Aaron Bradshaw, 5-star prospect, could miss start of Kentucky basketball with injury: Report
Kentucky basketball's hopes in 2023-24 will ride heavily on the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. But those hopes took a significant hit when news broke Friday that top incoming freshman Aaron Bradshaw is at risk to miss the start of the upcoming season.
Bradshaw, a 7-foot center from New Jersey and one of the key pieces of a classic John Calipari recruiting haul, reportedly suffered a broken foot, according to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania.
According to Charania, UK is "optimistic on (a) full recovery."
Bradshaw's absence, for any amount of time, would be a significant blow to the Wildcats' roster, which is set to be heavily reliant on a large recruiting class after so far this offseason landing no veteran talent in the transfer portal. It comes at a time when college basketball's best teams appear to be getting older and relying less on infusions of freshman talent to make deep runs in the NCAA tournament.
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It's also a major blow as the Wildcats prepare for the GLOBL JAM event in Toronto in July. It will be the first time fans will see Calipari's top recruiting class, which features three players — Bradshaw, Justin Edwards and DJ Wagner — ranked in the top 10 in the nation, according to 247Sports.
Bradshaw was expected to be a centerpiece of the 2023-24 roster as it tries to make it back to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. Alongside rising sophomore Ugonna Onyenso, Kentucky was expected to have a pair of young, elite rim protectors with the potential to grow into more. Onyenso could play the 5 while Bradshaw slides out to power forward.
But UK has precious little depth at this point heading into the 2023-24 season after a mass exodus to the NBA draft and transfer portal. To date, Calipari has failed to land any players in the transfer portal to augment a roster that will feature six freshmen, including Bradshaw, two rising sophomores in Onyenso and Adou Thiero and little-used returning senior Brennan Canada.
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The Wildcats missed out on former Michigan star big man Hunter Dickinson, who is now playing for Kansas, and several other front court targets who could have filled out the depth chart or challenged the younger Wildcats for playing time.
Bradshaw averaged 8.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game at Camden High School as a junior, then 12.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 25 games as a senior.
Bradshaw is a projected first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Follow assistant sports editor Jake Adams on Twitter @jakeadams520 or email him at jadams@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: 5-star Aaron Bradshaw fractures foot per report
