Kentucky's Otega Oweh Named to Oscar Robertson Trophy Watchlist, While Jasper Johnson Named Freshman of the Year Candidate

It’s still Monday, and Otega Oweh continues to rack up the preseason awards. Just hours after being named a candidate for the Naismith Men’s Player of the Year, Oweh was named to the preseason watchlist for the 2025-26 Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Oweh, the 6-foot-4 senior guard, was named among the 50 players to watch for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which honors the top men’s college basketball player at the conclusion of every season. He is the only Kentucky player on the list.

“The USBWA is excited to reveal its first Watch List for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which honors the nation’s top men’s college basketball player at the conclusion of every season,” said 2025-26 USBWA President Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. “Our list is stacked with proven talent, returning All-Americans and glitzy freshmen. On the whole, this could be as talented a group of players as we’ve seen in the past five-plus years in college hoops. The voting was done by the USBWA’s 2025-26 board, and our next Watch List will publish in January.”

You can find the full preseason watchlist below:

2025-26 OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (50)
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas	Graham Ike, Gonzaga
Nate Ament, Tennessee	Tomislac Ivišić, Illinois
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech	Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Robbie Avila, Saint Louis	Alex Karaban, UConn
Solo Ball, UConn	Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue
Myles Bird, San Diego State	Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Nate Bittle, Oregon	Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
John Blackwell, Wisconsin	Nick Martinelli, Northwestern
Jaden Bradley, Arizona	Mark Mitchell, Missouri
Markus Burton, Notre Dame	Otega Oweh, Kentucky
Cameron Boozer, Duke	Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville	Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
Alex Condon, Florida	Labaron Philon, Alabama
Ryan Conwell, Louisville	Tarris Reed Jr., UConn
Donovan Dent, UCLA	Richie Saunders BYU
Tucker DeVries, Indiana	Emanuel Sharp, Houston
AJ Dybantsa, BYU	Jackson Shelstad, Oregon
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s	Braden Smith, Purdue
Mason Falslev, Utah State	Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Boogie Fland, Florida	Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tenneseee	JT Toppin, Texas Tech
PJ Haggerty, Kansas State	Joseph Tugler, Houston
Thomas Haugh, Florida	Milos Uzan, Houston
Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s	Darrion Williams, NC State
Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State	Caleb Wilson, North Carolina

Kentucky’s Jasper Johnson Named to Freshmen Watchlist

Otega Oweh wasn’t the only Kentucky player to earn preseason honors on Monday. Kentucky guard Jasper Johnson was named to the USBWA 2025-26 Wayman Tisdale Award Preseason Watchlist.

The Wayman Tisdale Award has named the nation’s men’s freshman player of the year. Johnson was the one Kentucky player to make the list.

“The Waman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award could be in for a phenomenal race,” said 2025-26 USBWA President Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. “In some years, finding 25 freshmen to fill out a Watch List at the start of the season proves a little difficult due to uncertainty with impact and playing time. Not this year. This is as loaded of a list as we’ve ever had heading into a season. The USBWA is proud to reveal our first Watch List for 2025-26 and eager to see which newcomers show out and uplift the sport in the months to come.”

2025-26 WAYMAN TISDALE AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST (25)
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas	Jasper Johnson, Kentucky
Nate Ament, Tennessee	Nik Khamenia, Duke
Neoklis Avdalas, Virginia Tech	Acaden Lewis, Villanova
Cameron Boozer, Duke	Trey McKenney, Michigan
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville	Kayden Mingo, Penn State
Brayden Burries, Arizona	Braylon Mullins, UConn
Chris Cenac Jr., Houston	Koa Peat, Arizona
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia	Darryn Peterson, Kansas
AJ Dybantsa, BYU	Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Kingston Flemings, Houston	Sadiq White Jr., Syracuse
Isaiah Harwell, Houston	Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
Shelton Henderson, Miami	Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
CJ Ingram, Florida