Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, coach Mark Pope said Monday. It’s another brutal blow for one of the nation’s most disappointing teams.
“We just finished a long meeting with Jaland Lowe, a really emotional meeting, actually,” Pope said on The Mark Pope Show. “… He’s dislocated his shoulder three times now. Every time it’s been with less and less contact. He’s tweaked it in games and tweaked it once in practice to add on top of that. We searched, tried every possible reasonable scenario to have him continue on but just made the wise and right decision today that he’ll go have surgery, and so he’ll be out for the season. It’ll be multiple months — six months, give or take — rehab for him to get back to 100 percent health. I don’t know if I’ve seen a guy go through more in such a short span.”
Lowe, a transfer from Pittsburgh, was expected to be a major part of the Wildcats’ season, but the shoulder issues have limited him to nine games and two starts. There was a strong three-game stretch in late December and early January in which Lowe averaged 15.7 points and helped lead wins over Indiana and St. John’s. But he struggled in last week’s loss to Missouri and then played just three minutes in Saturday’s win over Mississippi State before re-injuring the shoulder.
Overall, Kentucky is and one of the country’s most disappointing teams. After being ranked ninth in the preseason AP Poll, the Wildcats sit just 10-6 (1-2 SEC), and they are just 1-5 against ranked opponents. Pope has had to juggle a variety of issues, from inconsistent effort to poor perimeter shooting to injuries. Jayden Quaintance, an Arizona State transfer coming off a torn ACL, has appeared in just four games. Alabama transfer Mouhamed Dioubate missed nearly a month with an ankle injury.
Lowe’s injury is a particularly damaging one, though, as he is the only natural point guard on the roster. Pope mentioned Jasper Johnson, a four-star freshman, as one of the players who will need to step up in Lowe’s absence. Top scorer Otega Oweh could take on a larger ball-handling role, too.
