Mark Pope’s Otega Oweh comparison will have Kentucky fans dreaming big this March

Mark Pope has never led a team there as a head coach, but he knows what it takes to win a national championship from his playing days at Kentucky. While this year’s team may not be healthy enough to reach that mountaintop, its leader, Otega Oweh, is playing at a championship level, and Pope has certainly taken notice. 

The 1996 national championship team that Pope was a part of returned to Lexington over the weekend for a 30-year reunion as Kentucky beat Tennessee 74-71 at Rupp Arena. 

For the occasion, Pope was asked on this week’s Mark Pope Show on UKSN All-Access, which player on this year’s team reminds him of a player on that 1996 team. His answer was Otega Oweh and Antoine Walker. 

Otega Oweh draws Antoine Walker comparison from Mark Pope

As a sophomore in the 1995-96 season, Walker, a 6-foot-8 forward with a different style than Oweh, was Kentucky’s second-leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. He was named All-SEC that season and, crucially, was the SEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Wildcats to the conference title. 

At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Oweh is leading Kentucky with 17.1 points per game and just 4.4 rebounds. Pope acknowledged the differences between their games and their personalities, but couldn’t seem to shake the thought that “there’s something similar in terms of their impact on the game.” 

Walker was surrounded by Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer, Pope, and quite a few other key contributors who helped win that title. Oweh, especially with Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance, and Kam Williams out with injuries, does not have that same level of help around him. 

Yet, it has to be hard for a Kentucky fan to hear that comparison and not have visions of Oweh willing this year’s team on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, or at least to Kentucky’s first SEC Tournament crown since 2018.

Saturday's win was Kentucky's eighth in its last nine games and featured a 21-point outing from Oweh, who is averaging 20.6 points over that stretch. For all of the UK's injuries, Oweh has kept the Cats surging in the race at the top of the conference, trailing Florida by just a half game heading into Tuesday night.

Oweh may never reach Walker status for BBN, but if he keeps that momentum rolling and parlays it into a legendary March, he could get close.