Evaluating Kentucky's point guard options until Jaland Lowe returns

Mark Pope, ironically, compared Jaland Lowe‘s situation at Kentucky to that of Lamont Butler a year ago, coming from San Diego State as a defense-first guard just a tweak or two away from taking his game to another level. The efficiency was abysmal, never shooting above 42.1 percent overall or 34.2 percent from three in four seasons with the Aztecs while coming off a year where he shot 59.4 percent at the line.

Then he averaged career-highs in points (11.4), assists (4.3), rebounds (2.9), field-goal percentage (49.8 percent) and three-point percentage (39.1 percent) — by far the best year of his career.

The hope and expectation is that Lowe, who shot just 37.6 percent overall and 26.6 percent from three while averaging 3.0 turnovers per contest, has a similar breakthrough in Pope’s offense and surrounded by Kentucky talent.

“We got to see a very similar transition from Lamont Butler,” Pope said of Lowe at UK Media Day. “He made huge strides, like almost inconceivable strides last year based on a little bit different but a similar trajectory.”

Little did we know, the overlaps would pop up in more ways than hoped almost right away. Butler, as fans remember all too well, was limited to 27 outings as a Wildcat due to ankle and shoulder injuries — and banged up a significant chunk of the games he did play. He was tough as nails, but couldn’t escape the bug. Now, Lowe is in the same boat, going down with a shoulder injury in the Blue-White Game before suiting up in a regulation contest, his status now temporarily up in the air. Pope said “he has improved so much in the last 48 hours, it’s really, really positive” on Monday while adding “we’ll kind of proceed with caution” in terms of a return — but is in “really good shape” overall.

Does that mean punting on the preseason to get ready for the opener vs. Nicholls State on November 4? Waiting until Louisville on Nov. 11? Earlier? Later? No matter how much time he misses, games have to be played and a replacement at PG1 must be found. Who will it be? KSR takes a look at the potential options against the Boilermakers at Rupp Arena on Friday and potentially beyond.

Denzel Aberdeen

The layup is the guy likely to start next to Lowe early in the season anyway, the sixth man on Florida’s national championship team who came to Kentucky in part looking for an expanded role. Aberdeen’s got experience playing on-ball — he arrived in Gainesville as a point guard — and stepped up to the challenge when his number was called as a starter, averaging 14.4 points while shooting 41.4 percent from three in five starts for the Gators. That stretch included outings of 22 points against South Carolina and 20 against Mississippi State.

“I think DA is very comfortable playing the one,” Pope said this summer.

He’s a winner at the highest level and has a championship ring to prove it. Aberdeen wakes up wanting to guard 94 feet and gets downhill with the best of them. Facilitiating may take a hit with just 80 career assists in 83 games played and we’d need better than his 1.4/1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio from last season, but he’s comfortable running the show.

Jasper Johnson

Could Kentucky’s blue-chip freshman be the next man up? Johnson has been getting extended run at point guard in recent weeks at practice and showed some of that off in the Blue-White Game, finishing with a team-high 10 points on 4-7 shooting and 2-3 from three while adding two rebounds and a steal. He’s mostly known for scoring in bunches as a catch-and-shoot guy and transition threat, but if you need him to play more on-ball with Lowe out, the Lexington native is ready.

“I’m very comfortable,” Johnson said. “I know he may go down, but we are a team. I know everybody’s willing to step up to that role. I know he’s a big part of our team right now, playing the one, being the head of our snake. … I know me — as well as the rest of my teammates — are all ready to step up and do whatever we need to do to get wins.”

His coach believes in him, too.

“Jasper Johnson, can’t tell you how proud I am of him,” Pope said at UK Media Day. “The intensity with which he’s trying to grow in places that might not have been his strengths, he is digging in on the defensive side and trying so hard to buy into what we’re telling him this game is going to demand of him this season. He’s doing an unbelievable job.”

Collin Chandler

Like Johnson, Chandler said recently he’s been playing spot minutes at point guard during practice. We got to see some of that during his freshman season with his confidence peaking entering postseason action a year ago. He was overwhelmed at times with some costly turnovers as he found his footing early, but finished as one of the team’s more reliable options with the Wildcats desperate for help in the backcourt.

Pope said that was a top priority for Chandler this summer.

“He’s made an incredible jump,” Pope said of the former top-40 recruit. “You know, one of the things that he was focused on this summer was his ball handling, his ability to get wherever he wanted to get and not have handling the ball slow him down from getting there. And he worked incredibly hard at it this entire summer. He’s made massive progress, like, it’s really stunning.”

Otega Oweh

Remember Kentucky’s get-Otega-the-ball-and-get-out-of-the-way offense at times last season? It led to a couple game-winners and plenty other ridiculous buckets on Oweh’s way to All-SEC honors, and now, expectations are even higher in his final season of college basketball as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year.

Pope said this summer he doesn’t expect the Wildcats to ever find themselves in a situation as tough as the one they were in late last year with Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa both out for the year and Butler hobbled. He built this roster to combat that.

“We’re in a little bit of a different scenario than we felt like we were in most of the season last year. We have so many capable options,” he said.

The first name out of Pope’s mouth when running through those options?

“Otega’s played some minutes at the one,” he said.

Interesting, right?

Mark Pope’s top choice? Anyone but Andrija Jelavic.

When asked about Lowe’s temporary replacement, Pope named essentially everyone on the roster as a capable option for the Wildcats — everyone but Jelavic, who has a no-dribble rule in Lexington.

He first brought up Aberdeen as the top option, then listed Johnson, Chandler and Oweh before getting carried away with the rest of the guys.

“We actually have a really fun group of guards,” Pope said Monday at the Kentucky Tip-off Luncheon in Louisville. “Denzel Aberdeen has been unbelievable for us at the point guard spot in the first three-and-a-half weeks of training camp. He’s been incredible. He’s a veteran, veteran player — and it’s not often you have a player on your team that was there as the horn sounded in a national championship win. He’s done it all, seen it all. He’s an incredible combo guard, probably more comfortable at the point than the two, so he’ll continue to be great there.

“Jasper Johnson has shown amazing acuity at the point. He’s growing so fast — it is hard for rookies. He’s always been a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous scorer, but he’s got this slippery vibe to him that you guys are going to love watching so much. He doesn’t have a huge physicality to his game, but he’s just so slippery.

“Collin Chandler is going to be a formidable force and Otega is convinced that he is the answer for us at the point — as well as all of our bigs. Malachi Moreno watched Amari (Williams) last year and says, ‘That’s what I should be doing!’ BG (Brandon Garrison) wants to step in those shoes. Andrija (Jelavic) knows he’s not allowed to dribble, he’s only allowed to shoot. He’s probably the only guy not vying for the point guard position as a backup right now.”

Mark Pope also went into detail about who the backup point guard could be, if Jaland Lowe needs to sit out for a few games.

Seems like Denzel Aberdeen is his top choice, but possibly every cat is vying for the spot… https://t.co/dMRqHFnFiA pic.twitter.com/hay537nJZK

— Sarandon Raboin (@sarandon_raboin) October 20, 2025

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Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like Kentucky will have to deal with this question for too long as Lowe makes his way back from the shoulder injury sooner rather than later.

It’s nice to have plenty of options, though.