Could staying healthy be a concern for Kentucky's depth at center?

Kentucky brought back a very important piece this offseason in Malachi Moreno. It was one that Mark Pope himself even noted how big it was to be able to get him back in Lexington, calling him the top priority heading into the off-season. After a freshman season where he definitely outperformed expectations, Pope knew what kind of player Moreno can turn into with another year.

Heading into his second year, though, Moreno and the Kentucky staff know he can't do it all alone in the frontcourt. That's why they went and got a veteran big man in Franck Kepnang to come in behind him and provide quality minutes as bruising five-man who is going to pride himself on protecting the rim. Kepnang is looking for some quality minutes and you've also got a young Reece Potter, who is coming off a redshirt junior season. Kentucky got what they were missing at the five last season, which is depth, but there's one big question surrounding it: Can they stay healthy?

Mark Pope spoke about Kentucky's depth at center in a recent interview with The Field of 68, where he shared the same question about Kepnang in particular, who has not had a fully-healthy season in his college career and did miss some early practices in the summer as a precaution.

"Franck Kepnang has not had a healthy season yet in his 17 years of college basketball,” Pope said. "But last year was his healthiest season, so he only missed six games at the end of the season last year. Talk about an enforcer and a guy who plays hard. Part of the reason Franck is hurt all the time is he plays so hard. He is like a wrecking ball. He’s one of the top shot blockers in the country. He’s got incredible leadership skills. Reece Potter also is a guy that’s been off the radar for a year because we redshirted him last year, but he was a really good player at Miami of Ohio and he’s got some physicality. ...If we stay healthy, we think we have a really, really good setup at the five."

It's worth noting with Kepnang that the big man didn't just play quality minutes for the Washington Huskies this past season, he played over 20 minutes per game as a starter, which has essentially been the case in all of his four seasons at Washington. Maybe that contributed to his injury issues, but that load is certainly expected to be lifted at Kentucky with Malachi Moreno in front of him with the bulk of the minutes.

Quality is key for Kepnang and Kentucky's five-man depth, but staying healthy is equally important so that the impact can be made.

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