Dioubate, Aberdeen on Oweh's return to Kentucky: "Man, it's going to be scary."

You certainly remember that feeling, Otega Oweh announcing his return to Kentucky just hours ahead of the draft withdrawal deadline to solidify the Wildcats as legitimate contenders in 2025-26. It wasn’t necessarily a shock — although he did receive “really, really good feedback” from NBA teams ahead of the decision — but so much was riding on that confirmation in terms of star power, production and veteran leadership that you were just desperate to hear it from the horse’s mouth to complete the puzzle.

Fans weren’t the only ones biting their nails, though. Oweh’s potential teammates were sitting right there with the rest of us on the edge of their seats, hoping for the All-SEC guard to join them in Lexington for another run at banner No. 9.

When the announcement came, the celebration followed.

“I was so happy, man. I’m not gonna lie,” Alabama transfer Mo Dioubate said of Oweh’s return. “He’s a guy — I knew him from before I came here, I knew how hard he worked. Just knowing that he was coming back, I just felt more confident in us winning the championship.”

“(I) most definitely (watched Oweh’s decision closely),” Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen added. “I remember hearing when his name when the deadline was coming up. I was telling my dad and my friends, like, ‘Yeah, if he comes back, it’s going to get serious.'”

Things did, in fact, get serious. Oweh returned to give Kentucky its leading scorer back from Mark Pope’s debut roster in Lexington. It also gave the Wildcats a complementary fit alongside all of the other talent brought in through the portal, high school or international ranks.

Alongside Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah, Oweh can help those new additions find their footing in blue and white — just as Jaxson Robinson did for everyone else this time a year ago.

“They know the culture. They’re going to constantly remind guys the culture here,” Dioubate said of the returning talent. “The leadership that they have, they just try to bring it to everyone else, their experience. They know all the plays, they know where players have to be, stuff like that. They’re just doing a good job at that, just telling us what to do, what we have to do, certain habits.”

Just as Dioubate’s teammates are happy to have him on their side for a change after Alabama beat Kentucky three times last season, or Aberdeen showing them the ropes as a national champion, there is nothing like having an All-SEC guard to lean on when the going gets tough.

Both SEC transfers know from experience what it was like trying to slow him down — and that’s easier said than done.

Oweh went for 16 points on 6-10 shooting with four rebounds and two steals in the SEC-opening win at home against Aberdeen’s Gators.

“His game was great, man. He’s a very strong, athletic guard. It was hard to stop him getting to the basket,” he said. “On top of that, he was also a very great defender — it’s hard getting by him on the offensive side. He’s a great player. He improves each and every day, his shooting is getting way better. I remember coming in, we were doing shooting competitions.

“We were just getting better, pushing each other, and that’s the good thing about him. He always trying to get better. Him coming back, man, it’s going to be scary for a lot of people.”

The star Wildcat was sensational against Dioubate’s Crimson Tide in the first home matchup, going for 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in the 102-97 heartbreaker at Rupp Arena. Then it was a massive story when Alabama held Oweh to his first single-digit scoring effort of the season in the return trip to Tuscaloosa.

Dioubate is proud of that one, especially as one of the key defenders on Oweh in the head-to-head battle — with some trash talk to follow now that they’re teammates.

“Yeah, we talk a little trash here and there,” he told KSR. “We play (one-on-ones) a lot and we spend a lot of time around each other. Our goal is, for next year, winning and playing together, getting along. But I feel like some of that trash talk just brings us closer together.”

Iron sharpens iron in the best way in Lexington.