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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 05: Braydon Hawthorne #22 of the Kentucky Wildcats warms up prior to the Music City Madness game Gonzaga Bulldogs at Bridgestone Arena on December 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In an interview with local media this week, Kam Williams was asked about Braydon Hawthorne, and his response is exactly what Kentucky Basketball fans have been craving to hear.
Hawthorne was a 4-star prospect and spent his freshman year redshirting at Kentucky, which may not matter anyway now with the five-for-five. After not playing at all and barely getting any clips of him in practices or shooting around in pregame, Big Blue Nation has its questions.
In a way, Hawthorne is a wild card, a mystery, whatever term you want to use, but we just don’t truly know what we’ll receive from Hawthorne this season.
No better man to ask than a man behind the scenes, in a similar position, with a front row seat to see the man play himself. Williams shared with the media that “He brings a lot of different things. He’s a great player. He can shoot, dribble, play defense. His wingspan is crazy; he can block shots.”
With Hawthorne’s 6-foot-8 frame and playing on the wing, he is a difficult player to guard with the length that he displays and how disruptive he can be on the defensive side as well. Hawthorne fits into this generation of lengthy wings that seem to want to follow in the steps of Kevin Durant. Guys like Brandon Ingram, Brandon Boston, and many others can also provide the blueprint: The long, tall body that can still move a little bit, like a guard on the offensive side of things, and seems to be able to score on all three levels.
Williams also added, “He just thought last year, for his process path to just develop a full year, and now everyone gets to see what he worked on the whole year last year.”
After a full year of training at Kentucky and growing in his understanding of what Coach Pope and the staff want to do, we now get to see what we have been excited about with Hawthorne.
Williams stated that Hawthorne’s confidence is a key, saying that “As a freshman, you’re not really going to be as confident when it comes to doing certain things, like going first in drills and stuff like that, but he’s taking the initiative to be the first one to show everybody how this drill is. Definitely a growth aspect I see.”
In the modern world of college basketball, leaders are really guys who have even a year of experience. It sounds crazy to say, but with all the movement with the transfer portal, the pieces that stick around and have a year under their belt are super important.
Guys like Trent Noah, with two years of experience, or Malachi Moreno, with a year of experience, are vital during these offseason periods of growth and preparation. Hawthorne is in that group of players who are key to helping the team out, but also can be expected to take a leap with a better understanding of what’s going on.
Below you can watch clips of the interview!
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