PJ Washington injury update by John Calipari

PJ Washington is primed for a big sophomore season, but first, he has to get healthy.

Washington is recovering from surgery on a torn tendon in his pinky finger suffered during the middle of his freshman season. He was able to play through the injury as UK made it to the Sweet 16, then go through the pre-draft process before deciding to return to school.

Shortly thereafter, Washington underwent surgery to repair the damage. The hope was he’d be back to full health by the time UK leaves for the Bahamas trip, but there’s still some work to be done before he gets there.

On Monday, John Calipari talked with the media about the NBA Draft Cats, as well as his current team. Cal talked about Washington’s recovery and how it may be several more weeks until he’s fully cleared.

“PJ is not playing yet because of his hand,” said Cal. “My guess is another two-and-a-half more weeks in the cast and probably another 10 days to two weeks of rehab and then he’ll be ready to go, so we’ll be ready.”

Adding that up, that’s a full month of recovering Washington still has to do. UK heads to the Bahamas for a four-game, eight-day trip from Aug. 6-13, so Washington ‘should’ be good to go by then.

It would be nice to get Washington some practice time in once the injury is healed before he plays in exhibition games, so perhaps he’ll be on a minutes restriction for the start of the trip. There’s no sense in letting him get injured in the preseason, and it could also allow for new guys like EJ Montgomery to get more minutes.

And be sure to go ‘like’ our Facebook page and follow our Twitter page for more Kentucky Wildcats News.