One Kentucky basketball player is getting a second chance at a breakthrough season

From a possible breakout season to a potentially lost season to something in between, Ugonna Onyenso is just happy to be getting an opportunity.

Back in the spring, a few days before Kentucky’s 2022-23 basketball season ended, John Calipari talked about his appreciation for the 7-footer and predicted that Onyenso would be “one of the best big guys in the country” the following season. A few weeks after that, the freshman confirmed he would return to Lexington for his sophomore year, and the hype began.

After showing flashes of shot-blocking greatness in his limited playing time — and with the only other 5 on UK’s 2023-24 roster, Aaron Bradshaw, sidelined indefinitely with an injury — the stage was set for Onyenso’s breakthrough in year two.

He arrived in Toronto for Kentucky’s appearance in the GLOBL JAM with high hopes. He left Canada on crutches, suffering a foot injury that relegated him to the sidelines.

Calipari initially said Onyenso would be out for a couple of months. When that time frame came and went — and there was no sign that he was anywhere close to a return — it started to look like he might not get a chance at all. Transfer forward Tre Mitchell had slotted in effectively at the 5 spot, Bradshaw — a 7-1 freshman — made his return and looked like a potential star by his second college game. And Onyenso remained on the bench, still waiting to make his season debut as the need for his particular talents — as well as a clear path for playing time — seemingly faded.

He finally got onto the court on Dec. 16 — a week after Bradshaw’s breakout game against Penn — playing nine minutes off the bench in UK’s win over North Carolina, but even that appearance came with adversity. There was illness spreading across the team at the time, Onyenso caught it, and he was so sick that he couldn’t travel to Atlanta with the rest of the Cats. Instead, he caught an early morning flight the day of the game. Almost as soon as he stepped onto the court for the pregame shootaround, he had to leave.

“Went in the bathroom,” Calipari recalled after the game. “I can’t play him.”

But Onyenso told his coach he would be good to go. And he was, swatting three shots in that nine minutes and giving UK a big body in the post when Bradshaw was sidelined with foul trouble. A few days later, the 19-year-old summed up his mentality.

“If I’m not dying, I’m playing basketball,” Onyenso said.

While it might be too late to emerge as one of the best bigs in the country this season — as Calipari predicted nearly a year ago, before the injury — Onyenso is staying the course and simply looking to make an impact whenever he can. And he’s getting an opportunity.

Shortly after Onyenso’s season debut, fellow sophomore Adou Thiero was sidelined with his own injury. While the two are much different players, Thiero had established himself as an energetic spark plug for the Wildcats, especially as a rebounder and defender, and his absence created a bigger need in those areas.

In Thiero’s first game out — UK’s win over Illinois State on Dec. 29 — Onyenso played double-digit minutes for the first time. A week later, in the Cats’ SEC opener at Florida, he played 14 minutes. And a week after that — in Saturday’s overtime loss at Texas A&M, with Thiero still out and Bradshaw saddled with major foul trouble — the young center logged a career-high 31 minutes, scoring seven points, tying his college best with 10 rebounds and setting a personal mark with five blocked shots.

“One guy’s misery is another guy’s opportunity. And it’s a chance,” Calipari said. “Aaron fouling gave Ugo a chance. Ugo did some good stuff.”

Onyenso’s outlook

While the final stat line marked a career best, Onyenso had his struggles in College Station.

Afterward, he gave himself a mediocre assessment.

“I did OK,” he said. “First half, I made a lot of mistakes on my side. I messed up the scouting report. Most of the points that they got were from my end. I was asked to do something, but I didn’t follow through with it.”

Onyenso played 11 minutes in that first half — as much as he’d played in all but five complete games up until that point in his college career — and he said he found himself in the wrong positions and not on the same page as his teammates, especially defensively. By halftime — UK trailing by one point — he was frustrated with himself.

“Adou picked me up in the second half,” he said.

Thiero sensed Onyenso was down, and he cornered him in the halftime locker room. He grabbed his teammate again outside of the tunnel, before the second half began.

Onyenso repeated the part of that pep talk that stuck with him the most, but it can’t be printed here in its entirety. The gist: Thiero reminded Onyenso that he’s a 7-foot shot-blocking force with the ability to body up with even the biggest opponents and not get pushed around. The injured Wildcat told his fellow sophomore to remember that when he got back onto the court.

“That was a real confidence-booster for me,” Onyenso said. “... Like reminding myself of who I am. So I really appreciate Adou, as a friend, as a teammate.”

In the second half, Bradshaw’s struggles continued and Onyenso ended up playing 18 minutes. He grabbed seven rebounds and swatted all five of his shots during that time.

“I think the second half was much better than the first half,” he said. “I just gotta keep working. … We’re going to get more games like this. I just need to stay ready, stay locked in. Because if what happened in the first half happens again, I think it’s going to be a major issue down the stretch.”

Finding that consistency is the key to Onyenso’s future, and he knows it. One of only three returning scholarship players from last season’s team — and surrounded by mostly freshmen on this UK squad — it’s easy to forget that Onyenso is fairly new to basketball. He picked it up at a later age, growing up in Nigeria, and he didn’t arrive in the United States until midway through his senior year of high school before coming to Lexington last fall at 17 years old.

His September 2004 birthday makes Onyenso younger than six of the eight freshmen on UK’s team — all but Rob Dillingham and D.J. Wagner — and he obviously still has a long way to go with his development, plenty of potential to tap into during the years ahead.

He’s continued to show flashes.

One sequence in UK’s 87-85 victory at Florida served as a recent example.

With the Cats down three points midway through the second half, and Onyenso pressed into crunch-time action, his Hall of Fame coach nearly lost it on the sideline.

Dillingham delivered a pass inside to Onyenso, known much more for his defense than his offense, especially away from the basket.

“I looked at Robert Dillingham,” Calipari recalled after the game, “and said, ‘Why’d you pass it to him?! Don’t … the game’s on the line!’ He’s not played that much.”

Onyenso made a move — well away from the rim — like he was going to shoot.

“Oh my God,” Calipari remembered thinking at the time.

He rose up over a defender and let loose a left-handed hook shot from 10 feet. It went in.

“Way to go, Ugo. Great job, kid,” Calipari said a couple of days after, revisiting the play with an amusing mix of relief and horror still in his voice.

Onyenso recalled the same scene with a smile.

“I got more in my bag,” he said of his offensive growth. “I just have to put it out. … I want my game to be — it doesn’t matter where I am; left or right — being able to make a play when I get the ball. So I’m going to keep working on it.”

While he’s unlikely to emerge as a star at this point in the season — after all of that missed developmental time in the fall that would have been crucial to his growth — Onyenso still has an opportunity to make an impact. His minutes might change when Thiero is back at full strength. He might see fewer chances if Bradshaw can avoid foul trouble. But, for now, he’s back on the court and trying to make the most of it. And though he was disappointed with the team outcome of Saturday’s game at Texas A&M and apologetic for his own first-half performance, what happened after he walked out of that halftime locker room was a step in the right direction.

Following months of watching from the sidelines, unable to help his team, it served as a major confidence boost for a player who still has plenty of time to emerge as a frontcourt star.

“Things like that, it’s also a teaching moment for me,” he said. “Make mistakes. Learn from them. Get in the gym and work on the things you don’t feel comfortable doing. I’ve seen where most of my mistakes are coming from, and I’m, for sure, going to work on it. Whatever it takes to help my team win. Whatever it takes.”

Wednesday

Mississippi State at No. 8 Kentucky

When: 7 p.m.

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 12-3 (2-1 SEC), Mississippi State 12-3 (1-1)

Series: Kentucky leads 101-21

Last meeting: Kentucky won 71-68 on Feb. 15, 2023, in Starkville, Miss.

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