How Otega Oweh plans to become an even better player in year two at Kentucky
Two things can be true at the same time, and Otega Oweh’s first season as a Kentucky basketball player was a fine illustration of that.
UK coach Mark Pope summed it up in back-to-back sentences this month.
“He’s an unbelievable player who had a great season,” Pope said of the leading scorer on his first Wildcats team.
Right before that, Pope said this: “He’s got a ton of room to grow.”
For the next year or so, Oweh will continue that growth in Lexington.
The 6-foot-4 guard from Newark, New Jersey, made his return to Kentucky official Wednesday with the announcement that he was pulling his name out of the 2025 NBA draft to spend next season with the Wildcats.
And both Oweh and Pope have big plans for his immediate future with UK.
In an interview with the Herald-Leader at the NBA Combine this month, Oweh made a few things abundantly clear. Among those things: He was only staying in this year’s draft if he was positive he would actually be drafted, and — if he did decide to come back to college basketball — he would be spending the next year leaving no questions for decision-makers at the pro level.
“If I don’t go this year — and I come back to school — I’m gonna work on my game,” Oweh declared. “Like, so, so much, like, where it’s not even going to be a question of, ‘Is he a first-rounder?’”
The 6-foot-4 guard from Newark, New Jersey, made his return to Kentucky official Wednesday with the announcement that he was pulling his name out of the 2025 NBA draft to spend next season with the Wildcats.
And both Oweh and Pope have big plans for his immediate future with UK.
In an interview with the Herald-Leader at the NBA Combine this month, Oweh made a few things abundantly clear. Among those things: He was only staying in this year’s draft if he was positive he would actually be drafted, and — if he did decide to come back to college basketball — he would be spending the next year leaving no questions for decision-makers at the pro level.
“If I don’t go this year — and I come back to school — I’m gonna work on my game,” Oweh declared. “Like, so, so much, like, where it’s not even going to be a question of, ‘Is he a first-rounder?’”
Oweh, who had three team workouts ahead of the Combine, several meetings at the event in Chicago and more team workouts scheduled after that, noted that NBA front-office types had already given him some “jewels” of advice that he could use to improve his game — as well as his standing in their minds — over the course of the next season.
Pope has ideas on that, too, and the work to get Oweh into first-round territory for the 2026 draft — as well getting Kentucky on track for a deep NCAA Tournament run, another point of emphasis for the returning Wildcat — begins now.
Otega Oweh’s future at Kentucky
A day before Oweh spoke to the Herald-Leader in Chicago, Pope held his first press conference of the offseason and laid out some possible areas of improvement for his returning star.
“I think his ceiling as a playmaker — he hasn’t even begun to tap into that,” the UK coach said. “I think he can become an elite, elite-level playmaker.”
Oweh, who averaged 16.2 points per game for UK this past season, was one of the team’s best offensive creators from the perimeter. His 2-point percentage increased slightly — from 52.0% in his sophomore year at Oklahoma to 52.2% at Kentucky — with 2.4 more 2-point attempts per game, while his assists went up and his turnovers went down.
Still, there’s ample room for improvement there.
Pope gave Oweh more leeway as a driver and finisher than any of his other players this past season, due to his athleticism and knack for hitting tough shots. But attacking the rim in a more controlled manner will continue to be a point of emphasis.
Oweh’s overall decision-making once he breaks past that first layer of defense will also be under the microscope. While he had a positive assist/turnover ratio for the first time in his college career this past season — 1.7 to 1.5 — Oweh will hope to make further strides there.
He said that has been a common request of NBA decision-makers he met during the predraft process.
“Just making reads,” Oweh said. “Because I get downhill a lot, so when the bigs rotate, or someone’s in the gap or someone’s plugged in — just being able to make that next play. Instead of forcing something at the rim.”
His offensive game away from the basket can also improve.
“Something that he’s talked a lot about is his ability to get his shot off more quickly,” Pope said. “He shot the ball really well last year, 36-37% from 3, but to get it off quicker and get more attempts, I think is a big deal for him.”
Despite playing in Pope’s 3-point-happy offense, Oweh’s long-range attempts didn’t increase all that much this past season — going from 1.7 as a sophomore at Oklahoma to 2.1 with the Cats — and his hit rate actually dropped from 37.7% to 35.5%.
Obviously, NBA teams want to see more there. Pope and Oweh do, too.
Oweh’s release could use some fine-tuning — UK’s coaching staff is already working out a plan to add more fluidity to his outside jumper — and the returning Cat will obviously be a willing student.
Defensively, Oweh was one of Kentucky’s standouts this past season — especially when working in tandem with departing point guard Lamont Butler on the perimeter — but even more will be asked of him in year two.
“I think he has a chance to grow into one of the elite steals guys in the country,” Pope said.
Oweh averaged 1.6 steals per game, which was top 15 in the SEC among qualified players, and — in addition to being a candidate for preseason conference player of the year honors — he’ll go into next season touted as one of the best defenders in the league.
One point of emphasis that NBA teams expressed to Oweh — and something he sounded eager to work on — was his conditioning.
“My conditioning has gotten better, but the style of play that I’m gonna be playing in the NBA — which is like a 3 and D, a two-way force — I gotta make sure I’m in the utmost, utmost condition,” Oweh said. “Because I’m gonna be guarding like a Jayson Tatum — or one of those physical guys. So the main thing for them was just, ‘Make sure you’re in tip-top shape, so you can go out there and give it your all.’
“And I know — they even said, like, ‘Throughout the season, you were still effective in times where you may have been tired. But imagine if you’re not tired, what you could do.’”
While Oweh is a now a seasoned college basketball player — with 96 games and 73 starts at the high-major level on his résumé — there’s still reason to think he could make a substantial jump in year two at Kentucky.
One point of emphasis that NBA teams expressed to Oweh — and something he sounded eager to work on — was his conditioning.
“My conditioning has gotten better, but the style of play that I’m gonna be playing in the NBA — which is like a 3 and D, a two-way force — I gotta make sure I’m in the utmost, utmost condition,” Oweh said. “Because I’m gonna be guarding like a Jayson Tatum — or one of those physical guys. So the main thing for them was just, ‘Make sure you’re in tip-top shape, so you can go out there and give it your all.’
“And I know — they even said, like, ‘Throughout the season, you were still effective in times where you may have been tired. But imagine if you’re not tired, what you could do.’”
While Oweh is a now a seasoned college basketball player — with 96 games and 73 starts at the high-major level on his résumé — there’s still reason to think he could make a substantial jump in year two at Kentucky.
Final Four Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. transformed into a projected first-round pick during his fourth year of college basketball (and second year at Florida), and Chaz Lanier has worked his way into draft range following a “super senior” season spent at Tennessee.
“I don’t look at that stuff,” Oweh said of gains made by other recent SEC guards at similar stages in their careers. “But every year I just try and improve. And obviously I look at the stuff I did the year before, and I just try and make a jump. I’m big on that, because you can’t get complacent. Someone’s always getting better. Someone’s always working.
“Especially in the SEC — in the position I’m in right now — these are top-level NBA players, top-level college guys. I just love working out, love getting better. So that’s the biggest thing for me.”
Projected Kentucky basketball roster for 2025-26
The projected roster for Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats going into the 2025-26 season.
Table with 6 columns and 14 rows.
Player Pos Class Ht Wt Notes
Denzel Aberdeen G Sr. 6-5 190 7.7 ppg, 35% on 3s at Florida in 2024-25
Otega Oweh G Sr. 6-4 215 16.2 ppg last season at Kentucky
Mouhamed Dioubate F Jr. 6-7 215 7.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg at Alabama in 2024-25
Brandon Garrison F Jr. 6-10 250 5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg last season at UK
Jaland Lowe G Jr. 6-3 175 16.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.5 apg at Pitt in ’24-25
Reece Potter C Jr. 7-1 215 6.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg at Miami (Ohio) in ’24-25
Kam Williams G/F So. 6-8 190 9.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg last season at Tulane
Collin Chandler G So. 6-5 202 2.7 ppg last season at Kentucky
Trent Noah F So. 6-5 220 2.7 ppg last season at Kentucky
Jayden Quaintance F So. 6-10 225 9.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.6 bpg at Arizona State
Braydon Hawthorne F Fr. 6-8 175 No. 33 recruit in 2025 class
Andrija Jelavic F Fr. 6-11 220 10.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg in Adriatic League
Jasper Johnson G Fr. 6-4 175 No. 24 recruit in 2025 class
Malachi Moreno C Fr. 6-11 230
