Exclusive: Why Miami Exhibition Is Meaningful For Vanderbilt Basketball's Sebastian Williams-Adams

NASHVILLE—It’s not quite Houston, but Sebastian Williams-Adams doesn’t appear to mind. To him, Miami will feel that way on Friday night. That’s good enough for him. 

For Williams-Adams, it appears to be about the people and Friday will include a large group of them that remind him of Houston. When Vanderbilt’s exhibition with Miami was announced, Williams-Adams heard from a number of people in his Houston community that they’d be making the trip to Miami. Vanderbilt and Miami face off in an exhibition Saturday, but the matchup is as pertinent as any for Williams-Adams’ circle. 

Williams-Adams will face off against his longtime friend Shelton Henderson–Miami’s star sophomore, who could be an NBA player if all goes right for him in 2026-27–on Friday and another longtime ally in Miami head coach Jai Lucas. Williams-Adams has known each of them since he was an elementary schooler. 

When Williams-Adams entered the portal in the spring, he immediately knew that he wanted to transfer to Vanderbilt or Miami. He loved Vanderbilt as a high schooler before committing to Auburn and knew that Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington would platform him to expand his game offensively. Miami has a special place in his heart, though, and it still does because of Lucas–even though Williams-Adams opted to play for Byington instead of him. 

“Jai’s known me for a super long time, as little third-grade Sebastian with goggles, running up down the floor and can barely run without tripping over his own feet,” Williams-Adams told Vandy on SI. “The fact that I'm playing against him on a college stage, It's super super surreal. I didn’t think the chance would come on unless somehow the tournament gods would make it work. But being able to do it–I'm just super excited.”

When Williams-Adams takes the floor Friday night, he estimates that he’ll do so in front of his parents, Henderson’s parents and legendary basketball developer John Lucas II. Lucas II is Jai Lucas’ dad and has been invested in Williams-Adams’ development since before Williams-Adams and Henderson knew each other. 

Williams-Adams describes the elder Lucas as his mentor and talks with him often. Lucas II was hard on him on the floor, but Williams-Adams always knew that he wanted to make him better. Lucas II has hosted 6:00 AM Workouts with Williams-Adams and Henderson since they were in third grade and believes they learned to understand spacing, playing off of two feet and making shots from 3-point range back then. Lucas II was still an NBA coach when Henderson and Williams-Adams entered his program. He told Basket Under Review in the spring that they “trained like NBA players” from a young age as a result. 

All these years later, Williams-Adams appears to be seeing the fruits of his labor paying off. After averaging 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 stocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field as well as 30.8% from 3-point range and setting the freshman steals record in his lone year at Auburn, Williams-Adams is set to take a leap as a Vanderbilt sophomore. Williams-Adams started Vanderbilt’s Monday exhibition against UAB and appears to have the green light on the perimeter in a way that he didn’t at Auburn a season ago. 

When Williams-Adams takes the floor–either as a starter or the first off the bench on Friday night–he’ll likely demonstrate that, at least in flashes. Williams-Adams will have to attribute that to Byington for allowing him to expand his game, but he’ll also have to acknowledge the role that those in the crowd played. When it’s all over, Williams-Adams will embrace that group and will likely be the last one to get on the bus back to Vanderbilt’s hotel. 

“It’s going to be a little bit of a home reunion, even though it’s in Miami instead of Houston,” Williams-Adams said. “That family just means a ton to me.”

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