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Otega Oweh announces return to Kentucky: "I'm staying home."

Jack PIlgrimby: Jack Pilgrim05/29/25
Otega Oweh game winner vs Oklahoma, via Dr. Michael Huang, KSR
Otega Oweh game winner vs Oklahoma, via Dr. Michael Huang, KSR

Otega Oweh waited until the draft withdrawal deadline to announce his decision — but there wasn’t much suspense regarding the choice itself. A return to Kentucky has been assumed since he first decided to test the waters, and now, it’s official: Tega-Tron is BACK.

The team’s leading scorer from Mark Pope’s debut season announced his return to Lexington on Wednesday, an easy decision if you ask Oweh himself.

“This year exceeded all of my expectations,” he said. “Through all the highs and the lows, I’ve found a family in Kentucky forever. So let’s run it back, I’m staying home.”

Why did he choose to run it back in blue and white? NBA teams told him they liked him, but felt he needed one more season before making the jump. Combine that with his desire to win a championship at Kentucky and it made too much sense to come back.

“I got great feedback from NBA teams, but the consensus was to come back to school and have a great year,” Oweh told ESPN. “I want to try and up my stock even more, and put myself in a position to win a national championship with all the possible accolades that come with that.

“We have the talent to be the No. 1 team in the country. A lot of guys who are hungry to make that jump, and that intensity to go get national championship No. 9 for Kentucky. I’m excited to play with everyone. It will be a fun year.”

An interesting note on Oweh’s return announcement: it was filmed pre-haircut, which we learned about for the first time way back on April 21. That means he went through the entire draft process with a shaved head knowing he’d be coming back to Kentucky when it was all said and done.

Over a full month with that video in his back pocket, just waiting for the right time to drop the big news.

No matter how long it’s been known behind the scenes, his coaches and teammates were excited to see it be made official on Wednesday.

If you ask the man himself, he was certainly excited to get the big news off his chest, sharing a Wolf of Wall Street clip on his Instagram story — yes, that Wolf of Wall Street clip.

“I’m not ******* leaving.”

Welcome back, Tega-Tron.

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2025-08-02