Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope reacts to March Madness loss
Following a 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball March Madness tournament, Kentucky coach Mark Pope expressed pride for his players. “We’ll be talking about these guys 10 years from now,” Pope.
- Kentucky basketball’s leading scorer, Otega Oweh, has withdrawn from the 2025 NBA Draft and will return to UK for the 2025-26 season.
- Oweh led the Wildcats in numerous scoring categories last season, including points per game (16.2) and games scoring in double figures (33).
- Oweh initially declared for the draft in April while maintaining his college eligibility.
LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball‘s leading scorer is back in the fold.
Guard Otega Oweh, the odds-on favorite to be UK’s offensive centerpiece in 2025-26, withdrew his name from the 2025 NBA Draft and will return for another season with coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats. Oweh announced his decision in a video posted on his personal Instagram account Wednesday.
“This year exceeded all my expectations,” Oweh said in the video. “Through all the highs and the lows, I found a family in Kentucky forever.
“So let’s run it back. I’m staying home.”
On April 15, Oweh declared for the draft — while maintaining his college eligibility — and revealed the news in another Instagram post.
A New Jersey native, Oweh went through the NBA draft process before deciding to return to UK.
At the NBA’s draft combine earlier in May in Chicago, Oweh checked in a shade taller than 6-foot-4 and tipped the scales at 212.6 pounds.
With Oweh officially part of Kentucky’s 2025-26 roster, the program boasts a player who should find himself on numerous watch lists heading into next season — and possibly could be the preseason pick for SEC Player of the Year.
All because of his efforts in 2024-25, his first at UK after two years at Oklahoma.
Name the scoring category and Oweh likely led the way for the Wildcats last season.
That includes:
- Points per game: 16.2;
- Times scoring in double figures: 33 (in 36 games);
- Consecutive games with 10-plus points: 26 (each of Kentucky’s first 26 contests; longest streak by any SEC player in 2024-25 and best by a Wildcat since Malik Monk posted double figures in 30 consecutive outings in 2016-17);
- Times leading the team in scoring: 16 (twice as many as his next-closest teammate, Koby Brea, with eight).
Coincidentally, Oweh’s season and personal-best outing came at the expense of his former school, Oklahoma: On Feb. 26, he scored 28 points — including the final 18, highlighted by the go-ahead bucket with 6.1 seconds remaining — to lift Kentucky to an 83-82 road victory.
Yet for all his excellence offensively, Oweh was no slouch on defense, averaging 1.6 steals per game, tying senior guard Lamont Butler for tops on the team.
SEC coaches named Oweh to the all-conference second team last season.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
