Kentucky men’s basketball received a wave of preseason recognition on Monday for both the team and individual rankings and awards.
The Wildcats were ranked No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, while Otega Oweh was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year, accompanied by Jaland Lowe, who earned a spot on the SEC Preseason Third Team.
With Kentucky debuting at No. 9 in the preseason poll, it’s clear that the SEC has noticed how substantial a leap head coach Mark Pope has taken in regard to how he built his inaugural 2024-25 roster and this year’s roster.
After being appointed head coach at Kentucky in April 2024, Pope didn’t have the resources and time to build a highly talented roster, yet he still guided his team to a Sweet 16 appearance, Kentucky’s first since 2019.
Now, with a full offseason, Pope was able to construct the fifth-best transfer portal class and the seventh-best freshman class in the nation, per 247Sports, which undoubtedly plays a big factor in why the Cats were ranked No. 9 to start.
The teams ahead of UK are Purdue (No. 1), Houston (No. 2), Florida (No. 3), UConn (No. 4), St. John’s (No. 5), Duke (No. 6), Michigan (No. 7) and BYU (No. 8).
Oweh’s preseason praise is sizable, as he becomes the first Kentucky player since Oscar Tshiebwe (2022) to be recognized as the SEC preseason player of the year.
Stemming off of that, Oweh shares the SEC with numerous standout players like Alex Condon (Florida), Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State) and Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn), yet he is viewed as the best heading into the 2025-26 season.
Oweh was selected second-team All-SEC last season after averaging a team-high 16.2 points while reaching double figures in 33 of the 36 games he played. On the defensive end, Oweh led Kentucky in steals with 57 on the season.
After earning a spot on the ACC third team at the conclusion of last season, Lowe, a Pittsburgh transfer, now starts the season off on the SEC third team, projected to play a crucial role in Kentucky’s offense with his fast-paced game.
The point guard averaged 16.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game with the Panthers, while also recording 1.8 steals per game.
Lowe shares the third-team accolade with Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Aden Holloway (Alabama), Karter Knox (Arkansas) and D.J. Wagner (Arkansas).
Kentucky has its annual Blue-White game on Friday, Oct. 17, before battling No. 1 Purdue (Oct. 24) and Georgetown (Oct. 30) in exhibition games.
Following those, the Cats will open their 2025-26 season against Nicholls on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. inside Rupp Arena.