Otega Oweh is currently testing the waters and is set to participate in the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago next week while already participating in team workouts with the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics. He’s diving into the process head first, receiving feedback as he pushes toward his dreams of being a pro.
The general thought, though, has been that the All-SEC guard is using this time to learn from NBA teams what they like about him already, but more importantly, what they want to see from him in his final season of college basketball at Kentucky.
We already know he did not put his name in the portal ahead of the deadline, meaning his two options are to return to Lexington or officially enter the draft. Which way is he leaning? Oweh’s comments following his most recent workout in Portland suggest he’s serious about the draft process, at minimum, and a second year in blue and white may not be the sure thing most hoped when he initially declared.
“I’m all in (on the NBA),” Oweh said. “I have one more year of (college) eligibility, but my goal is to play in the NBA, so I’m not doing this process one foot in, one foot out.”
That obviously turned some heads over the last 24 hours, Big Blue Nation panicking over the possibility of losing the star guard without an obvious replacement in mind. He was thought to be the roster anchor with complementary pieces put around him — undoubtedly Oweh’s team in his final go-round.
What was lost in that same interview, though, was his firm belief in his status as a first-round pick and how that will help decide what he ultimately does ahead of the May 28 stay-or-go deadline.
“I wouldn’t say it’s completely false, but I believe I’m a first-round guy,” he said of speculation he needs a first-round guarantee to keep his name in the draft. “So, I’m just gonna go through these workouts, give it my all, and then when it’s all said and done, I’ll see where I’m at and then I’ll make that decision.”
It brings me back to Jaxson Robinson’s decision last year when he went through the same process, choosing whether to return to college — he entered the portal following Pope’s move from BYU to Kentucky — or keep his name in the draft. At the time, the reigning Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year was seen as a mid-to-late second-round pick fighting for late-first- or early-second-round status with a guaranteed contract.
He made similar comments regarding his desire to see the draft process through.
“My primary focus is still achieving my longtime dream of playing in the NBA,” Robinson said at the time.
How about the speculation he planned to join his coaching staff in Lexington? He denied that was a done deal, too.
“Although Coach Pope and I have a great relationship and had an amazing season this past year, it is important that I still explore what the best fit for me is,” he continued. “My recruitment is still 100% open.”
Robinson would ultimately pull his name out of the draft at the deadline and committed to Kentucky the very next day. In his first media appearance as a Wildcat a few short weeks later, he confirmed there was never a doubt.
“Before anything had happened with the NBA, I already knew if I had come back to college, this is where I’d be,” he told KSR in June. “Me and Coach Pope were super close, that’s my guy, so I’m excited to be here.”
He handled the process the right way, keeping his options open and giving everything he had to the draft process before using that feedback to his advantage in one final ride in college as a Wildcat. It didn’t end the way any of us wanted with Robinson suffering a devastating season-ending wrist injury, but there were undoubtedly times leading up to that point he looked like the complete two-way threat NBA teams wanted him to be.
Oweh is in a similar boat, currently seen as a fringe draft prospect with Bleacher Report the only national outlet penciling him in as a pick — they have him at No. 59 overall as the very last selection. ESPN has the All-SEC guard ranked No. 72 overall among their best available players with Koby Brea (No. 54) and Amari Williams (No. 59) both ahead of him and Robinson (No. 76) right behind.
His stock is improving and can take another leap at the Draft Combine in Chicago next week, but to the point where he’d compete financially with what he’ll make through NIL at Kentucky next season? For comparison’s sake, Antonio Reeves signed a three-year, $5.4 million deal as a rookie taken No. 47 in the 2024 NBA Draft, good for an annual salary of $1.8 million. Oweh would have to not only earn a first-round guarantee, but likely even a top-20 guarantee to match his potential earnings in Lexington.
If he can get that, we should celebrate it — because it’s a massive recruiting tool for Pope and the Wildcats to use moving forward considering where Oweh was when he first joined the program. Others in similar situations will pull their names out of the draft, and those already in the portal will undoubtedly trip over themselves looking to fill that spot (and the pay day that comes with it). That’s not including other reclass and international options that always present themselves later in the summer. Come be a superstar at Kentucky is a pretty easy pitch.
If Oweh can’t get that — well, it’s pretty obvious why we should celebrate that, too. He’ll be a very rich man as one of the faces of college basketball next season and the early favorite for SEC Player of the Year.
For now, don’t sweat the comments made during pre-draft workouts or what he’ll say at the Combine. It’s in his best interest to push all of his chips in on this process to learn and grow from it no matter what his next steps look like. He has to take it seriously if he wants teams to take him seriously — and that’s what’s best for Kentucky, potentially getting a bigger, better, more mature version of the team’s leading scorer back from a year ago. It worked with Robinson last May, we shouldn’t assume it won’t with Oweh this time around.
Again, that’s Pope’s approach with this.
“Otega is going through this draft process, and we’re cheering for him every step of the way — but I know a lot of his heart is back here at Kentucky,” Pope told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports last week. “If he does return, he will return as the presumptive SEC Player of the Year. Clearly, he’s got a beautiful future ahead of him.”
The hope remains that his beautiful future, at least for the next year, is in Lexington.
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