Oscar Tshiebwe shows up at Big Blue Madness on crutches. An update on his knee injury.

College basketball’s reigning national player of the year showed up at Big Blue Madness on crutches Friday night.

Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe made his way up to the stage at Rupp Arena and proceeded to introduce UK Coach John Calipari, who broke the news to Wildcats fans earlier this week that his star player would need a “minor” procedure on his knee due to an injury.

The Herald-Leader was told Friday that Tshiebwe underwent a successful procedure on his knee Thursday and is not expected to play at all during the Wildcats’ preseason schedule as a precaution. That would rule him out for next weekend’s Blue-White Game in Pikeville, as well as the Cats’ two exhibition games, set for Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 in Lexington.

Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Tshiebwe is planning to be ready to go for Kentucky’s season opener Nov. 7 against Howard University in Rupp Arena.

Calipari announced Tuesday afternoon that Tshiebwe had been held out of practices on the previous Saturday and Monday due to the knee issue, though the senior big man did play in front of NBA scouts for the program’s Pro Day event Sunday evening, scrimmaging for more than an hour and showing no signs of injury during that time.

“He refused to sit out Pro Day and balled out,” Calipari tweeted Tuesday. “I made him sit out (Monday) and get examined as a precaution. He’s going to have a minor 15-minute procedure to clean some things up. Not a big deal, but no dancing at Madness!”

Tshiebwe is scheduled to travel to Birmingham next week as one of UK’s representatives for the Southeastern Conference’s media day, where he will speak to reporters for the first time since his knee procedure.

The Wildcats’ first major test on the 2022-23 schedule is expected to come Nov. 15, when Kentucky faces Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. Five days after that, the Cats will play Gonzaga — possibly the nation’s No. 1 team — in Spokane.

Tshiebwe’s primary backup to start the season is expected to be junior big man Lance Ware, though returning forwards Daimion Collins and Jacob Toppin could likely play minutes at the “5” spot, as well. Kentucky also added high-upside center Ugonna Onyenso late in the 2022 recruiting cycle, and he is expected to play this season, despite only joining the team in August.

Tshiebwe averaged 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per game last season, leading Kentucky to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and sweeping the national player of the year awards. ESPN projects him as the No. 39 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft going into this season, and he was impressive during the Wildcats’ Pro Day event Sunday at the Joe Craft Center.

“Oscar had an unbelievable performance at Pro Day and the scouts loved what they saw,” Calipari tweeted Tuesday. “He came back to develop his game and become a more complete player and that’s exactly what he displayed Sunday night. They loved it.”

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