LEXINGTON — The expectation for any five-star prospect who signs with Kentucky is that his stay with the program will be brief. One stellar season, then on to the NBA draft — more likely than not, in the lottery; at the least, in the first round. That was the thinking surrounding UK freshman big man Aaron Bradshaw, the No. 4 overall player in the 2023 class (per the 247Sports Composite) and widely considered the prospect with arguably the highest ceiling, and most potential, of any collegian.
That thinking has gone awry so far.
A foot injury sidelined Bradshaw during UK’s trip to Toronto for the GLOBL JAM tournament last summer, as well as both preseason exhibitions and the first seven regular-season games in 2023-24. He finally made his debut Dec. 2, coming off the bench in a home loss to UNC Wilmington. While he had a breakout performance in his second outing — a 17-point, 11-rebound, three-block effort against Penn in Philadelphia on Dec. 9 — the returns since then have been underwhelming. He hasn’t had another game in which he pulled down 10 rebounds (he had eight once, versus South Carolina) and only has tallied five more double-digit-point games, with a high of 12 (one versus North Carolina, and the other in a blowout win at SEC cellar dweller Vanderbilt last week).
For the season, Bradshaw is averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18 minutes per game — which includes 10 starts in 17 appearances.
His production to this point made it difficult for ESPN, which published its latest draft update Tuesday, to find many bright spots.
“It’s hard to make a great case for his draftability other than the fact he was a top player in his recruiting class,” wrote Jeremy Woo, who covers basketball prospects and the NBA draft for ESPN.
But Woo wasn’t finished.
“If Bradshaw can’t earn the trust of the coaching staff,” Woo wrote, “this might become a situation where he should think hard about returning to school to rebuild his draft profile.”
Would Bradshaw actually come back for a second go-round with the Wildcats?
