Adou Thiero is back for UK basketball. But the rest of this season might be a process.
Here we go again.
That had to be on the mind of any Kentucky basketball fan who watched as Adou Thiero hobbled off the Rupp Arena court Wednesday night and disappeared into the tunnel leading back to the Wildcats’ locker room.
Thiero had just fallen hard a couple of moments earlier, only four days after making his return following more than a month on the sidelines with a back issue. The 6-foot-8 guard has provided a bolt of energy for the Cats throughout this 2023-24 season, and his toughness and athleticism — especially around the rim — has been a welcome and needed addition for John Calipari.
This time, a crisis was averted. Not long after disappearing through the tunnel, Thiero jogged back out to the UK bench, made sure the coaches saw he was there, and flashed them a thumbs up. Still, he didn’t get back on the court for the rest of the second half, only briefly appearing in place of Rob Dillingham, who went down with cramps in overtime and returned about a minute later. Kentucky played the final 10:25 of regulation — and then all but 68 seconds of overtime — with the same five-player group, ultimately losing 94-91.
With D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards sidelined that night due to injury, Calipari liked the five guys he had for the end of the Florida loss, but he also acknowledged it was a lot to ask to keep them in the game for so long during crunch time.
Thiero said Friday afternoon that he could have played more down the stretch two days earlier, but he also understood Calipari sticking with the group that had been playing well, and UK’s coach implied he didn’t want to make things worse for Thiero.
Everyone involved hopes that he can get back to full strength soon.
Thiero said Friday that he was a little tired and a little sore but ready to get back in the gym for that afternoon’s practice. Going into the game against No. 5-ranked Tennessee on Saturday night, it’s looking like the rest of Thiero’s season could be a process.
The past several weeks sure have been.
“A lot of appointments. Recovery. Rehab. Just a lot,” Thiero said.
The first public signs of Thiero’s back issues came during Kentucky’s win over North Carolina on Dec. 16, when Thiero left the bench and ran to the locker room in the opening minutes, returning a short time later with the back wrap he’s been wearing when he’s not playing.
At the beginning of the second half of that game, freshman 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw picked up his third foul, and Calipari looked down the sideline to thumb Thiero into the game. He wasn’t there. Instead, he was behind the bench area, near the arena tunnel, getting his back stretched out by a trainer. Before Thiero could get to the scorer’s table, Bradshaw picked up his fourth foul, leaving Calipari upset toward his staff for the mix-up.
Thiero still ended up having a major impact on that game, and the Cats came away with the win.
After that, Thiero played just one more time — bringing 13 minutes of ample energy in a 95-76 win at Louisville — before being sidelined for over a month with the back issue.
That was also the game where Thiero knew things weren’t right. He said the back ailment had come on gradually to that point. After the Louisville game, he knew he needed to take a break.
“That’s when it was just like, ‘Yeah, I’ve gotta stop. I’ve got to take a little time off,’” he said.
Thiero underwent a massive growth spurt late in his high school career, going from not much taller than 6-feet at the end of his junior year to around 6-5 by the time he committed to UK shortly after his senior season. That growth continued when he got to campus, and he’s experienced those growing pains ever since, as he continues to get bigger and taller.
In the past, he said it was mostly his knees and legs that would get sore. The issue that forced him from the court in the Florida game was related to his hip, which has also given him trouble in the past amid the growth spurts. The back issues are something new, and he said he thinks it’s his upper body that’s now growing.
“That needs to hurry up and finish,” he said, smiling but obviously ready to get past the pain.
For the time being, he’s trying to strengthen his core and use that while he’s playing to take some of the load off of his back, doing his best to keep that in mind as he braces for hits and absorbs contact during the flow of the game.
“That’s very hard. My first couple of times doing it — it felt good — but it was just like, ‘Dang, that’s difficult to do every time for a whole game.’ But we’re working on it and getting better.”
How long will he have to put up with this? Thiero’s not quite sure. He said he hoped it was a process that wouldn’t last the rest of this season.
“But, if it is, we got the resources for it. We’re prepared to put in the work. I love this game. I love my teammates. I’ll do everything I have to to be on the court with them.”
Thiero looking forward
A decrease in Thiero’s minutes coincided with the debut of Bradshaw, who played for the first time in Kentucky’s Dec. 2 loss to UNC Wilmington but didn’t get on the court for considerable run until the next game — an 81-66 win over Penn — one week later.
The 7-1 Bradshaw supplanted Thiero in the starting lineup in the following game — the 87-83 victory over North Carolina — giving the Wildcats more size near the rim. While all three of UK’s 7-footers — Bradshaw, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ugonna Onyenso — were sidelined to start the season, Thiero, listed as a guard, was the de facto 4 in a lineup that featured 6-9 forward Tre Mitchell at the 5 spot. At the time of Bradshaw’s debut, Thiero was also the team’s leading rebounder.
That role required Thiero to play a more physical style — often going up against bigger and stronger players — and while that suits his natural tendencies on the court, it led to more hard hits over the early part of the season.
After that Louisville game, it was decided it would be best if Thiero got some time to rest. He ended up going more than five weeks without playing.
Onyenso, who suffered a foot injury in the offseason, made his season debut in the win over UNC, not long before Thiero was relegated to the sidelines. The 7-foot sophomore, who’s known around UK basketball circles to be a keen observer and a quick study, said he was watching Thiero’s demeanor throughout his own recovery from injury.
“He’s the energy guy,” Onyenso said. “When I was out, I saw how he was cheering for the team.”
Onyenso and Thiero were the only returning freshmen from last season’s team — Antonio Reeves was the only other scholarship Cat to come back — and the two sophomores have tried to help take on a leadership role, even though both are still in their teenage years.
In UK’s eventual overtime loss at Texas A&M last month, Bradshaw was mired in foul trouble. After the freshman picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, he was sent to the bench, where he was clearly upset with himself. Thiero got out of his seat and walked over to try and calm him down. Not long before that, Thiero cornered Onyenso in the team’s locker room at halftime, trying to pump up his fellow sophomore with a pep talk. It worked. Onyenso had his best half of the season after that.
“He’s helping the team,” the 7-footer said after that game. “It’s a very good thing. Most guys in situations like that, they’d sit on the bench and sulk. They start sulking, because they’re not playing. But for Adou, he’s not worried about all that. All he’s worried about is getting healthy and getting back to help the team. But also helping the team from the bench. That’s a very huge deal.”
A week later, Ivisic made his stunning debut in Rupp Arena, electrifying the crowd with his first-half flurry in a 105-96 win over Georgia. Thiero, still on the mend, was among those cheering wildly.
“That was crazy. I was on the bench, and I was doing things I wasn’t supposed to be doing at the time,” he said. “Every time he did something big, I started jumping around. And I got my trainer looking at me, ‘Yo, you’re not supposed to be doing that.’ I was like, ‘Sorry.’
“I couldn’t wait to see him play. He’s finally playing. I’ve gotta be happy for him.”
Thiero is hoping to stay on the court — without further interruptions — for the rest of this season. He said the doctors haven’t given him a recent number on how tall they expect him to grow, but he can feel that he’s not done yet. In the meantime, he’ll play when he can, and find other ways to help out when he’s not.
“I want to see everyone on my team succeed,” Thiero said of encouraging others from the bench. “So it’s just like, when someone gets down — I’ve been in that place before, knowing that things get frustrating during a game. … Whenever someone’s down, and you know that you can pick them back up, do what you can do to pick them back up.
“Because, at the end of the day, we’re going to need ’em.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 2:40 PM.
