Terrence Clarke has seen his NBA draft stock drop (SEC Photo)
One mysterious injury has healed enough for Kentucky sophomore Keion Brooks to be medically cleared to play Saturday when UK visits Florida but whatever injury Terrence Clarke has apparently will keep him out of his third straight game. Clarke is UK’s third leading scorer at 10.3 points per game but has not played since Southeastern Conference play began. He’s shooting 43.1 percent from the field but just 22.7 percent from 3-point range and only 47 percent at the foul line.
He tried to play through pain in 14 ineffective minutes at Louisville when he did not take a shot, score or have a rebound. He’s been seen in a walking boot but all Kentucky coach John Calipari has really said is that the injury is similar to one Ashton Hagans had — and continued to play with.
“Terrence has been seeing the doctors and he’s been with medical staff and it’s just something he has to work through every day and continue to get him to a place where he’ll be able to play and try and get him as pain free as possible,” UK assistant coach Jai Lucas said Friday.
“The biggest thing right now is just getting him in the treatment that he needs, and he’s in there every day, every morning. He’s in there a lot. He’s doing what he needs to do. We have a great medical staff and a great trainer.
“I think the biggest thing is just getting to a point where he’s able to play through the least pain as possible.”
Will that be Saturday at Florida?
“I would say at this moment, I don’t think so. I think it’s up in the air, but I would probably tend to say no,” Lucas said.
Clarke was expected to not just be one of the top freshmen in the SEC but in the country. Instead, he’s struggled mightily on offense and dropped from No. 15 to No. 26 in ESPN’s most recent NBA mock draft.
ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony wrote in a recent article that a “barrage of turnovers, an inability to score from outside the paint and too many moments of selfish play” have Clarke trending downward with NBA personnel.
