John Calipari said before practice Friday that sophomore center Kareem Cooper will likely make his season debut Saturday against Ole Miss.

The 6-11 Cooper was suspended in the preseason for violating team rules, was brought back after the Maui Invitational but hasn’t been in uniform.

“He may play in this game and it has nothing to do with Tennessee,” Calipari said. “Academically he has himself right. They talked to me and told me when I came back where he is and what he’s doing. He’s not in any kind of shape to go in that game and do anything but I’m in all likelihood going to play him in the game.”

When I followed up to ask if Cooper had been in danger of not being academically eligible, Calipari said no but that Cooper had been behind in school and wasn’t going to play until he caught up.

“He’s taken care of business,” Calipari said.

Another note of interest: Calipari said Joey Dorsey will start despite threatening after the Tennessee game to bring him off the bench. Calipari also said that the technical foul call on Dorsey was a bad call, but that Dorsey needs to understand that people are baiting him because of his reputation.

“My problem right now is, Joey’s a target,” Calipari said. “You stick in your worst player, you bump him, and Joey comes back at ya. You stick in your very worst player, bump him, the guy fouls him from up here in the back and over the arms, so it was almost a flagrant foul and then he went in his face and Joey was pretty good. He turned and kind of went ‘What?’ and then walked. I don’t think he deserved a technical to be honest with you, but every game you’re going to see this, and if I’m the other team playing us, (I’m saying), ‘Go in, I want you to push him and foul him hard and just talk to him a little bit and see.’ Is that fair for Joey? No, but that’s what it will be now from here on in.

“Are the officials smart enough? The guys in Tennessee werne’t smart senough. Two minutes into the game you’re calling a double tech? how about a warning and when you watch it on tape it wasn’t enough to be a double technical. It was awful, but why? Joey has put himself in that position where they’re looking for Joey to say something. They’re doing all that stuff to get into him mentally and I hate to say it, they do.”