LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky sophomore Ugonna Onyenso will remain sidelined for “a couple of months” after sustaining an injury during the UK basketball trip to Canada for the GLOBL JAM tournament last week, coach John Calipari confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
The 6-foot-11 center was injured during the Wildcats’ closed-door scrimmage against Africa last Tuesday, the day before the four-team, international exhibition tournament officially tipped off. Onyenso showed up for Wednesday’s opener wearing a protective boot on his left ankle and had to use two crutches to get around the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
Initially, Calipari did not rule Onyenso out for the GLOBL JAM, though he said after Kentucky defeated Canada in the gold medal game Sunday night that the injury was more serious than he originally thought it would be.
“Ugonna Onyenso underwent a successful minor procedure that will keep him out for a couple of months,” Calipari announced Tuesday. “Nobody hated missing last week’s games more than him, and I know he’s going to work his way back to once again have a positive impact on this team.”
Onyenso played only 110 total minutes for the Wildcats as a freshman last season, though he did flash intriguing skills as a shot-blocker — 16 blocks in that limited playing time — while he was on the court. The 18-year-old from Nigeria was a late addition to the Wildcats’ 2022-23 roster, reclassifying up last summer and joining the team just before the start of the fall semester.
With college basketball’s reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe back for another season, Onyenso came to Lexington last year knowing that his opportunities in games would likely be limited. He made just one appearance over the final eight weeks of the season, but Onyenso spoke from the NCAA Tournament in March about his excitement to be back at UK for the 2023-24 season, and he reiterated that earlier this month when meeting with reporters.
He also said he grew as a player — particularly, learning to play a more physical style — while practicing against Tshiebwe and Kentucky’s other bigs last season and said he was never discouraged by the lack of playing time as a freshman.
“I know what I was coming into,” Onyenso said a few days before the Canada trip. “I was obviously playing with the national player of the year. I understood what the situation was. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to take it one step at a time. My time is eventually going to come.’ And hopefully, I think, that time is now.”
The GLOBL JAM was expected to be a showcase for Onyenso to display his progress, but the injury early in the week derailed those plans. UK’s other primary post player — freshman 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw — was already sidelined due to a foot injury.
Calipari confirmed in his first offseason press conference June 30 that Bradshaw had a medical operation as a result of that injury. He did not make the trip to Canada with his UK teammates as he continues to recover. Calipari has said that he does not expect Bradshaw — a projected one-and-done NBA draft pick in 2024 — to miss any of the regular season, which begins in November.
If Onyenso’s actual recovery aligns with Calipari’s “couple of months” timeline, he would be back on the court in mid-September, giving him nearly two months to practice with the Wildcats before the start of the 2023-24 season.
With Bradshaw and Onyenso both sidelined for the GLOBL JAM, the primary center duties fell to 6-9 power forward Tre Mitchell, a fifth-year player who transferred to Kentucky from West Virginia last month. Another late addition — high school recruit Jordan Burks, who is listed as a 6-9 guard — backed up Mitchell at the center position.
Kentucky swept all four games on the trip, but the Wildcats were outrebounded 181-167.
Calipari said last week that Onyenso looked good in the limited time he was on the court in Canada.
“I am proud of how he played yesterday against Africa,” Calipari tweeted after the injury. “He had six blocks and impacted the game in a positive way.”
