Otega Oweh signs with Kentucky, Mark Pope raves about his 'contagious tenacity'

Well, that was quick. Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh arrived on Thursday for his visit to Lexington, then publicly committed early Saturday afternoon. Just minutes later, Kentucky officially announced his signing, the second of the day following SDSU transfer Lamont Butler’s public addition.

Oweh, who averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the Sooners, will be bringing a ‘special physicality and intensity’ with him to Lexington, Mark Pope said.

“Otega shot 37 percent from the 3-point line last year,” Pope said. “He’s elite at earning trips to the free-throw line and he brings a special physicality and intensity to the game. Otega spent his entire season last year picking up the point guard full court in the Big 12. His tenacity on the court is contagious and his humility off the court is going to endear himself to Big Blue Nation.”

The 6-4 guard played in 60 games with 37 starts across two years at Oklahoma and will have two seasons of eligibility at Kentucky. As a sophomore, he connected on 49.3% of his field-goal attempts and 37.7% from 3-point range. Oweh registered double-digit scoring efforts on 19 occasions, including a career-high 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 10 for 11 from the free-throw line against North Carolina. Additionally, he had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against West Virginia. Oweh added defensive savviness to the Sooners’ lineup with 12 games of multiple steals, including a seven-swipe effort against Green Bay. He notched seven games with five or more rebounds from the guard position.

Oweh was the second-leading scorer for a team that went 20-12 overall and 8-10 in Big 12 action. He racked up 498 career points, 179 rebounds and 80 steals at Oklahoma, ranked among the top 20 in steals in the Big 12 Conference during both seasons with the Sooners.

The former four-star recruit led Team Final EYBL (PA) to a 17U Peach Jam title and was named the Peach Jam Breakout Player of the Session. Now, he’ll be joining Pope’s Wildcats at Kentucky.