Ugonna Onyenso trending toward season debut: "We're looking forward to getting him out there."

John Calipari said early in the season that Ugonna Onyenso was always going to be about two weeks behind Aaron Bradshaw in terms of making their 2023-24 season debuts. Bradshaw officially found his way onto the hardwood for the first time in Kentucky’s 80-73 loss to UNC-Wilmington on Dec. 2. He then posted a double-double in 29 minutes exactly one week later in a win over Penn, looking every bit of the five-star prospect he was made out to be.

This coming Saturday — Dec. 16 — will be exactly two weeks since Bradshaw made his debut. Kentucky is set to take on No. 9 North Carolina in Atlanta for the CBS Sports Classic that day. If we follow Calipari’s early-season timeline, that could mean we see Onyenso, who broke his foot back in July, play for the first time this season against the Tar Heels. It’s certainly trending that way. Calipari even said during his radio call-in show on Monday that Onyenso is practicing and he’s “hoping” to have the big man available on Saturday.

During Thursday’s pre-North Carolina press conference, assistant coach Bruiser Flint also hinted at Onyenso making his debut in the near future, stating that the 7-foot sophomore center has been playing well during practice throughout the week.

“He’s been pretty good in practice,” Flint said. “Ugo played last year, I think it helps him a little bit more than Aaron just coming in the first year. So Ugo has a pretty good idea about what we’re doing and what we’re asking him to do. He’s been good this week, we’re looking forward to getting him out there. I think he brings a different presence in terms of physicality and defense. That’s the thing he does is defensive rebounding. We’re looking forward to it just as much as you guys are. He’s done well in practice. He’s a kid that picks up things pretty quickly and he’s got some experience. He was here last year, so he understands a lot of the stuff that we’re trying to do.”

Kentucky sure could use another big body against North Carolina. For starters, 6-foot-11 center Armando Bacot is one of the most talented bigs in the country. This season, the three-time All-ACC performer is averaging 15.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game while shooting 51 percent from the field. Harrison Ingram is only 6-foot-7, but he’s a bruising force in the paint at 235 pounds. North Carolina can bring some size off the bench too with 6-foot-10 Jalen Washington and 6-foot-9 Jae’lyn Withers.

While Bradshaw was impressive against Penn up in Philadelphia last weekend, he was admittedly roughed up by the Quakers, particularly 6-foot-9 forward Nick Spinoso, who bullied Bradshaw down low on multiple occasions. Bacot is a considerable step up in talent and physicality from Spinoso. Having Onyenso and Bradshaw available should help fortify Kentucky’s defense in the paint against North Carolina’s size.

“(Onyenso is) a kid that actually I think will be easier to fit in than Aaron was because he understands a little bit of what we did in the previous season and how we do certain things,” Flint added. “But it’s going to take a little bit of time. All the sudden we have these big guys, we haven’t had them before. It’s going to be a little different.”

There will likely be some growing pains in adding two centers to the rotation, but having two 7-footers is better than one, and it’s certainly better than having none.

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