Kentucky Wildcats Showing Interest in Tulane Green Wave’s Star Freshman in Portal
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The Tulane Green Wave had a very successful 2024-25 men’s college basketball season that will continue in the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament in Las Vegas that begins on March 31.
Unfortunately for head coach Ron Hunter, he is going to be without at least two key members of his rotation for those games.
Kam Williams, a member of the All-AAC Freshmen Team, announced recently that he was putting his name into the transfer portal and testing the NBA draft waters.
The following day, Mari Jordan announced that he was entering the portal as well.
It is the second straight year that Jordan will be looking for a new home after committing to the Green Wave from the Georgia Bulldogs.
Both were integral parts to Tulane winning 12 games in the AAC this year, which was tied for the second most in program history in conference play. The only time they won more was in 1947-48 as a member of the SEC with 13 victories.
In this day and age, with name, image and likeness deals running rampant and players looking to cash in whenever possible, it will become a challenge for teams to retain their emerging young talent.
The Green Wave football team experienced something similar with their quarterback Darian Mensah turning in a wonderful redshift freshman campaign. It led to him landing, unofficially, becoming the highest paid college football player by the Duke Blue Devils.
It is anyone’s guess what kind of deal Williams is seeking, but the competition for his services will be a hotly contesed one.
From early indications, it sounds as if the Kentucky Wildcats are the leaders in the clubhouse to land him in the transfer portal.
During an interview with KSR+, Williams revealed that the Wildcats are showing interest in him and he spoke very highly of the program; it likely isn’t a coincidence he believes they will win the title given their interest in him.
"They have a great team. I think they’re going to win the entire thing, but that’s just me, personally,” the former Green Wave star said.
Kentucky is set to play in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday against their SEC rivals, the Tennessee Volunteers.
The portal opening right in the middle of the tournament is certainly a challenge for everyone involved. It can’t be easy for players on a team still in the mix for a title to know that the school is actively looking for potential replacements already.
Along with the Wildcats, the Florida Gators, Louisville Cardinals, St. John’s Red Storm, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Mississippi State Bulldogs and USC Trojans are amongst the teams courting Williams.
Those are some major programs and unless Tulane reinvests heavily into the basketball team, this is going to become a yearly occurrence where a talented, developing young player departs for a potentially massive payday.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.