You can almost hear it, the kind of dunk that snaps a gym to silence, then explodes into noise. After ten weeks recovering from injury, Otega Oweh stepped into his first live scrimmage and made sure everyone remembered who he was.
A statement on day one
“His first possession, he gets a steal, races down the floor, takes off from outside the free throw line, and dunks it,” Mark Pope said, shaking his head. “You just love these young people.”
It was a moment that told the story of Oweh’s motor, and maybe of Kentucky’s too. The senior guard was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year, and Pope knows exactly why. He’s relentless.
The Unstoppable Competitive Motor
“You can’t turn off his competitive motor,” Pope said. “He understands everything that Kentucky is... he embraces it, and he can’t get enough of it.”
That attitude has become a cornerstone of Pope’s early culture. Kentucky practices aren’t designed for comfort. They’re built around chaos, competition, and chemistry forged in repetition. And Oweh fits that perfectly, a physical, fearless wing who treats every drill like the Final Four.
You need your best players to be your tone setters, and Oweh is exactly that.
Changing a program, one practice at a time
After years of top-heavy rosters defined by youth, Pope’s group has a new kind of hunger. They don’t just want to win, they want to prove something.
Oweh’s dunk didn’t count for points, but it counted for energy. It reminded everyone, coaches included, that this team isn’t easing into anything. They're going full force.
Otega is the kind of kid that can change a whole game with a single move. In the game against Florida last year, he went on a run that included 10 of Kentucky's 16, in a 16-0 run that helped get Kentucky back in the game. Those kinds of players don't come around too often. Enjoy him this year BBN.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion