Louisville star guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has missed the last four games with a lower-back injury, will not play in Tuesday’s game against Duke, coach Pat Kelsey said on the ACC coaches’ media call on Monday.
“He’s champing at the bit,” Kelsey said Monday morning. “I mean, he wants to be out there so stinking bad. You can tell. It’s just been a couple disappointing setbacks as we kind of tried to ramp him back up and practice full go to see if he could sustain throughout the game.”
Brown is averaging 16.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 10 games this season.
Kelsey said MRI tests have shown that “everything structurally” with Brown is fine, but they’ve tried to keep him out of practice to allow for more recovery, which has given the team some optimism moving forward, but he’s not yet ready to play.
“What we did several days ago was just kind of like, completely shut him down from practice or anything like that and give him a little bit more time, trying some different treatment things,” Kelsey said. “We feel really, really good that he’s going to come around sooner rather than later. He’s working his butt off. Like, nobody is spending more time in the training room.
“… We haven’t been able to get the discomfort and the spasms and things like that to settle down. We thought we were turning the corner, but over the last several days, not having him do anything full speed.”
No. 16 Louisville (11-3) is 2-2 without Brown. Former Kennesaw State transfer Adrian Wooley has replaced Brown in the starting lineup, averaging 12.3 points in four games as a starter.
The Cardinals host No. 6 Duke, Boston College and No. 21 Virginia in their next three games.
Brown, a five-star recruit and the No. 5 player in ESPN’s NBA draft rankings, was one of the best freshmen in the country during the first month of the season. He had 29 points and five assists in a November win over Kentucky, then followed it up a week later with 22 points and six assists against Cincinnati. Brown also posted 22 points in a loss to Arkansas.
“He’s got a great attitude about it; he’s got a pep in his step,” Kelsey said. “His teammates know how bad he wants to be out there. I can see him being out there really soon.”
