John Calipari provides injury updates on CJ Fredrick, Sahvir Wheeler

John Calipari isn’t providing a timetable on Kentucky guard CJ Fredrick (ribs) and Sahvir Wheeler (ankle) heading into the final stretch of the regular season. It seems the Wildcats’ injury-plagued 2023 campaign will continue for the time being.

“Both of those two are really working hard to come back. They want to play for this team. They want to play for the fans. But, they got to be healthy,” Calipari said on his radio show Monday. “All the doctors, trainers, everybody says they’re both really working hard to come back, but you know, you just trust the kids. They only know their pain. No one else does.”

Wheeler’s injury to his ankle was a reaggravation from a previous ailment, which he suffered at practice two weeks ago. Fredrick cracked one of his ribs after he collided with a camera operator earlier this month against Florida.

Together, they have missed the last three games with Kentucky going a strong 2-1 including two Quad 1 victories in the past week. Those wins helped move UK back inside the bubble with its back-to-back wins over Mississippi State and No. 11 Tennessee.

Fredrick and Wheeler will likely be game-time decisions when the team travels to Gainesville to take on Florida for the second time this season Wednesday night. Kentucky won the first meeting 72-67 in Lexington.

Oscar Tshiebwe evaluates play of Cason Wallace at point guard

The Kentucky Wildcats got an important win against Tennessee with Cason Wallacerunning the point on Saturday. He did a good job and his teammates like Oscar Tshiebwehave taken notice of his play and his good attitude on and off the court.

After the game, Tshiebwe shared what he thought of Wallace’s play against Tennessee.

“He’s doing really good. I like his attitude. Cason, no matter how he’s doing, he doesn’t make his shot, he makes his shot, his attitude is always the same,” Oscar Tshiebwe said. 

“He’s a good player. We need him on this team. He just stays focused. He’s making good plays. Even if he doesn’t score, he creates a shot for people and he defends and he can finish really good when he needs to.”

Cason Wallace was a five-star combo guard in the Class of 2022. As the season has progressed, he’s become a more and more important player for the Wildcats. In the win over Tennessee, he had 16 points, six assists, and six rebounds.

Next up for Kentucky is a trip to Florida on Wednesday.