Two Kentucky guards named to Player of the Year Midseason Watch List

Kentucky’s Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh are in consideration for one of college basketball’s top individual awards.

The USBWA announced on Monday the Wildcats’ two primary starting guards have been named to the 2024-25 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. Butler and Oweh are two of 50 men’s college basketball standouts who made the cut for this award, which will go to the nation’s most outstanding player for this season.

The Oscar Robertson Trophy winner is set to be announced at the Final Four in San Antonio this April. A final watch list will be announced in early March. Kentucky is one of just seven schools in the country with two representatives on the midseason list along with Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Purdue, Rutgers, and Tennessee.

.@lamont_butler1 and @OtegaOweh have been named to the @TheBigOTrophy Midseason Watch List.

📰🔗 – https://t.co/636UYDqR9R pic.twitter.com/Igl4vUXcU3

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 3, 2025

On both ends of the floor, Butler and Oweh have been massively important keys to Kentucky’s success under new head coach Mark Pope. We’re seeing just how necessary Butler is right now, as a shoulder injury has sidelined him for the previous two outings. His absence against Arkansas’ guards was felt throughout UK’s loss at Rupp Arena over the weekend.

There’s currently no timetable for a return to the hardwood for Butler, but Kentucky will need him back sooner rather than later. The 6-foot-2 fifth-year point guard has started all 17 games he’s appeared in this season. He’s been having a career year after four seasons at San Diego State, too. Butler is averaging career-highs in points (13.2), assists (4.8), rebounds (2.9), and steals (1.8) per outing. He’s shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep — also the best marks of his college career.

Oweh has been a surprise standout and Kentucky’s leading scorer this season. The 6-foot-5 Oklahoma transfer is also having his best stretch as a college player yet. He’s averaging 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per outing. All of those are career highs for the junior shooting guard. Oweh has scored in double-digits during all 21 games he’s played. His 33 steals lead the Wildcats as a team.

A Kentucky player has won the Oscar Robertson Trophy just twice since it was established for the 1958-59 season. The first was Anthony Davis in 2011-12 before Oscar Tshiebwe joined the club in 2021-22.