National media expects Kentucky's Otega Oweh to return for senior season

Otega Oweh isn’t done going through the NBA Draft process just yet, but the consensus — right now, at least — from folks in the national media is the All-SEC guard will return to Kentucky for his senior campaign in 2025-26.

Oweh has until May 28 to make his stay-or-go decision. The NBA Draft Combine in Chicago officially ends this Sunday, and Oweh has more workouts scheduled after that, according to the Herald-Leader’s Ben Roberts, but the expectation remains that Oweh will ultimately come back to college. Not long after Oweh wrapped up his second and final Combine scrimmage on Thursday, noise of a return has grown louder.

“I think he is coming back to Lexington,” Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 said.

“Otega Oweh, to me, I think he comes back,” Aaron Torres of Fox Sports Radio said. “And when he does, I think Kentucky is a legitimate top five to top 10, and a team that is good enough to compete for a national championship.”

“It sounds like the momentum has him going back to Kentucky,” 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein said.

Oweh was productive during his two Combine scrimmages earlier this week. He went for 10 points (4-8 FG; 2-2 FT), three assists, three rebounds, two steals, one block, and one turnover in 21 minutes on Wednesday. He followed that up by recording 14 points (4-8 FG, 1-1 3PT, 5-6 FT), five rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one turnover in 26 minutes on Thursday.

While he certainly looked like an NBA-caliber player, he didn’t exactly show off anything in his game that the scouts didn’t already know about. His outside shooting and playmaking are among the skills NBA personnel want to see a significant jump in. They would also like to see his conditioning take another leap forward. Another year in college can help make that happen. Oweh’s name is not currently mentioned in any major NBA mock drafts.

Then there’s also the money aspect of all this. During Thursday’s Combine scrimmage, ESPN’s Bobby Marks spent a couple of minutes talking about the financial decision Oweh would be making by turning down another season at Kentucky.

“If he wants to play in the league, there will be a role for him,” Marks said. “However, there’s a big however, he’s going to give up significant amount of money. A two-way contract is roughly $600,000. A second-round pick exception contract is $1.2 million. He’s going to get more by going back to Kentucky. That’s generational money, he’ll basically be chasing what he gave up at Kentucky for the next three years.”

Oweh could, in theory, announce his decision at any point over the next 12 days. But for right now, we just have to sit back and wait.