Mark Pope praised Mo Williams before and after Kentucky's matchup vs. Jackson State last season

Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope is adding a former NBA All-Star to his coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 season. Mo Williams stepped down as the head coach of Jackson State on Monday to take over as an assistant for the Wildcats.

But this won’t be the first time that Williams, who was named an All-Star in 2009 before winning an NBA championship in 2016 — both with the Cleveland Cavaliers — comes to Lexington. He has a handful of memories from facing the Kentucky blue and white.

The first of those memories came during his college days. Williams spent only two seasons at Alabama (2001-03) before heading off to the NBA, battling Kentucky in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns. His introduction to UK was a good one, too. Williams led the 14th-ranked Crimson Tide to a 64-61 win over No. 8 Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Jan. 26, 2002, finishing with 13 points along the way. He went on to win SEC Freshman of the Year.

Round two against the Wildcats wasn’t as successful, though. No. 8 Kentucky returned the favor in Tuscaloosa with a 63-46 victory over No. 15 Alabama on Jan. 25, 2003. Williams managed eight points and four assists in the loss. It would be another 21 years before Williams faced Kentucky again, only this time as a head coach.

Williams spent four seasons as the head coach at Jackson State. In year three, UK brought the Tigers to Rupp Arena to participate in the program’s Unity Series. Kentucky smashed Jackson State 108-59 on Nov. 22, 2024. At the time, Pope and Williams didn’t know much about each other, but Pope’s comments at the time ended up being a bit prophetic.

“We’ve crossed paths,” Pope said of Williams before the Jackson State game. “We’re not boys but I expect we’ll know each other a little bit better after tomorrow night. He’s clearly just an unbelievable ambassador of the game of basketball, an unbelievable pro, terrific career. He’s gonna continue to do great things in coaching.“

Fast forward less than a year and a half, and Pope is now bringing in Williams to hopefully continue that expectation of greatness.

“This Jackson State team, man, these guys played really hard,” Pope said postgame. “They just compete, compete, compete, and Mo clearly, come on, he’s one of the best basketball guys and ambassadors to this game ever.”

After his team came up well short against Kentucky, Williams gave the media a small look into how his basketball brain works. He called himself “a student of the game” before going on to praise Lamont Butler and what the point guard did throughout his college career. But Williams also mentioned that he always preaches ball movement as a coach, something that season’s Kentucky team did well — much more so compared to this past season’s.

“They do a good job of getting out the ball and moving without the ball and actually making the right read,” Williams said postgame. “I think that is the most important thing you can have — pace in your offense.

“You can have moving offense, but if you don’t make the right read, it does not give you an advantage. They do a good job of getting off the ball and making the right read to the right person. They know who their shooters are. They get the ball. It is an old cliche that has been around the NBA for a long time –when you’re making a pass, it has to be on time, and it has to be on target. They do a good job of making good passes on time and on target.”

Let’s hope Williams brings that thinking with him to Lexington ahead of a pivotal season for Pope’s Wildcats.