Calipari Clarifies Terrence Clarke Injury Rumors: “He’s got an injury he can’t play.”

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In most cases, news of injuries is greeted with sadness and sympathy, especially for long-term significant cases. When Kentucky head coach John Calipari announced Monday night that first-year guard Terrence Clarke would miss at least four weeks with an ankle injury, the news was greeted with confusion, skepticism and frustration. .

On the surface, the curiosity had nothing to do with Clarke as a player or a person, but more so with Calipari’s handling of the injury and the inconsistent updates fans have received since the first-year goalkeeper stepped down. injured his ankle in December.

Initially, he twisted his ankle in training before Kentucky’s game against Notre Dame on Dec. 12, but he managed to overcome his injury. He further compounded the injury against North Carolina, then played Louisville “80 percent, maybe”, with Calipari comparing the injury to Ashton Hagans’ ankle injury he suffered in 2019- 20. From there, Clarke missed Kentucky’s games at Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Florida, Alabama and Auburn before Calipari announced he would miss the next “10-day week” on the 18th. January. Clarke was still “a few games away” from returning to the ground.

Frustrations within the fanbase had been constant as inconsistencies increased, but reached new heights last week when Calipari told reporters that “there is nothing wrong” with the results of Clarke’s MRI, which suggests the former five-star prospect might not be hurt at all. And then five days later, it all broke loose when the UK head coach announced that Clarke’s season was probably over.

“You know, Terrence wants to play so badly, we want him to play, I want him to play. I want to train him and bring him into that pitch, ”Calipari said Monday night. “There were tears today (Monday), hers and mine. His tears were, it seems they wanted him out for four weeks. Maybe something can happen sooner, but they don’t believe it. It is overwhelming for these children. When we released Keion (Brooks Jr.) I had to follow the documentation, you know me pretty well.

“Here’s one thing I want to say to the fans again. They know their pain, they know their pain threshold. We were, again, in a situation, they said he was going to be able to try it. I said, “He came out of a your. How will it work? And bang. “

Unsurprisingly, the legitimacy and severity of Clarke’s injury has been called into question by the fan base, especially given the back-and-forth updates Calipari has been offering since mid-December.

When asked about the struggles of the season and the players’ continued fight despite Kentucky’s 5-13 departure, Calipari doubled that down – whether fans choose to be skeptical or not – Clarke didn’t give up either and his injury is legitimate and serious.

“I want to say this, and I need everyone to listen and our fans to listen: Doctors, I’m not going to be specific about what’s wrong, but he (Terrence Clarke) has an injury that he doesn’t. can’t playCalipari said. “So everyone on this team,” he cried. I cried. Because it is still four weeks out.

“So it’s not like nobody wants to play. He was supposed to be our best player. We didn’t get it, and now look at this team, I’m proud they are fighting. We still make mistakes and we do some things.

Thanks to the tough injury and watching from the sideline as the losses pile up, first-year goaltender Brandon Boston Jr. says Clarke is doing his best to stay positive.

“He’s just trying to stay positive during this whole thing,” he said. “There is a lot of adversity and hatred this year. We just have our backs on each other and we tell each other to smile through it all.

In seven games this season, Clarke has averaged 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 31.3 minutes per fight.



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