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Amari Williams He was Kentucky Basketball’s first transfer addition of the 2024 offseason. A lot has happened since he committed on April 21.
Now, with a nearly full roster intact, Williams is expected to carry a heavy load at the position for Kentucky. It’s something he did more and more over the past four years at Drexel. drexel head coach Zach Spiker He coached Williams from 2020-2024 and was able to see the new Kentucky transfer firsthand. KSR+ spoke to Spiker about what UK fans can expect this season.
“He’s a dynamic center, an elite passer, a game-changing shot blocker and very fluid movement for a player his size,” Spiker told KSR+. “You have a professional. You have an NBA prospect. “I wish nothing but the best for him and Kentucky this year.”
Recruitment of Amari Williams outside the UK
Zach Spiker and Drexel began recruiting at the Myerscough College Basketball Academy in London, England, even before meeting Amari Williams. They were recruiting another player when Williams caught their attention. Mount Oakers
“When you go watch him play, you see some of the other guys, but you make a mental note that that’s one to watch,” Spiker said.
Once Williams committed to Drexel, there were more challenges to prepare him for the college level. To begin with, he was predominantly left-handed and jumped with only his right leg.
“Our level of play and standard of how hard we were going to play is always a transition for high school kids at any level,” Spiker said. “I was playing behind a 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound guy (James Butler). When that guy got hurt, Amari was pushed into the starting lineup. He had a lot of wasted minutes as a (COVID) redshirt freshman. He made great strides in the conditioning space that I don’t think many people would have anticipated he would make.”
Amari Williams’ greatest strengths
If you ask Zach Spiker, Amari Williams has three big strengths. The first is her timing and her athletic ability to alter shots at the rim.
“His block rate doesn’t compare to his impact on the game,” Spiker said. “This year, they went down a little bit, but it was because of his reputation as a shot blocker that people weren’t even going in there. They would haggle and turn around. That doesn’t count as a shot block or even a shot change, but he’s a very big presence in the paint defensively.”
Then there is his passing. Spiker, who was in Jacksonville for the Coastal Athletic Conference league meetings, recently attended a Jacksonville Jaguars practice where he saw similarities between Williams and an NFL quarterback.
“You hear the phrase in the NFL about guys opening people up. There’s not really a window, but you take it far enough where it opens,” Spiker said. “Amari will open the cutters. There are video clips of him throwing to his own teammates where he had the vision to rebound it. He would hit them in the hands and they weren’t even expecting the ball when he got here. He has the ability to get guys open to catch baskets like a quarterback.”
The last key strength is his ability to get rebounds. From there, he can take the ball and start a counterattack in transition.
“Sometimes he can even pick up the ball himself,” Spiker said. “Kentucky fans will love that if that’s something he’s allowed to do. He is a playmaking center, a five-man playmaker. He is not the traditional center and when he receives the ball he is a dangerous weapon.”
Lead by example
Amari Williams may not stand out as a leader at first glance, but her leadership is felt throughout the entire show. Zach Spiker called him a “man who leads by example.”
“He’s not a strong voice,” she said. “That doesn’t mean he’s quiet or shy. As he gets to know the boys, he is sure to have relationships. He’s more of a lead-by-example guy than a person who speaks out and tells others what to do. “You can lead in many different ways and you can be a very effective leader in those ways.”
That doesn’t mean Williams can’t be a big presence. Defensively, his presence is felt massively.
“Defensive presence covers that for me. When I say he has a great defensive presence, it means he is active,” Spiker said. “In small windows, he can switch guards and be disruptive on the perimeter. You can protect ball screens in multiple ways, announcing the action, covering ground and getting deflections. Deflections are a reflection of the activity and energy expended on the defensive side of the court. “It certainly can do that.”
Transition to SEC Play
Zach Spiker has spent the last eight seasons at Drexel. Before that, he was Army’s head coach for seven years. While Spiker hasn’t coached in the SEC, he knows what it takes to prepare a player after a transfer. He has an idea of the challenge Williams has ahead of him.
“Any time we inherit one-year guys, there is a transition period, just like there is a traditional transition for a college player,” Spiker said, noting the importance of summer for each school with the influx of transfers. “This summer and time with their teammates will be very, very important for them to adapt quickly and put Kentucky in a position to be successful and compete for a national title.”
Because he was smaller at a younger age, Williams had to develop a lot of guard skills over the years. Now that he’s 6-foot-10 and 265 pounds, he continues to adjust to controlling the post.
“He’s very comfortable passing and playing on the perimeter,” Spiker said. “(Amari) has gotten a lot better at scoring from low in the post, but continue to work from low, back to the basket against size. He has improved a lot and made a lot of progress. It’s like a vitamin. You continue to do those exercises daily. He’s made a lot of progress with that. He can score over both shoulders.”
There was some question as to whether Williams saw a decline in minutes played throughout the season. Spiker said that was largely due to increasing margins of victory. At the end of the games, Spiker could always rely on Williams. That’s largely due to his ability to avoid foul trouble early and be more aggressive late.
“He did it in some big games and big moments, certainly against Delaware as a junior,” Spiker said. “He blocked Jameer Nelson Jr. twice at the end of the game. There are too many moments to highlight one, to be honest with you. The Villanova game ended with Amari’s block Eric Dixon“It’s a shot.”
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