Sporting News Tabs Otega Oweh Preseason First Team All-America
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Otega Oweh has been named to The Sporting News’ preseason All-America First Team, it was announced on Monday.
The Sporting News joins CBS, ESPN and Blue Ribbon as major outlets to feature Oweh, Kentucky’s leading scorer a year ago, on their All-America teams ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Oweh is accompanied by Braden Smith (Purdue), JT Toppin (Texas Tech), Darryn Peterson (Kansas) and AJ Dybansta (BYU) on the first team.
The Newark, New Jersey native was also selected to the watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, the Oscar Robertson Trophy, NABC Player of the Year and the Jerry West Award. He was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year in the Southeastern Conference by both the coaches and media.
Oweh enjoyed a breakout season in his first year with the Blue and White. He led the Cats in scoring at 16.2 points per game and began the year by topping double figures in each of the first 26 contests and 33 overall. The Newark, New Jersey native set career-best marks in points per game, rebounds per game (4.7), assists per game (1.7), steals per game (1.6), blocks per game (0.5) and free-throw percentage (.776). In addition to his offensive prowess, Oweh also led the Cats in steals with 57 on the season.
Oweh was a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District First Team honoree, and an All-SEC Second Team pick a season ago. Included in his breakout junior campaign, he became a 1,000-point scorer during the SEC Tournament and he became the first player this century to hit two game-winning shots against the same team (Oklahoma on the road and in the SEC Tournament).
Through two games this season, Oweh is averaging 14.0 points on 52.6 percent shooting to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per outing.
Kentucky takes on rival Louisville Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET inside the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be shown on ESPN.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
