Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler won’t play in Wildcats’ final exhibition game
Kentucky Wildcats point guard Sahvir Wheeler will not play in the team’s final exhibition game of the preseason against Kentucky State on Thursday night.
Wheeler suffered a knee injury with 10:45 remaining in the second half of UK’s exhibition victory over Missouri Western State on Sunday night. He fell awkwardly to the court and remained down on the baseline for a couple of minutes before being helped to the Kentucky bench area, putting no weight on his right side in the process. He sat briefly on the bench before being helped back to the locker room and did not return to the court after that.
UK Coach John Calipari said after Sunday’s game that he did not know the extent of Wheeler’s injury, but that it looked like the same knee he had injured earlier this preseason. That setback kept him out of the team’s Blue-White Game in Pikeville on Oct. 22, though he was sidelined for only a few days.
Calipari confirmed on his pregame radio show Thursday night that Wheeler would not play against Kentucky State.
Kentucky is set to begin the regular season Monday night in Rupp Arena against Howard University, and the first major test of the Wildcats’ 2022-23 schedule is likely to come against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis on Nov. 15. No. 4-ranked UK will also travel to play at No. 2 Gonzaga on Nov. 20.
Wheeler has led the Southeastern Conference in assists in each of the past two seasons, and he averaged 10.1 points and 6.9 assists per game for the Cats last season. He’s also a highly regarded defensive player and was named a preseason All-SEC selection last month, joining teammate Oscar Tshiebwe on that list. (UK was the only team with two players earning preseason All-SEC honors).
Tshiebwe has been out the entire preseason following an Oct. 13 procedure on his knee, though Calipari has deemed that “minor” in nature, and the reigning national player of the year said last week that he expects to be ready to play when the Wildcats’ season begins.
Calipari didn’t commit to a timetable for either Tshiebwe or Wheeler on Thursday’s pregame show.
“Will they be ready for the first few games? I don’t know,” he said. “... 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.”
UK will also play Kentucky State without Daimion Collins, whose father passed away unexpectedly Tuesday. Collins has returned to his home state of Texas to be with family.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 6:22 PM.
