Otega Oweh mentioned the 'P-word' during his interview with The Field of 68

There won’t be many, if any at all, teams in all of college basketball next season with a deeper roster than what Mark Pope has built in Lexington.

After injuries plagued the Wildcats in Pope’s debut season as head coach, he crafted a team with a built-in safety net: plenty of depth. Kentucky has 13 — maybe even 14, depending on the day — guys on the 2025-26 roster that could legitimately play real minutes this coming season. Obviously, some are higher in the pecking order than others, but if injuries once again become an issue, there will be a bench full of talented players ready to step up.

Otega Oweh, who sits at the very top of Kentucky’s rotation and is the likely SEC Preseason Player of the Year, is already picturing a scenario where the Wildcats can substitute five players at a time. Yes, for those wondering, he mentioned the possibility of doing something we haven’t seen in a while: platooning.

“We’re super deep. We can do a platoon sub,” Oweh said during his interview with The Field of 68 on Tuesday. “We can go from one all the way to 13. We’re super deep. The guys are hungry, everyone has a chip on their shoulder. Individually, if you go down the line, everyone has something to prove this year. I feel like when you have a team like that, that’s a great recipe.”

Some members of the Big Blue Nation with memories of the last decade will have war flashbacks hearing the word “platoon” resurface. John Calipari‘s 2014-15 Kentucky team famously subbed out five players at a time, which led to a perfect 38-0 record before finally unraveling in the Final Four against Wisconsin. Some will argue that the platoon system ultimately led to Kentucky’s undoing, but there’s no denying that team wasn’t among the best we’ve ever seen in college hoops, even if the ending was unsatisfactory.

The 2025-26 Kentucky team certainly has the personnel to roll out a five-man substitution pattern. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, who was interviewing Oweh, mentioned that, despite Trent Noah being the team’s best pure shooter, there will be games he might not even see the floor — that’s how deep this group can go.

Pope even said himself that he wants to take advantage of his team’s depth by playing as fast as possible, which could naturally lead to more subs. He wants to stack up as many double-digit scorers as the game will allow. Does that mean subbing an entire starting five at once to filter in more guys? My guess would be no, but there were times last season when he subbed three guys in and out at once. Perhaps he gets to four- or even five-man substitutions if the situation calls for it.

“We’re gonna play really fast,” Pope said on The Field of 68. “We’re gonna squeeze a boatload of possessions into the game. Last year we were one of two teams in the entire country that had six players averaging double-figures. Only two teams did that last year. And we’re gonna try to up the ante. We’re gonna try to get to seven or eight guys averaging double-figures. Why not?”

That feels like a tough task to accomplish. Kentucky’s ’14-15 squad only had three score Wildcats in double-figures while eight saw more than 20 minutes per game. That team was a defensive-minded juggernaut. Pope wants to see how he can stretch the game offensively with a deep roster of his own.

“There is so much of this game that still remains to be unlocked by college coaches and college teams, and we’re trying to go search for it,” Pope added. “We’re trying to push the envelope, push the envelope, push the envelope. And I think we have the guys to do it.”

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