Keion Brooks will return to a familiar place when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville Saturday afternoon.
Brooks was medically cleared to return to competition after missing the first nine games of the 2020-21 season with a leg injury.
“I met with him today, and it was a little bit emotional,” John Calipari said in a release Thursday. “We have all been patient with this, but obviously, we all wanted Keion out there with us, no one more so than him. Now he is.”
When the sophomore forward steps on the court Saturday, it will be the first time he’s played in a game since March 7, 2020, when he was instrumental in Kentucky’s comeback win at Florida to close last season.
As a freshman, Brooks averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. He started six games and reached double-figures five times, none bigger than the 10-point effort in the win last March.
In a career-high 27 minutes, Brooks connected on two three-pointers to help Kentucky erase an 18-point deficit at Florida.
While Kentucky fans need to be patient with Brooks, Calipari praised his willingness to do whatever is necessary to help the team.
“Here’s the kind of person and teammate Keion is: When he and I talked about how he would fit in with what we’ve been doing as a team, his comment was, ‘Coach, I really trust you. I’ll do whatever this team needs me to do.’ Pretty amazing stuff when you think about this 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 trying to help this team win.”
Kentucky and Florida will tip-off at 5 p.m. ET. at Florida on Saturday with coverage on ESPN.
