Big Blue Madness is just days away, and Kentucky Basketball fans finally have a clearer picture of where two important players stand in their injury recoveries.
Mark Pope provided an update Monday on Trent Noah and Kam Williams as the Wildcats continue preparing for the 2026–27 season.
Noah has been dealing with a hamstring injury that originally kept him out of some summer workouts. After re-aggravating the injury in September, the Kentucky forward was expected to miss the entire exhibition portion of the schedule.
However, there is now some encouraging news.
Kentucky announced that Noah’s hamstring is improving and that the team hopes he can return within a few weeks. While that likely means he will miss most, if not all, of the exhibition season, there remains a possibility that he could be available when the regular season begins.
That would be significant for a player Kentucky is expecting to take another step forward this season.
Noah brings a combination of size, toughness and versatility to the Wildcats, and his ability to knock down shots could be particularly important for a Kentucky roster featuring several talented offensive pieces.
Williams is facing a different recovery timeline.
Kentucky remains hopeful that Williams can return around the beginning of the regular season, but he is also unlikely to participate in the exhibition games.
Pope explained that Williams suffered another issue involving the Jones fracture he previously dealt with. According to Pope, the original injury did not completely heal, forcing Williams to undergo a more extensive surgical procedure.
«“He obviously kind of re-injured his previous Jones fracture; it didn’t heal all the way correctly, so we had to do a more extensive surgery that we think has an incredible success rate,” Pope said. “So, we have very high expectations of him to be back healthy.”»
Williams averaged 6.0 points per game last season while shooting 36% from three-point range, but he also showed flashes of the potential that made him an intriguing young player.
One of his biggest performances came against Bellarmine, when he erupted for 26 points and knocked down eight three-pointers.
For now, both Noah and Williams remain on the sidelines as they work toward getting healthy.
Kentucky fans will get their first opportunity to see the 2026–27 Wildcats on Friday night when Big Blue Madness arrives, although several players will be unavailable because of injuries.
The bigger question will be whether Noah and Williams can make enough progress over the next several weeks to be ready when the games begin to count.
