Kentucky will be without freshman center/forward Aaron Bradshaw when the Wildcats embark on their trip to Toronto next month for the GLOBL Jam event.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the season ended, UK head coach John Calipari confirmed that his five-star freshman big man recently had a surgical procedure to repair a fracture in a foot.

"Had a foot injury. Had a choice to make," Calipari said of Bradshaw. "Do you let it heal, or do you do an operation? He waited for a minute to say, 'Let me see this," but at the end of the day, he said I want an operation because I want to play."

Having the procedure will give the 7-footer a chance to return close to the start of the season, Calipari noted, although no timetable has been established at this point. The doctors have indicated that Bradshaw should be able to return by then, "but we won't rush him back," the UK boss added.

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Bradshaw will be in a protective "boot" for a while and will not travel to Toronto for UK's exhibition games against teams from Canada, Germany, and Africa.

That news leaves UK with two big men for GLOBL Jam, sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso and senior transfer portal addition Tre Mitchell from West Virginia, although Big Blue Nation's watchful eye will be more concerned with Bradshaw's return for the regular season.

"He could have waited it out and been fine," Calipari said, "but he said I don't want to take a chance. I want to play."

Bradshaw, a McDonald's All-American from Camden, N.J., is part of the Cats' latest No. 1 recruiting class that also includes five-star guard DaJuan Wagner Jr., five-star guard Robert Dillingham, four-star guard Reed Sheppard, five-star wing Justin Edwards, three-star wing Jordan Burks, and three-star guard Joey Hart.

Kentucky returns only three scholarship players from last year's squad: guard Antonio Reeves, wing Adou Thiero, and center Ugonna Onyenso. In addition to the seven incoming freshmen, the Cats also added Mitchell from the transfer portal to provide some additional experience.

Calipari would not dismiss the possibility of adding additional players before the school year begins, stating that it's the new reality of today's NCAA with rules permitting graduate student transfers into August.