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John Calipari comments on availability of Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler for first part of 2022-23 season
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
John Calipari and Kentucky are at Rupp Arena on Thursday as they face Kentucky State in their 2nd and final exhibition game before the regular season.
Prior to the game, the Wildcats head coach commented on the availability of forward Oscar Tshiebwe and guard Sahvir Wheeler, alluding to the fact that both could be missing during the opening stretch of the season.
“Will they be ready for the first few games? I don’t know,” Calipari said, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Ben Roberts. “I feel really good about us. But that’s when we have a full roster, and we’re ready to go. And that might not be for a while.”
Last season, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Tshiebwe averaged a double double with 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds while shooting 60.6 percent from the field. However, Calipari tweeted on Oct. 11 that the reigning National Player of the Year had undergone a “minor” knee procedure.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Wheeler is coming off a season in which he tallied 10.1 points and 6.9 assists. Wheeler recorded double-digit assists in 5 games last season. But he suffered a knee injury during the Wildcats’ first exhibition game against Missouri Western State on Sunday, which Cailpari hoped would be “short-term”.
Kentucky begins this season with a home contest against Howard on Monday.
