Needs surgery. Think I’m done with sports for a while as a UK basketball/football/tennessee titans fan. Life was more fun in the summer
Strong rumor that Lowe is done for the year
- Thread starter wildcatsincebirth
- Start date
Pretty typical for this injury to need surgery after the second dislocation. It's the best path for his long-term health. He could rehab it another month, wear the brace and hope it stays in place.
Honestly just get JJ or Aberdeen in there and get them acclimated. Kind of prefer that as opposed to Lowe being injured on and off all year long.
And just like that, 3 games into the season Acaden Lewis would have been handed the reigns.
Hes averaging 10/5/2 for Nova.
Hes averaging 10/5/2 for Nova.
Get JQ back and Kentucky is now, basically, St. John's. No true point guard. Going to have to make it work every game. It won't be pretty at times. Tough to win a title without a true PG. You can make a run. You can win a few games. But the defense/rebounding will have to better than ever under Pope as it's very unlikely to have a top 5 offense.
Next year hopefully we try to get a PG with strong shoulders.
Sad but true. This is on Pope. Instead of making sure we were overloaded in the backcourt, after experiencing the injuries last season, he finished out recruiting with two bigs who will be redshirted this season.
Yep.
It brings Lowe square into play for 2026 PG. Probably PG2, but he's definitely coming back.
Going to have to figure it out with JJ, Aberdeen and Chandler.
It brings Lowe square into play for 2026 PG. Probably PG2, but he's definitely coming back.
Going to have to figure it out with JJ, Aberdeen and Chandler.
Better to know now rather than Jan/feb
Not saying it isn't true, as I do tend to believe that surgery is the most likely remedy to fix the issue. However, where are the rumors coming from?
I like Aberdeen at the point. More defense. More physicality. Less feminine.
Let’s be honest, this is not a title team with or without Lowe. We have no star, we are built for defense and still somehow terrible on defense. We paid Mo diabate multiple millions to be useless on offense. Our SEC preseason player of the year looked like he wasn’t interested in playing against our biggest rival. We brought back Brandon Garrison for some reason who doesn’t look any better than he did last year and didn’t recruit a backup PG. our best player may not play till January and who knows how effective he will be. Pope mentioned immaturity or something weird happening before the Louisville game.
all is not well in lexington. Is the highlight of our season gonna be a fking exhibition game?
No chance I’d be building around a guy who can’t stay healthy for next year’s roster. If Lowe is out for the year, go get an elite PG next season and Lowe can be a part of the team if he wants but no keys being handed to him.
This is an overreaction.
What I heard is the articles have been pre written by KSR and they are just waiting for official confirmation to post them. Meaning Matt or someone told them to go ahead and write them but they’re waiting for UK to tell them it’s ok to post.
Assuming it's a torn labrum, he could be back in 3 months.
Could be back mid Feb. he could still be an asset as a change of pace PG to spark the offense.
Defensively, if we need a stop, wouldn't we want Aberdeen guarding the point of attack?
Could be back mid Feb. he could still be an asset as a change of pace PG to spark the offense.
Defensively, if we need a stop, wouldn't we want Aberdeen guarding the point of attack?
I'd be SHOCKED if JQ returns if this team is laboring when it's time for him to return. No Lowe and this team is going to struggle. I was big time disappointed in his defensive effort against Louisville, but the offense is way better with him.
Sad but true. This is on Pope. Instead of making sure we were overloaded in the backcourt, after experiencing the injuries last season, he finished out recruiting with two bigs who will be redshirted this season.
Well the hard part is how do you plan for injuries? No quality PG was gonna come here with Lowe in front of him (and potentially Aberdeen and others).
It really comes down to just being absolutely snake-bitten with injuries. This is now 3 of the last 4 years where we have had big injuries to our guards and wings. Tyty/Grady, then last year with Butler and Jrob, and now Lowe and whoever else will inevitably get injured.
We cant really tell recruits and transfers that we will have injuries allowing the door to open. We cpuld go get 4 PGs next year and then we never need to use 3 of them in a meaningful capacity.
Hopefully, sure I’m just emotional cause we just can’t catch a damn break we haven’t had a team that was good and healthy team since Covid canceled our season. We have major roster and defensive concerns though that’s a fact. I’m not sure what Mo and Garrison bring to the team at all. Mo and oweh being benched in crunch time against our biggest rival is such a bad sign to me
not saying coach can’t coach them up, he did last year, but it’s gonna be an uphill battle for sure.
I both laughed and cried when I read this. Well done. Jimmy V would call that a full day.
And we paid him for this year and next...wonder if Pope has the nuts to go after a better point guard in the portal next year
There's a bit of truth to this. I tend to think it's not THIS bad, but I feel you.
Worst case: Lowe is done for year. Otega's turf toe/pouting because he's not in the NBA lingers all season. JQ doesn't return. We are looking squarely at another 10 loss Tubby campaign.
Best case: Assuming rumors are in fact true and Lowe is done, Otega pulls his head out and is productive. JQ returns after Xmas and is a beast. 6-8 losses, a #2 seed and a legit FF contender.
I'm skeptical of that as I don't think they would really wait on UK if they were sure they had reliable reporting. Which, I don't think they would have written the article without having.
Hell, Tuesday there was a rumor Oweh was out hurt.
Honestly I wouldn’t be mad if he transferred.
Geez, are our guys practicing with baseball bats? What are they doing in practice to keep getting injured?
There are always second opinions. However, although it doesn't help Kentucky in 2025-26, the guy still has a future career in basketball and likely has to think about things beyond this season/team.
I don't see how this doesn't end with the "he's out for the year" conclusion.
I don't see how this doesn't end with the "he's out for the year" conclusion.
lowe should be pg2 if he comes back
First and foremost, JLo is a Cat and I care for his health and safety. This is bad luck and regardless he was a great get for us and I believe whether he returns this year or not, he was going to be great by March. That being said I was all in on Aberdeen being the most important player on this team this year and I only hoped Oweh would see that too. This is Aberdeen's team to lead and Pope needs to make that clear in the locker room. We can all Monday morning quarterback, but I do agree with many based on last year we needed to be three deep in PG. They would not all be at JLo level, but serviceable with the overall talent we have on this team. No doubt the only possible backup is Jasper who is shoot first and pass later. This is a habit that can be coach corrected and demanded. Aberdeen is not an elite PG, but he is an elite college basketball player and a winner. This team will be less 96 and more 98 without JLo. Pope had a defensive hole to patch, now he has an offense hole to patch. I love Pope and he is paid well to figure it out. We have numerous pre conference tests starting with MSU Tuesday that will prove whether we can adapt or not. Every team has the injury risk, we got ours early. I pray that JLo and JQ both return by January healthy. I would also take a healthy JLo next year if that's the way it goes. Go Cats! I am never hurting my knees jumping off the bandwagon!
There's just no backing for this opinion other than past trauma as a Kentucky fan.
I was afraid of this. A friend is an orthopedic surgeon. He said a few weeks ago it would probably need surgery, since it's already happened twice this year. It'll just keep popping out until it's fixed and only make the condition worse each time. The damage accumulates and the bone wear is a factor
So a dude is going to sit out with injury during one of the deepest NBA drafts in recent memory ? I’m sure since you said to “Bank on it” you are going to quantify your rationale with a source?
I think oweh is hurt. Something clearly isn’t right with him ya know?
We would already have another if Lewis hadn't bolted. And he's been recruiting PGs this year like Kinney and Rippey. So, yeah it's clear Pope wanted and wants more PGs. I mean I shouldn't need to lay it out like that but ok. Now you know