The Kentucky Wildcats wrapped up exhibition play Thursday night with a 99-53 win over Kentucky State.
Now, the attention turns to the regular season, which will see Kentucky host New Mexico State and Texas A&M Commerce in the opening week of college hoops. Then comes the Champions Classic showdown with the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks the following Tuesday.
Going into today, it looked unlikely that we would see Aaron Bradshaw or Ugonna Onyenso vs. the Jayhawks while they recover from foot surgery.
Then there’s Zvonimir Ivisic, who reportedly has food poisoning and has to get cleared by the NCAA, which is untelling on how long that takes, so the UK frontcourt is dangerously thin at the moment.
However, during his postgame radio show (via John Clay), Calipari said that Bradshaw is now just expected to miss the first week or two of the regular season.
John Calipari on his post-game show says he thinks Aaron Bradshaw will miss the first week or two of the season. Says Onyenso is behind that. #BBN #ukbasketbakk
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) November 3, 2023
If that’s true, then there appears to be at least some small chance that Bradshaw suits up vs. Kansas. While I wouldn’t count on it at this point, it is nice to think there is at least some hope of it happening.
Even if he doesn’t play that game, Calipari’s 1-2 week timeline means Bradshaw ‘could’ return for one of the following games vs. Stonehill (Nov. 17), Saint Joseph’s (Nov. 20), or Marshall (Nov. 24).
That would help Bradshaw get his feet wet before Kentucky’s big ACC/SEC Challenge matchup with No. 13 Miami on Nov. 28.
It also means Bradshaw would be ready for the CBS Sports Classic showdown with the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels on Dec. 16.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Onyeno’s return is still a ways away, so best not to count on having him back anytime soon.
But when it comes to Bradshaw, hope is a nice thing to have.