Two Wildcats included on list of early entry candidates for 2025 NBA Draft

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Photos of Otega Oweh (left) and Jaland Lowe via Imagn Images

A pair of Kentucky Wildcats will go through the NBA Draft process.

The NBA announced Tuesday morning the list of 106 players who have filed as early entry candidates for the 2025 NBA Draft. Rising senior guard Otega Oweh and rising junior guard Jaland Lowe were both named. We knew that Oweh was going through the draft process, but Lowe (who recently transferred from Pitt to UK) also doing the same has flown under the radar a bit.

College players who wish to maintain their eligibility will have to withdraw from the pool of players by Wednesday, May 28. The 2025 NBA Draft is set for June 25-26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that 106 players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2025 presented by State Farm, which will be held Wednesday, June 25 (First Round) and Thursday June 26 (Second Round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New… pic.twitter.com/e4mr12UrBa
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 29, 2025

With less than a month until the withdrawal deadline, neither Oweh nor Lowe is projected to hear their names called in the 59-pick draft. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony recently updated his Big Board of the top 100 prospects for this year’s draft, which included Oweh at No. 77 but did not feature Lowe. The expectation has been that Oweh and Lowe will go through the process, receive feedback from NBA scouts and personnel, and then ultimately return to Kentucky for the 2025-26 season.

Oweh has the better chance of the two Wildcats to wiggle his way into the two-round draft, but there is plenty of ground to make up if he wants the first-round guarantee he’s looking for. His name is not mentioned in any major mock drafts. If he ends up returning, Oweh figures to be the star figure on Mark Pope‘s second team in Lexington after an All-SEC campaign in 2024-25.

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The buzz around Lowe also going through the process hasn’t been nearly as loud due to his draft status. His name is not mentioned on many (if any) Big Boards and it would be a shock if his stock rises to the point where he is not playing at Kentucky next season. His decision to test the waters is not a new one, either — it’s been public knowledge since he initially entered his name into the transfer portal.

We’ll just have to sit back and wait for another month until we know for sure that Oweh and Lowe are coming back.