Recovering from injury, Sahvir Wheeler set to face his former school on his birthday

Today is a big day for Sahvir Wheeler.

One, it’s his birthday. Wheeler turns 22 years old today, January 17, so join us in wishing him a Happy Birthday from Big Blue Nation. To celebrate, Ellen Calipari made him a batch of her famous brownies, a Kentucky Basketball birthday tradition.

Happy Birthday to @sahvir_! 🎉🥳 pic.twitter.com/AJsPbNnuIJ

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 17, 2023

More than a treat, Mrs. Calipari’s homemade brownies may give Wheeler the sugar rush he will need to be up for tonight’s 9 pm tipoff when Kentucky hosts Georgia in Rupp Arena–the same University of Georgia that Wheeler attended from 2019-21 before he transferred from Athens to Lexington. You probably already know that Wheeler played two seasons under Tom Crean at Georgia until Wheeler moved to Kentucky for his junior and senior years of college basketball. Remember last year’s Georgia reunion game in Rupp Arena when Crean hugged Wheeler’s injured neck?

That was weird.

via GIPHY

Wheeler did not play in that game.

Unfortunately, the former Bulldog is injured again for his second reunion game against Georgia; although, this time he won’t have to duck Crean’s grappling maneuvers because Crean is no longer Georgia’s coach. Mike White has that job now.

Wheeler could, however, be limited against his old team considering he missed all of Kentucky’s game at Tennessee with a shoulder injury. Last night, Calipari wouldn’t comment on Wheeler’s playing status for the Georgia game, but he did note Wheeler returned to practice, which is generally a good sign for his availability. My guess is he will play–but for how long or in what role, we wait to see.

Adding to Wheeler’s uncertainty, there is the big elephant in the room after Kentucky got its biggest win of the season with him on the bench. The lineup fans requested for much of the non-conference, the one with Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick, and Antonio Reeves all playing together, got its first real opportunity with Wheeler unable to participate in Knoxville, and the numbers suggest it’s Kentucky’s best group. To be fair, it’s a very small sample size and Wheeler is in Kentucky’s other top-performing lineups for the season.

Updated look at Kentucky's most used lineups after yesterday's win. Their A+ lineup of Wallace, Reeves, Fredrick, Toppin, and Oscar went from 20 to 45 possessions in one game and continues to dominate. pic.twitter.com/wFs8EauyMl

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) January 15, 2023

Calipari admitted last night, “Yes, I like that group. But Sahvir, he adds to our team. Speed, another guy that is tough. But we have different combinations.”

Assuming Wheeler is a go tonight–whether in his usual starting role or in a gradual comeback off the bench–it will be his first game back since Kentucky’s loss to South Carolina, amidst conversations of Calipari reshuffling the backcourt minutes and rotation, against the team he signed with out of high school and gave two years of his life, on his 22nd birthday.

So, today is a big day for Sahvir Wheeler.

CJ Fredrick on Sahvir Wheeler’s support in Knoxville

During CJ Fredrick’s pre-Georgia game press conference, Fredrick said Wheeler tried to play in the Tennessee game while hurt, but he was unable to push the shoulder injury any further. Ruled out by team doctors, Wheeler became one of the team’s biggest supporters from the sideline.

Fredrick called Wheeler’s support and leadership, “unbelievable.”

“I think that just says a lot about who he is,” said Fredrick. “His leadership on the bench and his emotion and his spirit on the bench was huge for us. Winning that game, that just shows you the kind of teammate he is, that do whatever to help us win mentality.”