Vicky Graff Photo
John Calipari, as usual, was at his best at the SEC Media Days in Birmingham Wednesday when asked again about injuries to 7-footers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso.
Bradshaw hurt his foot in March at the McDonald’s All-American Game while Onyenso hurt his foot in July during UK’s Canadian exhibition trip. The coach indicated at Big Blue Madness it would likely be five or six weeks before they were ready to play.
“I should never do that because all of a sudden it was nine weeks, it means that they’re ready for the NCAA tournament,” Calipari said Wednesday at Media Days when asked about the duo’s status.
“Look, they’re on the right path, both of ’em. Ugo is a little bit behind Aaron because of the timing of his injury and the surgery. But they’re both progressing really good, and we’ll learn something each week about where they are.
“I don’t want to put a date or a time on it because what if they’re earlier? How about this one: what if it takes them more time than we thought? They’ll both be fine. Those are surgeries and injuries that are pretty common. I feel good. They’ve got great attitudes, both of them.”
Kentucky fans know Calipari’s medical analysis often is off but he does look and sound confident both will be playing this season. He did also provide a bit of new information on both of them.
“Here is the other thing. They both gained weight, they both got stronger because they could not jump around and do that. Now all of a sudden you look at you Ugo and Aaron and physically they probably both gained 20, 25 pounds of muscle weight,” the Kentucky coach said.
Calipari said he didn’t know if one or both would miss the start of regular-season play next month but did acknowledge missing summer workouts/practice would affect both players.
“I don’t know if they’re both back or both not back. I don’t know. But, yeah, that will take time. You weren’t jumping. Now all of a sudden you’re jumping. You were shooting shots and free throws without ever leaving your feet. Now you have to do it. It will take time,” Calipari said.
“But I think they’re both really talented. They’ve got good skills. So it’s the bump and grind of the game they’re not seeing.”
5 Responses
Once these players make it to mid January with their injuries they no longer care about Kentucky basketball. It’s all about getting ready for the NBA. It’s great for their NBA team that they’ve used the UK facilities to gain 25 pounds of muscle.
Midwest fan sees what has been the Calipari method, and Bradshaw is the most recent version of the Sharpe Kid. Real Sharpe too, he parlayed 6 months using UK’s NIL as his ticket to a big NBA payday.
I am sure that Lebron has this year completely planned for you, Mr. Bradshaw
I will give Cal credit what he said at the SEC media days yesterday. He admitted that the last 2-3 years teams has not met Kentucky basketball standards, he quoted we been good but not Kentucky good!! That is an unusual statement of telling the truth from him. Hopefully this is a start of him coming out of the woodshed of hiding and quite giving excuses.
Cal telling the truth really is unusual. A year of no excuses would be refreshing.
I doubt that either of these kids will play this season and both will enter the draft. That would have Mitchell playing the 5 spot, Edwards the 4, Reeves the 3 where he plays the best, Shepherd the 2 who will be the glue guy for this team, and Wagner at the point. Dillingham and Thiero can give quality backup to spots 1 – 3. Can Z and Burks give relief at the 4 and 5 spots? Z may surprise me and be a starter in time, but I don’t think he is there now. This could be a good team if Calipari doesn’t F them up.