Mark Pope has secured his first commitment for Kentucky basketball’s 2026 recruiting class. On Friday, Mason Williams, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Tennessee Collegiate Academy near Memphis, announced he would join the Wildcats.
Williams is the son of former Alabama standout and longtime NBA player Mo Williams, who is now the head coach at Jackson State. He shared his decision via Instagram. Ranked as a four-star prospect and No. 125 overall in the 2026 class by the 247Sports Composite, Mason had previously committed to play under his father at Jackson State before reopening his recruitment in December.
After visiting Kentucky earlier in the week, he chose the Wildcats. Before his initial Jackson State commitment, he had reported offers from schools like Memphis and Ole Miss, and later picked up an offer from Texas Tech after reopening his recruitment.
Williams’ commitment marks the first step in Kentucky’s roster rebuild following the 2025–26 season, which ended March 22 with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa State. Attention has since shifted to building the team for the 2026–27 season, a pivotal third year for Pope as head coach.
Williams will soon be eligible to officially sign with Kentucky when the signing period begins April 15. Notably, this is the latest Kentucky has gone without a high school commitment in a recruiting cycle since at least 2010.
He comes from a strong basketball lineage. His father, Mo Williams, starred at Alabama, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors in 2002 and All-SEC Third Team in 2003. Mo went on to score over 10,000 points across 13 NBA seasons, earned an All-Star selection in 2009, and won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. He has spent the past six seasons as a college head coach, including the last four at Jackson State.
During the 2024–25 season, Jackson State faced Kentucky at Rupp Arena, where Pope’s Wildcats won decisively, 108–59 — still the highest-scoring game under Pope. After that matchup, Mo praised Kentucky’s offensive execution and decision-making.
Pope continues to pursue other top prospects in the 2026 class, including five-star forward Tyran Stokes, one of the top-ranked players still undecided. However, Kentucky recently lost assistant coach Jason Hart, a key recruiter for Stokes, who is leaving to join SMU as associate head coach. Despite this, Kentucky remains a strong contender, with Kansas seen as its main competition. Stokes is set to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game on March 31.
Kentucky may also revisit its pursuit of five-star forward Maximo Adams, currently committed to North Carolina. Adams could reconsider his decision following the recent firing of UNC head coach Hubert Davis, with no replacement yet named.
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