Duke transfer Elliot Williams thinking Kentucky, Matt Pilgrim not out of the picture?

Thanks to a road trip for work, it’s been about three days since I’ve been able to post anything. I’m going to jump right back in with a VEEERY interesting story about a potential incoming transfer to UK that could answer questions about what John Calipari is going to do with his final scholarship now that Jodie Meeks is officially officially gone having been selected 41st overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. (Also, I’ll be posting later this evening on how Jodie will fit in cheese country)

The potential transfer is former Dukie Elliot Williams. Williams just wrapped up his freshman season, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in a little over 16 minutes a game. You may be somewhat underwhelmed by these numbers, but Williams is a player with a ton of potential.

His reason for leaving Duke is that his mother is ill and he wants to be closer to her. Home is Memphis, Tennessee for Williams. The loss of Williams is a very big one for Coach and Duke. With the departure of Gerald Henderson for the NBA, Duke is now ever shorter on elite level athletes, especially with Williams late season emergence (he started 11 of the final 12 games).

According to a report by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, Williams will consider three schools in his home state – Memphis, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt – along with Kentucky.

Williams chose Duke out of high school over Memphis, Tennessee, and Virginia, and also took a look at Vanderbilt. He knows the coaches of the four schools he is going to take a look at well. Elliot was ranked as the number 16 prospect nationally by both Rivals and Scout and was a 5 star according to both. As I said, he is an elite athlete with an improving left-handed shot.

His skill and athleticism allow him to play all three perimeter positions, but he would fit on this UK team mostly as a shooting guard. His penetration ability make him a perfect fit in the dribble drive and was one the major reasons why Calipari went after him hard while he was at Memphis.

Williams will be looking to get a waiver from the NCAA so that he does not have to sit out next season as a transfer a la Tyler Smith. Given that his home is in Memphis, he would be most likely to get that waiver if he decides to play for Josh Pastner. It’s difficult to say whether the same would apply at Vandy, UK, or UT.

This is something worth watching and Williams went out his way to mention UK as an option, so it’s certainly a possibility.

The other much talked about possibility for how the final scholarship will be filled is Matt Pilgrim. The speculation just won’t stop as people see Pilgrim still scrimmaging with the team. Also, according to Kentucky Sports Report, Pilgrim is enrolled in summer school.

No official announcement on the roster has come from UK even though it has been widely reported that UK’s scholarship number is down to 12. DeWayne Peevy, in that report, would not directly answer questions about Pilgrim. Again, I say that this bears watching. I don’t think Calipari is afraid of using only 12 scholarships, but if there is a talented player out there who fits on this team, Calipari is going to go after him.

At this point, Eilliot Williams and Matt Pilgrim are both in the realm of possibility.