“Window is getting tight”: Mark Pope provides unfortunate update for Kerr Kriisa’s injury situation

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope has provided another important update regarding the injury of guard Kerr Kriisa. While speaking to Kentucky Sports Radio on Friday, Pope revealed that Kerr is still farther away from full fitness than anticipated.

“With Kerr, it’s just a race to get healthy, if he can. That’s kind of the deal, can he get healthy? Can he get there? We’re still farther away than we anticipated being and so certainly the window is getting tight right now,” he said.

The Estonian point guard got injured against Gonzaga in Seattle on Dec. 7. In December, Kerr underwent surgery on his broken foot and has been absent ever since.

Earlier in the week, Pope said Kerr was eligible for a medical redshirt since he meets the qualifications of playing less than 30 percent of their games and not playing past the midway point of the season.

NCAA Basketball: Louisville at Kentucky - Source: Imagn

To be eligible for a medical redshirt, the point guard would have to miss the entire regular season, with only five games left to play. He would also be out for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments in March. But based on Pope's most recent update, it doesn't appear as if Kerr Kriisa is close to being ready to play this season.

Mark Pope on Kerr Kriisa possibly returning for sixth season

Kerr Kriisa transferred to Kentucky from West Virginia. Prior to that, he had played three seasons at Arizona. Should he get a medical redshirt, he would be eligible to play for a sixth college season next year.

When asked if he and Kriisa had discussed the possibility of returning next year, Pope responded:

“Right now, we’re just in the day-to-day of just saying, ‘Hey, can we make the next step? Can we just get to the next step?,'” Pope said. “There’s also frustration with how your body responds sometimes too, right? So that’s just a process of trying to figure that part out, and it’s much more next step than it is end step.”

Before Kerr’s injury, he played in nine games for the Wildcats, averaging 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, while shooting 27.9% from the field.

In his absence, Coach Pope has had to rely on freshman guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry to help run the offense with Lamont Butler.