Keion Brooks: “I’m back”

UPDATE

John Calipari has released a statement on Keion Brooks Jr., who will dress and be available to play Saturday vs. the Florida Gators.

It would appear Keion Brooks Jr. is finally ready to make his sophomore debut with the Kentucky Wildcats.

Brooks, who has yet to play this season due to a calf injury, let the world know he’s back with a message on Twitter that his doctors have cleared him to play.

This would seemingly indicate Brooks will be available Saturday when the Cats take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville. He was expected to have a breakout sophomore campaign after averaging 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a freshman.

Brooks ended the season on a high note with his performance at Florida, a game he scored seven points down the stretch to help Kentucky rally to beat the Gators 71-70. He finished the game with 10 points, two steals and a big defensive stop with 27 seconds to set up Kentucky’s game-winning shot. It’s ironic his first game of 2021 may be where his last game of 2020 was.

While Brooks has been out, that has helped speed up the development of Lance Ware, Jacob Toppin and Isaiah Jackson, all of whom deserve to keep playing even when Brooks is back, so it will be interesting to see how John Calipari handles the rotations moving forward.

If Brooks can just give Kentucky 12-15 good minutes of the bench, it will be a big boost for a team that’s struggled mightily this season. The Cats have won two straight and are 2-0 in SEC play, but to get to the NCAA Tournament and be capable of making a run in it, they absolutely have to have a healthy Brooks.

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