Kentucky Wildcats striker Keion Brooks Jr. has received medical clearance to return to competition after missing the first nine games of the season due to an injury to his left leg, the school announced on Thursday.
The second year will be in uniform on Saturday against the Florida Gators and available to play for the 3-6 Wildcats, who have won two consecutive matches and can be prepared to make another SEC title race now that Brooks is back.
Although Brooks trained and participated with the team in non-contact exercises, Thursday was his first full workout since the injury.
Subsequently, coach John Calipari released a statement about Brooks’ return to the court.
“I met him today and it was a little bit exciting,” said UK coach John Calipari. “We have all been patient with this, but obviously we all wanted Keion out there with us, none other than him. Now he is.
“This is the kind of person and teammate Keion is: when he and I talked about how he would fit in with what we’re doing as a team, his comment was, ‘Coach, I really trust you. I will do whatever this team needs me to do. A really amazing thing when you think about it is someone who came back as the leader of our team and the only guy who played minutes with us a season ago. All Keion cares about is helping this team win. “
Brooks averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 31 games (six games) as a freshman in 2019-20. He kicked 47.2% of the field to go along with 13 blocks and 11 steals. He had five double-digit scoring games, including his last game of the season in Florida.
In a career record of 27 minutes, Brooks scored 10 points, seven of which came in the second half to help Kentucky recover from 17 down in Gainesville to beat the Gators 71-70.
The next edition of Kentucky vs Florida will take place on Saturday at 5 pm on ESPN. The Cats have won four consecutive games in the series and will try to win three consecutive games in Gainesville for the first time since 2002-04.
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