PJ Washington missed the first weekend of the 2019 NCAA Tournament due to injury but there’s hope the Kentucky forward returns to the lineup as his team is still dancing entering the second weekend of the tourney.

If you missed it, Washington posted a video featuring him walking around without his boot on, leading many to suspect Kentucky’s star player was closer to making his return. John Calipari joined the speculation by tweeting about it himself on Thursday.

Obviously, Kentucky would love to have Washington in the lineup for the upcoming game against Houston but how important is the sophomore to his team’s success? ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas believes Kentucky won’t advance much further without Washington.

“With PJ Washington healthy, they are a Final Four capable team and they can win the whole thing. If he’s not playing, then they can’t — it’s that simple,” Bilas said during a recent appearance on ESPN. “He plays, they have a chance to win. He doesn’t play, it will be over this weekend.”

The way Bilas sees it, Washington is incredibly important to Kentucky chances moving forward.