Kentucky basketball finally has its first commitment in the 2026 recruiting cycle.
On Friday, Mark Pope’s Cats received a pledge from Mason Williams, a 6-foot-2 point guard who played prep basketball at the Tennessee Collegiate Academy near Memphis, Tennessee.
He’s a son of Mo Williams, a former college star at Alabama and a longtime NBA player who is currently the head men’s basketball coach at Jackson State.
Mason — who announced his commitment to Kentucky with an Instagram post — is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star prospect and as the No. 125 overall recruit in the 2026 class. Mason was originally committed to play for his father at Jackson State before reopening his recruitment in December.
Mason took a recruiting visit to UK on Wednesday.
Before he committed to Jackson State, Mason also reported scholarship offers from Memphis and Ole Miss, among other schools. Mason reported an offer from Texas Tech after reopening his recruitment.
In securing a commitment from Mason, the first piece of Kentucky basketball’s offseason roster rebuild is in place.
The Cats’ 2025-26 season ended March 22 with a loss to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Following that defeat, UK’s focus shifted toward putting together a roster for the 2026-27 season. That’s shaping up to be a critical third year for Pope as UK’s coach.
Mason with soon have the chance to sign paperwork that ties him to the UK program. The regular signing period for high school basketball recruits starts April 15.
This was the latest UK had gone in a recruiting cycle without receiving a commitment from a high school player since at least 2010.
Mason comes from strong basketball bloodlines. His father, Mo, played two college seasons in the SEC at Alabama.
Mo was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2002 and an All-SEC Third-Team selection in 2003. He averaged 13.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals across 64 games, all starts, in two years with the Crimson Tide. Mo was selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft and scored more than 10,000 points across 818 games in 13 NBA seasons.
Mo was an NBA All-Star in 2009 and won the 2016 NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For the past six seasons, Mo has been a college head coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He spent two seasons at Alabama State and has spent the four most recent seasons at Jackson State.
During the 2024-25 season, Mo’s Jackson State team played Pope’s first Kentucky team at Rupp Arena. The Cats handed the Tigers a 108-59 loss in November 2024. That game still stands as the most points UK has scored with Pope as head coach.
“You can have pace in your offense. You can have movement in your offense. But if you don’t make the right read, it doesn’t give you an advantage. They do a good job of getting off the ball and making the right read to the right person,” Mo said in November 2024 about Pope’s Kentucky squad.
Pope is still pursuing additional high school recruits from the 2026 recruiting group.
This includes 6-foot-7 small forward Tyran Stokes, the top-ranked prospect in the high school senior class. Stokes has been a longtime UK target, and he’s one of only two five-star recruits yet to make a college choice for next season.
On March 24, news broke that Kentucky’s top recruiter for Stokes would be leaving the UK program. Former Kentucky assistant coach Jason Hart won’t be back in Lexington. He’s leaving the Cats to become the associate head coach at SMU.
Even without Hart on staff, Kentucky will remain a strong contender for Stokes. Kansas is considered to be UK’s top competition for Stokes, who will be taking part in the annual McDonald’s All-American Game on March 31 in Glendale, Arizona.
Kentucky could also be in position to make a late recruiting move for Maximo Adams, a five-star small forward in the 2026 recruiting class.
Adams — a 6-foot-7 prospect who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 21 overall recruit in the 2026 class — committed in November to North Carolina from a group of finalists that also included Kentucky, Michigan State and Texas.
But it remains to be seen if Adams will stick with the Tar Heels after UNC decided to fire Hubert Davis after five seasons as head coach. North Carolina is yet to hire Davis’ replacement.
Class of 2026 point guard Mason Williams committed to head coach Mark Pope’s Kentucky program on Friday following a campus visit to Lexington on Wednesday. Mason Williams on Instagram
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 2:56 PM.
Cameron Drummond
Lexington Herald-Leader
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
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