Will Aaron Bradshaw play for Ohio State against UK basketball? Updates from New York City.

For the first time in the 2024-25 season, the Kentucky men’s basketball team faced a team with an ex-Cat on its roster.

Saturday evening’s CBS Sports Classic showdown in New York City pitted No. 4 UK against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes’ roster includes Aaron Bradshaw, a 7-foot-1 forward from New Jersey who was the second-highest ranked recruit (per the 247Sports Composite) in Kentucky’s 2023 freshman class.

Bradshaw spent the 2023-24 season in Lexington, finishing last season with averages of 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game at UK.

In April, Bradshaw transferred from Kentucky to first-year head coach Jake Diebler and the Ohio State program.

While Bradshaw failed to live up to his lofty status as a recruit during his lone season with the Wildcats, a noteworthy storyline ahead of Saturday’s game was Bradshaw being set to face off against his old school.

And Bradshaw delivered against the Cats.

The Ex-Cat finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field as Ohio State upset Kentucky, 85-65. Bradshaw was a plus-7 in 18 minutes on the floor for Ohio State.

Earlier on Saturday, Bradshaw was listed by Ohio State as “questionable” to play against UK. The Buckeyes also listed sixth-year guard Ques Glover as “questionable” to play.

Glover also played for the Buckeyes, scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds.

Freshman forward Colin White and fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson — a former star at South Carolina who is averaging 9.1 points per game this season for the Buckeyes — are both out for Ohio State.

Aaron Bradshaw hasn’t played for Ohio State since November

Bradshaw has had an up and down time in Columbus so far.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Bradshaw had only played in four of Ohio State’s 11 games this season. He started each of those contests, averaging 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

Bradshaw hadn’t played for Ohio State since a Nov. 19 home win against Evansville. He played in OSU’s first four games of the season, and none since.

After the Evansville game, Bradshaw was kept away from team activities while the school investigated a possible domestic incident at his off-campus apartment, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

In early December, Diebler said during an episode of his weekly radio show that Bradshaw was back with the Buckeyes.

“Aaron is back with our team after the university concluded its process,” Diebler said according to Bucknuts, the 247Sports website that covers Ohio State. “Now, there’s going to be a return-to-play aspect that we’re going to have (to) start evaluating right away and there’s no firm timeline for what that looks like. But he will be back with our team. As far as anything regarding the process, we can’t comment further on the university’s process, but that’s the latest update.”

On Dec. 12, Diebler said there was no specific timeline for when Bradshaw would return to game action for Ohio State.

“I think we’re still evaluating that,” Diebler said. “But he’s gotten a couple good workouts in. I think that’s kind of the extent of it right now.”

Since rejoining the team, Bradshaw hasn’t played in either of Ohio State’s two most recent games: a 91-53 blowout loss to No. 2 Auburn last weekend in Atlanta and a 95-73 home win over Valparaiso on Tuesday.

Following that win over Valparaiso — which is Diebler’s alma mater — Diebler said Bradshaw is still building back toward being game ready.

“(He) wasn’t ready to go today. This is kind of an ongoing evaluation, really one day at a time,” Diebler said Tuesday of Bradshaw, who was in street clothes on the Ohio State bench for both the Auburn and Valparaiso games.

“There’s a level that he needs to play at and practice reps that he’s got to get at to where he’s able to get out there and certainly play well for him, but also for us,” Diebler added. “I just wish I could say, ‘Yeah. Hey, it’s a this-day thing.’ … Our whole performance team, it’s all hands on deck. Believe me, it would help us if we had this exact timeline or time frame, but it really is a day-to-day thing right now. He’s working to do it and we’re seeing progress, that’s the encouraging part.”

On Thursday, Diebler again failed to specify whether or not Bradshaw would be available to play for Ohio State against Kentucky.

“It’s not a clear answer yet on his availability,” Diebler said.

Aaron Bradshaw was one of several players who left UK in offseason

During the offseason, Bradshaw was one of seven scholarship players who transferred out of the UK program.

Bradshaw hit the transfer portal on April 8, before committing to Ohio State and Diebler one week later on April 15.

Ex-UK head coach John Calipari officially left Kentucky on April 9. The Wildcats appointed Mark Pope as the program’s next head coach on April 12.

During his weekly press conference this week, Pope was asked about Bradshaw.

“Just very brief, casual conversation,” Pope said when asked about the communication he had with Bradshaw after becoming the UK head coach. “I think he’s probably a terrific kid. I don’t really know him well. But, it’s the nature of college basketball right now where you’ve got a lot of different guys at a lot of different schools. (Who) experience a lot of different things.”

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