Sahvir Wheeler has been out with an ankle injury the last six games. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Senior point guard Sahvir Wheeler won’t play for Kentucky tonight against Vanderbilt but it will not be because of the ankle injury that has kept him out of the last six games.
“Sahvir had a minor procedure unrelated to his ankle injury this morning and will be out for a bit,” Kentucky coach John Calipari posted on Twitter today. “Because he’s recovering today, he will not be part of tonight’s Senior Day ceremony.”
That doesn’t mean Wheeler could not return for postseason play.
“I hate that Sahvir won’t be able to hear BBN show him how much we all love him on Senior Day tonight. Looking forward to getting him back on the court with us soon!” Calipari posted in a second tweet.
Wheeler led the SEC in assists as a sophomore at Georgia and again last season after transferring to Kentucky. Wheeler averaged 10.1 points, 6.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game last season to earn second-team all-SEC honors and was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award given to the nation’s best point guard.
He was leading the league in assists again this year when he got hurt in January and eventually lost his starting point guard job to freshman Cason Wallace.
Kentucky won at No. 5 Tennessee without Wheeler. He came off the bench in five games and started once at Ole Miss with Wallace out after UK won at Tennessee. However, Wheeler injured his ankle in the Ole Miss win in the first half. He played the second half but then injured the ankle in practice before UK lost to Arkansas on Feb. 7 and has not played since then.
He is averaging 7.7 points, 5.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game this season and shooting 41.7 percent from the field (36.6 percent from 3).
Calipari talked about Wheeler’s UK career during his weekly radio show Monday night.
“What he did a year ago, I remember we beat North Carolina. The way he played and what he did in that game … you can’t judge him on one game either way, that game or whatever,” Calipari said.
“But you’re talking about a guy that came in here and impacted the program, defensively impacted the program. He’s been a very big part of what we’ve done the last couple of years.”
However, with the ankle injury and now this “minor procedure” no knows when or if Wheeler will be back.
3 Responses
I just don’t get this team. The Arkansas game is a must win now if we are to get the double bye.
Not really, LSU is delivering a back door for this UK team by beating Missouri tonight.
I read at another site that Wheeler would have won this game but for "his injuries" Well, I keep hearing he is not injured physically, but pouting and refusing to play.
Calipari lies about these things routinely, he has admitted as much in his book.
Time for the fraud and Wheeler to exit stage left.
Maybe I spoke too soon about Missouri. They were down 18 with 2:30 left in the first half, and now they have cut the LSU lead to 7 with 18:20 left in the game.
If Missouri wins this, then UK will not get the double-bye without beating Arkansas on Saturday.