'In a really selfish way,' Mark Pope wanted Otega Oweh back as a mentor and 'help us win a ton of games'

Otega Oweh appreciated the space Mark Pope gave him during the draft process, letting him travel state to state for workouts and interviews with teams without lighting his phone up. The All-SEC guard knew he had a home at Kentucky, and if his heart called him back to Lexington as a Wildcat, his head coach would welcome him back with open arms.

“Bombarding me with calls and texts, that’s not really his thing,” Oweh told KSR. “He would check up on me and come to my workouts — all of the coaches and staff did, actually. … Just to see how things were going.”

That space and patience paid off, Oweh ultimately returning for his senior year at Kentucky just hours ahead of the withdrawal deadline — even though, “being honest, almost like three days before or maybe two days before, I already knew what it was, so I was just waiting for the last workout to tell him.”

He called Pope on the plane and nearly got him thrown off, then shed a few tears with him. Then he told the most passionate fanbase in college basketball, saying he was “Back Better Now” — a play on words for BBN.

“It was just a cool little message,” he said. “I was thinking about it, and it just popped up. It was kind of symbolic to what I wanted this year to be. I want to take that jump. I had a good year last year, but I want to get better and continue to improve. And then on top of that, just hoping BBN embraces me.”

Oweh certainly doesn’t have anything to worry about there — and Pope feels the same way. In his first public comments since the star guard’s return to Kentucky, he told KSR that while he would have supported his decision to turn pro, he’s selfishly grateful Oweh wanted to run it back in Lexington to see the process through as the team’s leader and glue holding everything together.

A breakout star in year one, he can now show his teammates how the face of the SEC and potentially all of college basketball should look and act. He can carry himself as the guy after finding his footing and voice this time last summer.

It’s exactly what the locker room needed.

“In a really selfish way, it’s such a gift to be able to kind of mentor these guys through this growing process,” Pope said. “To have another year to watch him continue growing? He’s gonna face new and different challenges this year. He’s coming in as a marked man, right? And with a ton of leadership responsibility on his shoulders.”

Not many coaches get the chance to bring back an All-SEC talent for one final season of eligibility. Pope understands the opportunity he has in year two for both of them together in 2025-26.

“To get to witness him grow through this next step in his evolution is a gift. That’s the best part,” he told KSR. “He’s going to grow — he’s going to grow exponentially again, and he’s going to help us win a ton of games. He’s going to play great basketball and he’s going to put himself in even better position to be a pro.

“Being able to watch that up close and be a part of that? That’s the best part.”