Shaedon Sharpe to begin practicing at Kentucky this week, so will he play this season?

Kentucky basketball fans are holding out hope that top recruit Shaedon Sharpe will play for the Wildcats this season.

With the calendar flipping to 2022, top recruit Shaedon Sharpe‘s arrival in Lexington is imminent.

The Kentucky basketball team is about to enter the most important part of the season: SEC play. Sharpe was one of the top recruits in the country, but has not been on campus up to this point. However, the expectation is for Sharpe to arrive at the University of Kentucky this week and begin practicing shortly thereafter. From there, it all about getting him into game shape, but will he play?

“We haven’t talked about (him playing), the family hasn’t talked about it,” said Kentucky head coach Calipari. “My guess would be, he’s fine. Let’s get him in shape and go from there. There was never a plan to play him. I left that out there so everybody would panic, but there has never been a plan to play him. But, let’s get him here and work him out, see how things are, and see how our team is.”

Sharpe committed to Kentucky on Sept. 7, 2021 over the likes Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and the G League.

Kentucky basketball: Who is Shaedon Sharpe?

Sharpe is a 6-foot-5, 185-pound shooting guard originally from London, Ontario. He played his last season of high school basketball for Dream City Christian in Glendale, Arizona. According to the 247Sports Composite, Sharpe is the No. 3 player nationally, the No. 1 player at his position and the No. 1 player “from” Arizona. He has drawn comparisons to Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls.

As for if Calipari will thrust him into the fold in the second half of the season, that remains to be seen.

“His mindset is just to go there and get ready. If Coach (Cal) says, ‘I need you to play,’ he’s going to play,” said Sharpe’s coach and mentor Dwayne Washington, via Kentucky Sports Radio. “He’s not going out there to play, he’s going out there to practice, but that can change at any moment.”

For as great of a talent as Sharpe is coming out, him enrolling this late is not ideal toward playing.

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