Otega Oweh announces return to Kentucky: 'I'm back [and] better now'

Otega Oweh is running it back with the Wildcats. The rising senior announced a return to the Kentucky basketball program for the 2025-26 season on social media Wednesday afternoon, captioning his post: "I'm back better now."

"This year exceeded all my expectations. Through all the highs and the lows, I found a family in Kentucky forever. So let's run it back - I'm staying home"

When his head coach met with the media on May 13th, Mark Pope said he'd been in close contact with Oweh while he made his decision.

“We’re talking to all of our guys going through this process all the time,” Pope said at the time. “This is a really exciting time for our guys that are in this draft process... These are lifelong relationships that we build. As these guys pursue the next step, it’s really exciting for us and exciting for them. We’re on it.”

Photo by Morgan Simmons | UK Athletics

Oweh led the Wildcats last season, averaging 16.2 points per game and shooting 49.2 percent from the field. His head coach has also praised his physicality.

“In those ways, he is as good as you’re going to find," Pope said of Oweh's "elite" physicality. "He’s really special. He grew so much last season in terms of kind of winning the point-of-attack over and over, whether it was on the ball or off the ball defensively.”

During the same mid-May press conference, Pope discussed where Oweh can improve his game this season.

“Like all of us, he has so much room to grow. I think his ceiling as a playmaker, he hasn’t even begun to tap into that. I think he can become an elite, elite-level playmaker.”

“I think something that he’s talked about a lot is his ability to get his shot off more quickly. He shot the ball really well at 36 or 37 percent, but getting it off quicker and getting more attempts is a big deal for him," Pope continued.

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On the season, Oweh took an average of 11.5 shots per night, including 2.1 attempts from beyond-the-arc, connecting at a 35.5 percent clip. He also averaged a career-best 1.6 steals per night.

“On the defensive end, his ability to kind of neutralize bigs on the glass and bigs on switches is a place where he can really excel, and I think he can have a chance to grow into one of the elite steals guys in the country," Pope said.

Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics

Oweh becomes the fourth Wildcat from the 2024-25 Sweet 16 team to announce his decision to return for another year with Kentucky, joining Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah.

"Guys coming in [for their] second year for me, almost without fail, they take massive leaps," Pope said when asked about his expectations for the returning Cats. “We expect all these returners to be much, much better than they were last year, which is saying a lot, because they were really good last year.”

Oweh's best moments of his junior season came against his former school, as the one-time Sooner dropped 28 points in Norman in the regular season, and 27 more to send Oklahoma home in the first round of the SEC Tournament. He hit the game-winner in both Kentucky wins.

“I wanted it bad,” Oweh said after his game-winning layup in the SEC Tournament. “Coach drew up the play to get me downhill and make a play.”

The games against the Sooners were two of Oweh's 33 total games in double-figures last year, including the first 26 games of the season. He was named NABC All-District First Team and All-SEC second team, and he became a 1,000-point scorer during the SEC Tournament.

He also set career-best marks in points per game (16.2), rebounds per game (4.7), assists per game (1.7), steals per game (1.6), blocks per game (0.5), free-throw percentage (.776), total 3s made (27), total free throws made (149), total field goals made (204), total rebounds (168), assists (62), blocks (19), steals (57) and points (584).

For more on the Kentucky basketball program and all of the Wildcats, join us weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on BBN Tonight on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18.

Wednesday night's full segment on the decision: