Shaedon Sharpe will wear No. 21 for Kentucky

Kentucky freshman guard Shaedon Sharpe will wear No. 21 during his first year as a Wildcat.

With the five-star signee now eligible to play with the spring semester underway, Kentucky got Sharpe in his new threads for the first time since arriving on campus. The nation’s No. 1 recruit opted to go with No. 21, a number previously worn by UK greats such as Jack “Goose” Givens and Tayshaun Prince, among other standouts.

He’s just the third scholarship player during the John Calipari to sport the number, joining Cam’Ron Fletcher (2020-21) and Perry Stevenson (2009-10).

Check out the complete list of past Wildcats to wear the number:

Jake Bronston (1928-31)
Harry Hurd (1959-62)
Jim McDonald (1959-62)
Terry Mills (1968-71)
Steve Penhorwood (1970-71)
Elmore Stephens (1971-72)
Jack Givens (1974-78)
Terry Shigg (1986-87)
Chris Jones (1988-89)
Henry Thomas (1989-91)
Cameron Mills (1994-98)
Tayshaun Prince (1998-2002)
Shagari Alleyne (2003-06)
Perry Stevenson (2006-10)
Tod Lanter (2012-15)
Cam’Ron Fletcher (2020-21)

Will Sharpe play for the Wildcats this season? That remains up in the air. He’s now practicing with the team and participating in pregame warmups, but Calipari says the five-star freshman is still “a ways away” from live game action.

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“He’s a ways away from playing games,” Calipari said last Friday. “It may be a year from now. They all know, I talked to him, I said, ‘We don’t have a plan for him to play this year.’ Maybe he does, but that is not the plan and never has been.”

Things can change with injury and illness, but ideally, Kentucky doesn’t need him to see the floor until next season. That’s Calipari’s mindset, at least.

“If you asked me right now, my guess is he won’t play, but you don’t know what happens,” Calipari added. “I mean, we’ve had injury after injury. This happened, that happened, we’re down to six, seven guys. I may tell him, ‘Look man, you’ve got to go in seven minutes a game, you’ve got to play some.’ But my hope is we’re never there.”

Either way, Sharpe is in the gym getting ready — just in case.