Pope's New Trent Noah Timeline Puts the Opener in Doubt

The good news from Rupp on Friday night came with an asterisk, and his name is Trent Noah.

After Kentucky's 69-49 exhibition win over Little Rock, Mark Pope admitted the junior from Harlan County is still fighting his way back from a hamstring injury. KSR's Jack Pilgrim reported that Noah recently suffered a setback, and fans at Thursday's donor practice saw him hobbling around the court.

"With Trent, you know, he's kind of struggling a little bit right now to regain his health," Pope said. He put the timeline at "several weeks to a month right now, not months and months."

Pope did offer a silver lining. Noah had "a really good workout" Friday, running and jumping in a very controlled setting. But after watching Kam Williams re-injure his foot last season, the staff isn't taking chances. "We're not going to rush it," Pope said. "When he gets back, he's going to make a massive difference for us."

Our Take: This one stings. Back at Media Day, Noah said he'd dealt with two separate hamstring issues and expected to be back in a couple of weeks with no limitations. On Monday at the Tipoff Luncheon, Pope said "We'll get Trent back." Now the clock has reset. Several weeks to a month from Oct. 16 runs past the Nov. 3 opener against Manhattan, so plan on the Cats starting the season without him. The smart move is exactly what Pope is doing: get him right for SEC play, not for November.

The brighter update was on Kam Williams. Pope said Friday's imaging on his foot was "extremely positive" and he's on course after his second surgery. Williams was cleared for the next step in training and was doing full-court drills and dunking after shootaround. "It makes it even more important that we get Kam back on time," Pope said.

Also on the injury report: no update on Jerone Morton, who hurt his knee in practice. Malachi Moreno has been dealing with a minor hamstring and back issue and didn't practice last week, which is why his minutes were limited. He still grabbed 11 rebounds.

Next up: Texas Tech at Rupp on Friday, Oct. 23, in the second exhibition.

Sources: KSR/On3, A Sea Of Blue, WYMT, Yahoo Sports