The intrigue meter went up a couple of notches on the Shaedon Sharpe Watch after John Calipari's weekly radio call-in show Monday night.

While discussing No. 12 Kentucky's upcoming matchup with Mississippi State on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, the UK head coach said the Wildcats may be shorthanded in the backcourt after both Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington sustained injuries during an 80-71 loss at Auburn on Saturday.

And then Calipari dropped this nugget.

The Cats worked with Davion Mintz and Kellen Grady at the point, he said, and "I was able to have Shaedon just stay in, kid, and practice today. So we were able to do stuff."

It was a significant comment.

Until Monday, Sharpe reportedly had mostly worked out on his own or in individual instruction drills with UK's assistant coaches since arriving on campus three weeks ago as an early enrollee. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard from London, Ontario, was rated the No. 1 player in the Class of 2022 before reclassifying and is considered by many to be a future NBA lottery pick.

"He's just gotta get a lot of reps in," Calipari said. "So I'm trying to get him more reps. We did stuff today... If he plays, you gotta say we're only doing these two or three things. He's only been here a couple of weeks... You better do some really simple stuff and let him do what he does. What does he do? Scores the ball. So you say, look -- you won't believe this -- score the ball."

A caller to his show asked why Sharpe did not make an appearance at Auburn when the Cats were down two players in the backcourt due to injury.

"If I thought Shaedon was ready to go in there, I would have put him in there. But he's not ready yet," Calipari said.

If you asked Sharpe's UK teammates, however, they're ready to see him in action.

"The last couple of days, he's stepped on the gas a little bit and done some things (to impress)," Calipari said. "I think our team would like me to put him in. I mean, our team, we're doing stuff, and something happens in practice where he does something, and they're all kind of looking at me like, 'C'mon now. That's who he is. Put him in.' But you gotta make sure you're looking after him."

Calipari joked that he doesn't think he'll have to prod Sharpe to shoot the ball like he does some of the other UK players.

"That's what he does."