UK’s PJ Washington is mobile, but will he play? ‘I walked over here, so that’s good’

PJ Washington, freed from a walking boot, entered the Sprint Center on Thursday afternoon, a day before Kentucky played Houston in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Whether he’ll play Friday night, or even fully practiced Thursday after the Wildcats spoke to reporters, was unknown.

Washington was on the court for the 15 minutes of practice that media were allowed to watch, but he only jogged, stretched and shot free throws.

“I walked over here, so that’s good,” Washington said. “I’m in a good place. I’m happy where I’m at and just trying to get better.”

Kentucky coach John Calipari opened his news conference with a question.

”I just want to say, is PJ playing? Does anybody know here whether he’s playing? I don’t know. So we will see,” Calipari said. “That’s my statement.”

During the open practice period, Calipari approached P.J. Carlesimo, part of the national radio broadcast crew for the Midwest Regional and said, “You know I’m not going to let him do one thing while you all are in here.”

The buzzer sounded and the media left the court as the Wildcats huddled for the closed portion of their practice.

Calipari said Washington didn’t practice Wednesday and would leave the decision on whether he practiced Thursday to Washington, adding that the question was how much pain he could deal with.

“Thank goodness the game is at 9 (Central time). We have more time. It’s the first time I’ll ever say this. I wish it was at 10. But, you know, greatest thing for him is the doc said that you can’t hurt yourself. And if that were the case, I wouldn’t let him play,” Calipari said. “Doc said, ‘You’re going to be in pain after the game if you do play, but you know how much pain can you deal with.’ He wants to play. Now, it’s can he play? We don’t know. If anybody is guessing, you know, we just don’t know yet.”

Washington, Kentucky’s leading scorer and rebounder, hasn’t played since spraining his foot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals March 16. He was in a walking boot and later a hard cast that was removed earlier this week.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 2:34 PM.