UK announces Alex Poythress is out for the season with torn ACL
December 12, 2014
By Nick Gray
UK announced that junior forward Alex Poythress tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at practice on Thursday and is out for the season.
The news was first reported by WKYT.
UK head coach John Calipari announced the news on his website as well, saying that the injury occurred during a breakaway layup in which Poythress “stepped with his left foot and just went down,” indicating a non-contact injury.
“Our team was devastated for Alex when I told them,” Calipari said in the school’s release. “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.
“I told them, this is a big blow to our team. No one will be able to replace Alex and what he did for this team. I go back to last year’s NCAA Tournament. Without Alex, we don’t win those games. No one will be able to replace him, but now everybody has to do a little bit more as we try to circle the wagons.”
The school says there is no date set for schedule, but that there is a normal six-to-eight month timetable for recovery on a torn ACL.
Poythress, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Clarksville, Tenn., has started in eight of 10 games this season, sitting out two games due to illness. He averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds during that time. NCAA rules stipulate that a player who has played no more than 30 percent of a team’s regular season games can apply for a medical redshirt. The school has not yet announced if Poythress will apply for a medical redshirt.
As a freshman, Poythress started every game and averaged 11.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. His 20-point, seven-rebound performance in his second game at UK against Duke was a constant example of how good the forward could be, even though he never found total consistency as the Cats struggled to the NIT.
Poythress eschewed the NBA — even though he was a projected Top-40 selection — and returned to UK for his sophomore season.
He began the majority of the games coming off of the bench, seeing his minutes cut by seven per game. But Calipari raved about his energy and athleticism as UK made its run to the National Championship game in Dallas.
Now, Poythress’ absence will leave a void in the 10-man, two-platoon system that Calipari and the Cats have employed this season. Sophomore forward Derek Willis got the most exposure of the season on Wednesday in UK’s win against Columbia University, and could slide into the platoon, with freshman forward Trey Lyles moving into the starting lineup.
UK will have one day to figure out the new lineups with No. 21 North Carolina coming into town Saturday for a Noon tip-off.
