John Calipari announces Ugonna Onyenso will miss ‘a couple months’ after surgery

The one downside to Kentucky’s trip to Canada to play in the GLOBL Jam last week was the injury to sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso. Now, that snag has gone from bad to worse in Lexington.

John Calipari shared an update of his own on Onyenso this afternoon. He said that the minor procedure has already taken place and confirmed that it will keep him off the floor “for a couple of months”.

Ugonna Onyenso underwent a successful minor procedure that will keep him out for a couple of months. Nobody hated missing last week’s games more than him, and I know he’s going to work his way back to once again have a positive impact on this team.

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) July 18, 2023

Per Kyle Tucker at The Athletic earlier today, sources around UK had told him and Shams Charania that Onyeno’s injury has been diagnosed as a broken foot. He added that the 6’11 big man out of Nigeria would need surgery and would be expected to be out for the next two months.

As a freshman last season, Onyenso averaged 2.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and a block per game. He did so in just 6.9 minutes per game over the course of 16 appearances for the Wildcats.

Even so, his role is expected to be much bigger in his second season, especially considering Kentucky’s lack of size at the position. With Oscar Tshiebwe off to the NBA and several portal losses, UK’s frontcourt only has two players, Onyenso and five-star freshman Aaron Bradshaw, at a height of 6’11 or more.

The only issue is, with this news, both have had to undergo surgery this offseason for lower extremity injuries.

The post John Calipari announces Ugonna Onyenso will miss ‘a couple months’ after surgery appeared first on On3.