Jaland Lowe considered one of the nation's top 20 point guards going into 2025-26 season

Jaland Lowe is on the mend right now, but the national expectation is he’ll be among the country’s best point guards once he returns to full health.

On Monday afternoon, Lowe was one of 20 floor generals named to the 2026 Bob Cousy Award watch list, which goes to the top point guard in college hoops, ahead of the 2025-26 season. The Pitt transfer, who is currently sidelined with an injury to his non-shooting shoulder, received preseason All-SEC Third Team honors earlier this month.

Lowe is among the seven SEC point guards who cracked this watch list, joining Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr., Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, Florida’s Boogie Fland, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard, and Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie. Other notable names, such as Louisville’s Mikel Brown, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Purdue’s Braden Smith, and UCLA’s Donovan Dent, also made the cut.

Former Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis is the only Wildcat to win the Bob Cousy Award, which he did in 2016.

.@jalandlowe is on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List.

📰🔗 https://t.co/BhSvkDBdqA pic.twitter.com/CcQRdgnF5E

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) October 27, 2025

During his sophomore campaign at Pitt in 2024-25, Lowe averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 35.4 minutes per outing. He was named All-ACC Third Team for his efforts, although his shooting percentages (37.6 from the field, 26.6 percent from deep) left something to be desired. That being said, the talk throughout the offseason has been that Lowe’s shooting has come along nicely, in part because he is surrounded by much more talent and isn’t relied upon as heavily to force up bad looks.

But right now, the only news that matters is getting Lowe back on the floor. He suffered his shoulder injury on Oct. 17 during the Blue-White Game and did not play during Kentucky’s 78-65 exhibition win over top-ranked Purdue this past Friday. His status for Thursday’s final exhibition against Georgetown (7:00 p.m. ET | SEC Network+) remains up in the air.

Don’t expect Lowe to be the only Wildcat on a watch list this week, either. Every day through Friday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will release preseason watch lists for all five positions. Monday was for the point guards. Tuesday will be for the shooting guards. And so on. Otega Oweh, the Preseason SEC Player of the Year, will assuredly find his name on one of the upcoming watch lists. More UK players could join them between now and the end of the week.

You can even help Lowe and his teammates win these awards by the end of the season. Fans are encouraged to participate in voting in each of the three rounds for the Naismith awards. In late January, all of the lists will be narrowed down to 10 players, which will be trimmed to five in February. Winners will be announced on a later date.

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