Otega Oweh satisfied with Kentucky's performance vs. La Familia: 'We have a good group'

Life is a little bit different for Otega Oweh compared to last summer.

One of many new faces making up Mark Pope‘s first Kentucky roster as head coach, Oweh was still a relatively unknown rising junior this time last year on a roster filled with five-year veterans. But after an All-SEC Second Team finish in 2024-25 and even higher expectations going into 2025-26, Oweh is among the most popular faces roaming around Lexington. He was a walking celebrity at La Familia’s TBT games over the last several days, dozens upon dozens of fans lining up for the chance to snap a picture or snag an autograph.

On Wednesday afternoon, Oweh hosted his first youth basketball camp at the Sports Center complex in Lexington, KY. Over a hundred young campers had the chance to learn from him in group drills, and some even battled him in one-on-one situations — no easy buckets were allowed, of course. The kids weren’t afraid to talk some smack with him, either.

“They are (talking trash), which I like it though, because it turns me up,” Oweh, who spoke with local reporters during a break in his camp, said with a grin. “It’s all genuine, which is the whole part of this camp. They can see it on TV or maybe be at the game, but the live one-on-one interaction is what I loved and I know they’ll probably remember that.”

Here at Otega Oweh’s basketball camp in Lexington. Hundreds of kids in attendance, some getting the chance to play him 1-on-1.

We’ll get a quick interview with Otega in just a bit. pic.twitter.com/ahYmqBhQOb

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) July 23, 2025

Oweh is likely to be among the few preseason candidates for SEC Player of the Year as he inches closer to his senior college season. He turned down a chance to enter the NBA Draft for another shot at glory with the Wildcats and another opportunity to grow his game. After a Sweet 16 finish last season, Kentucky is expected to be even deeper and more talented this go around, Oweh leading the charge.

“I definitely feel more at ease, more familiar with stuff,” Oweh said about going into year two as a Wildcat. “But I’m still trying to keep that same intensity and hunger that I had coming in last year. You have to keep that if you want to keep on improving.”

Oweh and his teammates got their first taste of what this season’s squad will look like when they went head-to-head against La Familia last week in a closed scrimmage. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim reported at the time that Kentucky came out on top, and Oweh confirmed that with reporters.

“It was a great scrimmage, actually,” he said. “Real competitive throughout the whole game. We was going back-and-forth, great energy. Obviously we got the win, so it was definitely fun. We have a good group. That’s a team with a bunch of pros, we held our own, so it was really fun.”

Going up against La Familia was different for a couple of reasons. One, it was the first time Kentucky played someone other than themselves since summer practice began over a month ago. And two, La Familia is made up of professional hoopers, some with over a decade of post-college experience under their belts. That’s not quite the same as going up against another SEC team.

“It’s different because these are guys that played at the highest level, so they think the game more than using a lot of energy,” Oweh said. “They just find ways where they can outsmart you. You can’t play the similar kind of game that you play in college. We have our principles that we stand on, but they’re smarter so it’s definitely different. But we want to be at that level so you have to adjust.”

Early reports out of that scrimmage have been kind to the current Wildcats. Pope would love the chance to do something similar every week. Unfortunately, that’s not the case right now, but it at least gave him and his staff something different to work with as they begin to wind down summer practices ahead of the season-opener in November.

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