Otega Oweh shares real haircut story of return announcement to Kentucky

Otega Oweh has, in fact, heard the conspiracy theories about his return announcement. The Kentucky star cut his hair right before testing the waters, sharing the new look on April 21 as he started the process of working out for teams and participating in the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. He kept his name in all the way up until May 28, pulling out just a few hours short of the midnight withdrawal deadline. His announcement was paired with a video, captioned, “I’m Back Better Now.”

In it, he talked about the family he found in Lexington and desire to stay home, sitting in a chair at the Joe Craft Center — still with his long hair, an obvious sign the video was filmed before he started the draft process.

“This year exceeded all of my expectations,” Oweh 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.”

"Let's run it back. I'm staying home." – @OtegaOweh pic.twitter.com/3KtsirlOuf

— KSR (@KSRonX) May 28, 2025

Did he know from the beginning he was returning to Kentucky? Were there multiple videos, one announcing he was back and another announcing his departure?

The All-SEC guard shared the real story behind his return video with KSR on Tuesday.

“I want to say I came back from vacation, and like two days after, I started my pre-draft training,” Oweh explained. “Our video guy, I don’t think he’s here anymore, so he wanted to just do one last little piece, just in case. Now I’m back, so I needed that video, really. It was good for him — he said, ‘we should just shoot one, just in case you do decide to come back. If you don’t, it’s okay.’ That was a just-in-case type of thing.”

So what about the other side of that just-in-case? Did he film another with a goodbye message to Big Blue Nation, thanking Kentucky for his time in Lexington as he pushes toward his NBA dreams?

Fortunately, he never needed to put one together.

“No, I didn’t,” he told KSR. “I did not film a goodbye video [laughs].”

As for the haircut itself leading to the initial speculation, Oweh said it was both a personal choice to switch things up while also acknowledging that comes with a new beginning of sorts. Taking over as the veteran leader and roster anchor at Kentucky in his final season of college basketball, he wanted a different look.

Oh, and maybe it’ll make him a little lighter on his feet as he looks to run faster and jump higher. Every little bit helps, right?

“Just a hairstyle — well, actually, it was both. I wanted to just try something new, kind of a new era thing,” Oweh said. “I had dreads for like four years, and I’ll probably grow them back, but I just wanted to try something new. … It’s a new era, man. Just gotta try something new. I might jump a little higher now, be a little faster. We’ll see.”

Brandon Garrison had to see it to believe it when Oweh first tossed around the idea of cutting his hair.

“After the season, he told us he was gonna cut it, but I’m like, ‘he’s just chatting,'” he joked. “But when he had called me when he cut it, I was like, ‘ah nah.’ I didn’t believe him, but he did it.”

They’re physically gone, but after spending the last several years growing them out, he’s holding on to them as a keepsake.

“I still got them, actually. They’re never going away,” he said. “Those are my babies, but I gotta change it up.”

Oweh doesn’t need to change up too much in year two as a Wildcat — year one was already pretty darn special. If that’s the difference in a championship, though, I’m sure BBN will be happy with the new look.