weekend at the adidas 3SSB Championships in South Carolina, and talking season for football starts next week at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. The NBA Summer League doesn’t start in earnest until Thursday in Las Vegas.

Kentucky Basketball practice is underway, but we’re only living off pictures and video clips. Shoutout to the Kentucky Basketball staff for letting us talk to two players each week, which keeps the content machine rolling here at KSR. In fact, that’s where we’ll start today’s rundown.

Interviews with Kam Williams, Jayden Quaintance

Kentucky Basketball’s summer interviews continue today with two more newcomers. Former Tulane wing Kam Williams and former Arizona State big man Jayden Quaintance will meet with reporters shortly after lunch. We’ve heard from Quaintance, who was originally committed to Kentucky under John Calipari, a few times since he decided to return to Lexington, but this will be our first conversation with Williams, a sharpshooter whose dad has already become a fan favorite in BBN.

We’ll bring you the highlights of those interviews this afternoon and, of course, you can see them in their entirety on the KSR YouTube Channel. Speaking of the channel, we reached 50,000 subscribers on Friday, so a big thanks to everyone who has subscribed thus far. Steven Peake has done a great job building that into a content gold mine.

New Practice Footage

On Monday, we got some new practice photos (which were actually taken last week) and a short clip. It’s hard to tell much from the 28-second video, but we’re certainly going to try. Braydon Hawthorne’s got some hops, Otega Oweh’s jumpshot looks good, and Denzel Aberdeen may be able to jump through the roof.

Just 108 days until the preseason exhibition vs. Purdue.

High energy, high intensity 😤 pic.twitter.com/qgoy63ZSQM

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 7, 2025

A great Jasper Johnson tweet

One person who wasn’t in any of the practice photos from last week? Jasper Johnson. That’s because Jasper was busy winning another gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland. It’s the second summer in a row that Jasper has brought home gold with USA Basketball; last year, he won it with the U18 National Team at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup.

On Monday afternoon, Jasper reflected on his latest accomplishment on social media, paying tribute to his late grandfather, Alvis Johnson, who was a legend on the Kentucky high school sports scene.

Granddaddy, woke up a 🥇. Thank you for all you taught me 🕊️🕊️💙🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/Wux8zJ4exX

— Jasper Johnson (@BruhJasperJ) July 7, 2025

Commitment Watch

With the addition of Matt Ponatoski, Kentucky is up to 15 commits in the 2026 class, which ranks No. 49 overall in the Rivals Industry Ranking. Who’s next? South Florida linebacker Adam Balogoun-Ali announces his decision today. Auburn is the frontrunner for the three-star’s services, but we’ll be watching just in case.

Adam Luckett broke down Kentucky’s next priorities in the 2026 class in a KSR+ Recruiting Notebook update on Monday. He also shared his thoughts on Ponatoski and more on KSR Happy Hour, so check it out if you missed it live. It also includes a spirited movie and late-night fast food discussion.

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Justin Edwards in the NBA Summer League

As mentioned, the NBA Summer League doesn’t really get going until Thursday in Las Vegas, but there is one Cat in action in the Salt Lake City Summer League. Last night, Justin Edwards put up 11 points (3-11 FG%, 2-6 3PT, 3-4 FT), 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Philadelphia 76ers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tonight, Edwards and the 76ers take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the Salt Lake finale (7 p.m. ET, YouTube).

Edwards and Philly will head to Vegas later this week, where he’ll join 12 other former Cats in the NBA 2K26 Summer League. There will be multiple games every day from Thursday, July 10, through Sunday, July 20, all airing on the ESPN family of networks and ESPN+. Adam Stratton previewed the Vegas Summer League last night, so check it out as we wait for the games to begin.

Player	Team	Number
Amari Williams	Boston Celtics	77
Andrew Carr	Portland Trailblazers	64
Antonio Reeves	New Orleans Pelicans	12
Chris Livingston	Philadelphia 76ers	7
Jacob Toppin	Atlanta Hawks	00
Jaxson Robinson	Cleveland Cavaliers	14
Justin Edwards	Phildadelphia 76ers	19
Keion Brooks	New Orleans Pelicans	11
Koby Brea	Phoenix Suns	14
Lamont Butler	Atlanta Hawks	31
Lance Ware	New York Knicks	45
Reed Sheppard	Houston Rockets	15
Rob Dillingham	Minnesota Timberwolves	Philadelphia 76ers

Take advantage of our KSR+ Introductory Offer to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting and roster intel. $1 for a week.

Ryan Lemond is going to try to eat 10 doughnuts in 10 minutes on Friday

With little sports happening, we’re creating our own. Ryan Lemond claimed on Monday’s radio show that he could eat ten glazed doughnuts in ten minutes, so the radio crew is putting it to the test during Friday’s show. He’s already trying to back out of it, but I have a feeling the crew won’t let him. We’ve already got AI images of what this could look like, which fooled Ryan Lemond, who thought they were real even though he’s never attempted the challenge before.

I am so hyped about this Donut Eating Contest with @ryanlemond !!@KySportsRadio @DrewFranklinKSR @ShannonTheDude pic.twitter.com/A8LqdKx94x

— John Robic's Hair (@JohnRobicsHair) July 7, 2025