Keion Brooks Jr. is still waiting to get medical clearance to play this year. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky coach John Calipari did not mention sophomore Keion Brooks Jr. before or after the Louisville game and did not again Monday during his time on the SEC coaches teleconference. However, on his weekly radio show Monday night he did bring up Brooks — UK’s only returning player who had scored in a game last year but has not played in the first seven games because of a reported calf injury.
Brooks was reported to have been injured in early October and the timetable for his return then was two to three weeks. While he might be back participating in some practice drills, Calipari said Monday night he was not ready for contact.
“He’s in practice, but he’s not doing anything that’s contact yet,” Calipari said. “I don’t want to say, but he’s in, he’s there, he’s leading. He’s involved in everything until we do contact stuff, then he’s not.”
Brooks has said he’s been feeling better and can’t wait to get back on the court but there continues to be no definitive answer on when that will be or exactly what the injury is. Calipari said UK officials have advised him to quit making statements about when Brooks might be back.
“We’ve got to let the doctors decide,” Calipari said. “Here’s a kid that got over a 3.0 (grade-point average the first semester), may have been 3.3, I can’t remember. But it was a big-time GPA. Wants to lead, wants to be out there. A great kid, we’re just waiting on him.”
The coach apparently does expect that to maybe be soon because he said Monday night he planned to use Brooks at power forward to create more space inside like he did with former Cats Derek Willis and Wenyen Gabriel, both solid 3-point shooters.
“What I’d like to be able to do is do what we’ve done with Derek Willis and even Wenyen where we’d have that four man out so he can play some four or three. We can space the court more. We’re getting a little too tight with two bigs (Olivier Sarr and Isaiah Jackson) in there,” Calipari said.
“But at this point, it’s who we have, so we have to play the way we’re playing with the group of guys we have. I’m just waiting.”
And hoping getting Brooks back will help at least some of the offensive problems Kentucky is having.
