Calipari doesn't expect Oscar Tshiebwe back for the season opener; Sahvir Wheeler's status unclear

Kentucky Basketball played its Blue-White scrimmage and two preseason exhibition games without Oscar Tshiebwe, the team’s reigning National Player of the Year who is still rehabbing from an offseason knee procedure. Then on Thursday, the Wildcats played their final exhibition without starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler while Wheeler recovers from his own knee injury that he reaggravated in the first exhibition game versus Missouri Western State.

Moving forward, John Calipari doesn’t expect to have Tshiebwe back for the regular season home opener versus Howard on Monday, and it’s doubtful Tshiebwe will be ready for the season’s second game versus Dequesne.

“I would be stunned if he played Monday,” said Calipari after Thursday’s exhibition. “I would be somewhat surprised if he played Friday.”

That being said, Tshiebwe isn’t human and his timetable is a matter of pain tolerance.

“He’s just not normal,” Calipari added. “If he wanted to play Monday, I probably wouldn’t let him. He needs a few more days. If he wants to play Friday, I’m gonna have to work him out myself and see, and if I did, he’d probably play 10 or 15 minutes just to get his legs under him.”

As for Wheeler, Calipari isn’t sure what his point guard’s immediate playing future looks like beyond today. He and Wheeler spent some time together on Kentucky’s bench discussing what they saw in Thursday’s exhibition, but there’s uncertainty around Wheeler’s availability for Monday.

“Sahvir, I don’t know. He was there. He was walking around, but you can’t just say, well I’ll play Monday. You gotta practice to make sure you can do this.”