Monday Headlines: Adou Thiero Emerging Edition

Kentucky’s freshman guard is finally getting consistent minutes.

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Feb 20, 2023, 6:40am EST

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Another year, another season full of late-season injuries for the Kentucky Wildcats. Last year Kentucky had multiple guards suffer injuries that impacted their play late in the regular season and throughout postseason play.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats didn’t have much depth in their backcourt to overcome those injuries. But this season, Kentucky has been able to overcome similar hurdles in large part thanks to freshman guard Adou Thiero.

Thiero has played an average of 13 minutes per game in Kentucky’s last three contests. And though he hasn’t scored a ton of points or dished out many assists, anyone can see Thiero plays at 110% every minute he’s on the court.

He’s making a difference for Kentucky as they’re coming off an impressive two-game stretch with wins at Mississippi State and over No. 10 Tennessee.

Like many UK fans, John Calipari loves what he’s seeing from his freshman guard.

“How about Adou (Theiro)? Again. Like, Adou. He’s just getting it done,” Calipari said following Saturday’s win. “He comes up with balls. He is so tough physically. I’m going to tell you, and I said it to him, he’s going to be a guy that has a major impact on college basketball. He will. You watch. And I think he’s still growing, by the way. I think he grew an inch since he’s been here.”

The main root of Thiero’s minutes increase has been the injuries of both CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler. Even when they return to the rotation, there’s a strong chance Thiero keeps logging significant minutes. Calipari loves when his guys play hard at both ends of the court.

If Thiero can keep that up, he could very well be an x-factor once the postseason arrives.