Alex Poythress Injury: Updates on Kentucky Star's Knee and Return

Matt FitzgeraldDec 11, 2014

The top-ranked, 10-0 Kentucky Wildcats have been rolling to start the 2014-15 college basketball season, but they received terrible news Thursday when junior forward Alex Poythress tore his ACL at a team practice.

Continue for updates.

Calipari Offers More on Poythress' Injury

Calipari Confirms ACL Tear for Poythress

Friday, Dec. 12

John Calipari confirmed Poythress' status on Friday via his website (full statement here):

"
Alex tore his ACL during yesterday’s practice. It was a breakaway layup and no one bumped him. He stepped with his left foot and just went down.
When I saw Alex last night, I said to him exactly what I said to Nerlens [Noel]: 'You’re fine. If this is something crazy, you have insurance and you’re a millionaire. You have even more time than Nerlens had to prepare yourself for the draft if that’s what you choose to do. You can also come back. You’re going to have your degree in May and you can start on a master’s degree for your last year.' Alex is nearly a straight-A student and one of the greatest kids that I’ve ever coached.
Our team was devastated for Alex when I told them. There were tears throughout the room because this hurt them to the core. How they will respond I really don’t know, but I will do my best to be there for each of these kids.
"

Poythress Reportedly Suffers Torn ACL

Thursday, Dec. 11

Brian Milam of WKYT in Lexington reports that star junior forward Alex Poythress has suffered a torn ACL:

Poythress has started eight of 10 games for the Wildcats, putting up 5.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest in 20.3 minutes per game.

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio weighed in on how Kentucky might compensate for Poythress' absence:

The following post on Aaron Harrison's Instagram offers support for Poythress (h/t Jones):

Coach John Calipari has brought in yet another epic recruiting class loaded with freshman phenoms. Kentucky has also returned key core players in Andrew and Aaron Harrison and Willie Cauley-Stein.

However, veterans like Poythress are key for team chemistry. And although Kentucky has the depth to compensate, it's a huge loss for the team.