For the second straight season, a shoulder injury has derailed Kentucky's PG1.
Last season, Lamont Butler was able to play with a brace all year long, but it clearly changed the way he could play. This year, Jaland Lowe hurt his shoulder in the Blue-White scrimmage and tried to do the same. Unfortunately, Lowe isn't going to be able to tough it out the way Butler did.
Mark Pope announces Jaland Lowe will go undergo surgery miss the remainder of the season after dislocating his shoulder for a third time.
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) January 12, 2026
"It got to the point that it wasn't possible to keep going."
Will be a six month recovery for Lowe.
🎥: UK Sports Network pic.twitter.com/RatgsAilo9
Jaland Lowe has season-ending shoulder surgery
Earlier today, Mark Pope hinted that bad news could be coming. He said he had hoped Lowe would wake up feeling better, but "it just wasn't" improving. He let everyone know that a meeting was happening at 4 PM to determine the next steps.
The result of that meeting is the worst-case scenario: Kentucky will be without Jaland Lowe for the rest of the year. It has been confirmed that Lowe will undergo season-ending surgery immediately.
What does this mean for Lowe’s future?
The "good" news, if there is any, is that Lowe will have a strong case for a medical redshirt if he chooses to use it.
However, his future is complicated. Lowe went through the NBA Draft process last season and was looking to make the jump to the league after this year. Depending on the feedback he gets this offseason, he may not even use his redshirt.
Furthermore, with the current state of the Transfer Portal, even if he does come back to college, he is not guaranteed to be a Kentucky Wildcat. That is just the nature of college sports now.
Who steps up for Kentucky?
In Lowe's absence, the point guard duties will fall to Denzel Aberdeen, Jasper Johnson, and Collin Chandler.
Jasper Johnson looked as good as he has all year during the comeback win against Mississippi State, helping the Cats claim their first SEC win of the season. He will likely be asked to carry a much heavier load moving forward.
Kentucky will be back in action Wednesday night on the road in Baton Rouge against LSU.