Jarred Vanderbilt suffers injury in practice

Rumors were swirling on Tuesday that Kentucky Wildcats forward Jarred Vanderbilt was injured in practice, and a team spokesman confirmed the report Wednesday morning.

It is not clear what part of his body is injured or the severity of the injury, but this has potential to be disastrous for the Wildcats as well as for Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt missed Kentucky’s first 17 games this season with a foot injury, which was actually a re-injury of his foot that had not completely healed from being hurt in high school.

Kentucky officials are reporting that Vanderbilt is day-to-day, and that his status for the SEC tournament is uncertain. The only thing we know for sure is that he will not practice today.

Since joining the team, Vanderbilt is averaging 5.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in just 17 minutes per game. However, his playing time has dramatically increased in recent weeks and the new energy surrounding this team is largely due to his production and style of play. So if he is unavailable in the NCAA tournament, his absence will be a huge blow to this team.

In an addition to the impact on the Wildcats, it could have large implications on Vanderbilt’s career. Given his injury history, this is not good for his stock in moving to the next level.

His rebounding is extraordinary and the comparisons he has been getting to Dennis Rodman sound great, but there is not high demand in the NBA for an injury-prone player whose biggest asset is his athleticism. So let’s hope this has nothing to do with his foot, as that is worst case scenario for Jarred.

Check back at A Sea of Blue for updates as soon as they are available.