Better eat your Wheaties? Kentucky’s Amari Williams credits Weetabix instead for his big game
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kentucky’s Amari Williams apparently just needed a breakfast reminder of his home country to spark him to a stat-stuffing performance.
Williams had eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in Kentucky’s 84-75 NCAA Tournament second-round victory over Illinois on Sunday after treating himself to some Weetabix, a breakfast the 7-footer often eats in his hometown of Nottingham, England.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope encouraged Williams to offer a testimonial about the cereal during the Wildcats’ postgame press conference while pointing out it might help the graduate student earn an endorsement.
“It definitely tastes amazing, and it gives you a lot of energy throughout the day, for sure,” Williams said.
Williams said he had four pieces of toast for breakfast before Kentucky’s first-round game against Troy and was told afterward that wasn’t enough nourishment.
So Kentucky coach Mark Pope asked Williams what he normally eats for breakfast. That’s when Williams brought up the Weetabix.
“It’s like Shredded Wheat,” Williams said. “Me saying this is crazy because my parents always forced me to eat it growing up.”
Williams credited Kentucky director of basketball administration Will Barton for finding an international food store in Milwaukee that carried the product.
“I had about three of them this morning,” Williams said. “Coach Pope joined me, too, and (teammate) Brandon Garrison.”
Pope even offered his own review of it.
“So it comes in a biscuit that looks – it looks very untasteful,” Pope said. “But then you, I learned today that you crumble it up into tiny little things. … The warm milk is key. I’ve never had cereal with warm milk. Shout out to Xaymara (Gonzalez Adams), our nutrition specialist, for making that happen.
“And then Amari gave me permission to put some sugar on it. He was nervous. He put four packs of sugar, I put one, because if I put more than one (my wife) Lee Anne was going to kill me. It was actually fantastic. I like it so much more right now than I did this morning.”
Williams’ performance made that breakfast much easier for his coach to digest.
“We will have mandatory team breakfast this week every morning featuring Weetabix,” Pope joked.
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