In Back-to-back days the Kentucky basketball program gets a commitment. The latest addition is Otega Oweh, a 6’5” wing who previously averaged 11 points a game at Oklahoma. Lets take a look at how he fits with the rest of the roster, if you missed our other roster previews you can find them here:
Offensively
Oweh is still a developing wing but shows lots of promise in quite a few areas. He’s excellent in catch and shoot situations and shot 38% overall from three last year with the Sooners. He averaged double figures without ever really being a focal point of the offense with most of his points coming off broken plays or being the secondary option.
Oweh’s healthy shooting percentage creates driving lanes for him off those catches and he’s a decent finisher at the rim though he will need to improve his FT shooting percentage. At 64% he leaves quite a few points at the line and that will have to change if he wants to take the next big jump. He’ll also need to add some playmaking to his game, he showed flashes of that in certain games, but he wasn’t really asked to do much.
Defensively
The physical profile is there for Oweh to be a good defender. To go with that physical profile he also has good positioning. He avoids silly fouls and allows his length to bother opponents. His length also allows him to disrupt passing lanes which can create easy transition points for himself and others.
Even with no improvement at all on that end of the floor Otega would be an acceptable defensive piece to have. With continued development there is upside to be a lockdown wing defender. His profile fits nicely with guys Lamont Butler and Amari Williams who also pride themselves on defense.
2024 Outlook
Otega Oweh took a leap into a very good rotational player with the Sooners. Mark Pope has a very good track record of developing wings (he turned Jaxson Robinson into a borderline NBA player) and I expect that to continue here. We’ll have to see how the rest of the roster shakes out but Oweh is probably a starter that, at worst, spaces the floor and defends.
At best we’re looking at a guy who blossoms into an All-SEC type player. I really think there is that kind of upside for his time at Kentucky. BBN is also starting to get an idea of what kind of team Mark Pope wants for next year. Tough and physical players who can fill a winning role. For the first time in years it feels like Kentucky is putting together a roster that actually fits. Exciting times.
