Keion Brooks is Cleared to Play Against Florida
Kentucky does not have to depend on Rhyne Howard as much this year but coach Kyra Elzy says she is still the nation’s best player and proved that at Mississippi State
January 7, 2021
Kentucky Dominates Florida 76-58
January 10, 2021
After months of nursing a calf injury, sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr. has officially been cleared by his doctor to play basketball.
The announcement came from Brooks’ Twitter account, and received immediate reaction considering the impact he can have on this struggling UK squad.
I’M BACK😁
Grateful to be back on the floor with my brothers.
Our team doctors have medically cleared me to play. 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/UFaR07a0fH
— Keion Brooks Jr. (@KeionB_12) January 7, 2021
Although he has participated in individual drills, Brooks’ first full practice came on Thursday. As the only scholarship player left that played any minutes for Kentucky last season, he averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.2 RPG. His biggest performance, however, came in the last matchup that he saw the court — at Florida last season — where he helped engineer a 17-point comeback with a career-high 27 minutes.
UK Head Coach John Calipari was clearly ecstatic about Keion Brooks’ return, as he wrote a few paragraphs on Twitter about the sophomore forward’s impact.
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 @KeionB_12 cares about is trying help this team win.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) January 8, 2021
Lookout, because the Cats now return one of their best players following two straight conference victories (although narrow), and they have a chance for a big win Saturday at Florida.
