Kentucky men’s basketball may be down, but they are not out.
The Wildcats landed their first official commitment of the 2026 recruiting class this week — four-star point guard Mason Williams. Kentucky reporter Tristan Phadris revealed that Mason chose Kentucky over Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and Washington.
The Lexington Herald Leader notes that Mason is ranked as the No. 125 overall recruit in the 2026 class and played prep basketball at the Tennessee Collegiate Academy near Memphis, Tenn. Notably, Mason is also the son of retired former NBA All-Star point guard Mo Williams.
Mo, 43, played in the NBA from 2003-17 and was an All-Star in 2009 as well as an NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. After retiring, he went into coaching and now serves as the head coach at Jackson State University.
Interestingly enough, Mo has another son who currently plays for him at Jackson State. Mason was originally committed to Jackson State as well but reopened his recruitment last December.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is coming off an underwhelming 22-14 season in which they lost in the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament to Florida before flaming out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in embarrassing fashion. Now the Wildcats will be banking on Mason as the first piece of the puzzle for their 2026-27 season.
