Kentucky senior guard Otega Oweh was selected as the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year on Monday.
Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Wildcats last season.
Also earning votes were Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Florida’s Alex Condon, Boogie Fland and Thomas Haugh; Malik Dia of Ole Miss, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford.
UK point guard Jaland Lowe was named to the Third Team.
Here are more details from UK Athletics:
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Senior guard Otega Oweh was named the Southeastern Conference’s preseason pick for SEC Player of the Year, while junior guard Jaland Lowe earned preseason third-team accolades to highlight the early-season honors for the Kentucky men’s basketball team on Monday. The Wildcats were selected to finish second in the overall standings.
Oweh enjoyed a breakout season in his first year in Blue and White. He led the Cats in scoring at 16.2 points per game and began the year by topping double figures in each of the first 26 contests and 33 overall. The Newark, New Jersey native set career-best marks in points per game, rebounds per game (4.7), assists per game (1.7), steals per game (1.6), blocks per game (0.5) and free-throw percentage (.776). In addition to his offensive prowess, Oweh also led the Cats in steals with 57 on the season.
A season ago he was a second-team All-SEC selection and also earned National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District First-Team honors.
UK’s 6-foot-4 senior guard topped the voting for preseason player of the year accolades from a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Also earning votes were Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Florida’s Alex Condon, Boogie Fland and Thomas Haugh; Malik Dia of Ole Miss, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford. Since the SEC began selection a preseason player of the year in 1997-98, Oweh is the seventh Wildcat to earn the honor. No other school has more than three.
Oweh was joined by Condon, Hubbard, Pettiford and Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. on the preseason All-SEC First Team.
Kentucky, winner of a league best 49 regular-season titles, was chosen to finish second among the league’s 16 schools. Since the preseason poll began in 1989-90, the Wildcats have been selected among the league’s top two 26 times.
Lowe earned a third-team nod for preseason honors after being named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Third Team as a sophomore at Pitt. Lowe paced the Panthers at 16.8 points per game, while also averaging 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Lowe joined the Wildcats as a transfer this offseason following a season in which he was one of just eight players in the country to log at least 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He topped double-figure scoring 26 times and reached the 20-point threshold a team-leading 10 times.
He was joined on the preseason All-SEC Third Team by Dia, Alabama’s Aden Holloway and Arkansas’ Karter Knox and D.J. Wagner.
The Wildcats will hold their annual Blue-White Game this Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. before a pair of exhibition games against Purdue (Oct. 24) and Georgetown (Oct. 30). The Cats then open the regular season inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 against Nicholls.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
