John Calipari provides latest on Adou Thiero injury, impact on team

Kentucky was once again without Adou Thiero in their win over Missouri Tuesday night, and afterwards, John Calipari addressed the sophomore forward’s extended absence.

Thiero was listed out due to “general soreness” vs. the Tigers, which also sidelined him in the previous two victories at Florida and at home vs. Illinois State. When asked about him after the game Tuesday, Calipari revealed that soreness is coming from his back, which is always a tricky place to handle an injury, especially for basketball players.

“The back was bothering him and this was the best course of action. So hopefully he’s back soon,” Calipari said of having to sit him yet again.

He added that Thiero “didn’t practice or play at shoot-around today” and he’ll “get an update and they’ll tell me.”

The struggle for Thiero right now is unique compared to most people his age since he is actually still growing. When he arrived on campus as a freshman last fall, Thiero was listed at just 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds and served as a backup point guard in 2022-23.

However, as of this season, Thiero mostly plays the power forward spot after ballooning up to 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds. That’s an immense growth spurt for a 19/20-year-old, one that likely has Thiero dealing with all sorts of back issues and, perhaps, some “general soreness” everywhere merely due to sprouting up several inches and adding 40 pounds to his frame in barely a year.

While he’s still trying to adapt to his growing body, Calipari looks at the bright side, that a couple other forwards are getting more opportunity to play.

“But the thing that’s happened is it’s giving Ugo (Onyenso) a chance, it’s giving Jordan (Burks) a chance,” said Coach Cal, then noting how vital Tre Mitchell is in the whole operation.

“Probably playing Tre more than he needs to, but all of a sudden, you guys are asking me about his double-doubles, because he is playing more minutes. But what he brings to the table: eight rebounds and a toughness, rebounding in traffic.”

Circling back around to Thiero, Calipari remains supremely confident in a bright future for the sophomore (once he gets back on the court) and suggested he still may not be done growing.

“Another guy that can pass, dribble and shoot. But he’s more of a perimeter guy who’s eventually going to be about 6-9 and 240-250 and a player like inside-outside, shoot, drive, dunk, make a pass.”

But of course: “He’s got to get healthy.”