Texas A&M star Wade Taylor IV declared OUT vs. Kentucky, Andrew Carr probable

Wade Taylor IV infamously waved goodbye to Big Blue Nation following Texas A&M’s victory over Kentucky in the opening round of the SEC Tournament back in March. It was the last league matchup John Calipari would coach representing the blue and white before making his move to Fayetteville.

The star guard dropped 32 points that night against the Wildcats in the Aggies’ 97-87 victory in the quarterfinals. He followed that up with a 30-piece in the semifinals, followed again by 20-plus performances in both NCAA Tournament games. He’s a big-stage hooper, opening his senior campaign in College Station averaging 15.7 points, 4.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 30.2 minutes per contest.

Kentucky will not get a shot at revenge, though — even with no one back from last year’s group. Maybe it’s BBN that won’t get a shot at revenge? Either way, the 6-0 playmaker has been declared OUT ahead of the team’s trip to Lexington.

He was the lone player listed for A&M in the official SEC Availability Report released late Monday evening, making it three straight games he will be missing with an undisclosed injury. He last played on Jan. 4 in the team’s win over Texas in the SEC opener.

As for Kentucky, Kerr Kriisa was declared out ahead of the matchup, as expected, while Andrew Carr is listed as probable with a back injury after fighting through to play 21 minutes in the win at Mississippi State.

Mark Pope said Monday evening that Kriisa is ‘out of the boot for at least little segments of the day’ and will ‘begin some rehab here in the next couple of weeks.’ He ‘(doesn’t) really have a timeframe’ on his return, ‘but we’re making progress on that.’ As for Carr, he missed practice on Monday ‘kind of in full rehab’ in hopes of getting his back healed up before Tuesday’s matchup vs. A&M.

“I anticipate that he’s going to be able to play tomorrow, but it’ll be another game-time decision, and we’re going to keep nursing him back the best we can,” Pope said. “He’s a warrior, so it’s hard to keep him off the court, but he’s fighting this right now. We do feel like there’s a good chance he’ll be on an upward swing health-wise, but we are just managing that right now.”