Otega Oweh’s production hasn’t completely fallen off a cliff, but it also isn’t close to what Kentucky expected when he returned as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year. Through five games, he’s been fine — averaging 12.8 points on 43/29/88 splits with 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists — but fine doesn’t win you the SEC, and fine doesn’t lead a Final Four run.
Against the only two real opponents on the schedule so far, things looked much worse.
In the losses to Louisville and Michigan State, Oweh shot a combined 8–25 from the field and 3–11 from deep while turning it over six times. The player Kentucky needed to be its engine has instead looked rusty, hesitant, and nowhere near the dominant force he was projected to be.
The Wildcats’ effort problem has reached the top
Kentucky’s 3–2 start has been marred by poor body language, shaky effort, and two blowouts on national stages. Whether the lack of effort caused the losses or the losses created the lack of effort no longer matters — both issues are dragging the team down.
And Oweh, the face of the program, has reflected that inconsistency.
After the Michigan State defeat, he said the team must respond.
> “Coach Pope always talks about responding when adversity hits,” Oweh said. “Our adversity hit right now, and that’s something we’re going to figure out for sure.”
Mark Pope previously blamed the Louisville collapse on a vague “pregame experience,” but offered no details. Against Michigan State in Madison Square Garden, Oweh insisted Kentucky was prepared — but admitted execution and intensity didn’t follow.
> “We prepped very well. I think we just didn’t go out and execute,” he said. “We have to have higher emotion, higher intensity when we’re in a game setting.”
The confession that shocked Big Blue Nation
The most troubling part of Oweh’s comments came when he described what he personally needs to fix.
> “With me it’s just a matter of me playing hard, having effort, 100 percent.”
Effort?
Not shooting.
Not comfort.
Not chemistry.
Effort.
For the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year — in Madison Square Garden — after a humiliating loss the week before — that admission stunned Kentucky fans.
If your team leader needs to remind himself to play hard, something is deeply wrong.
The disconnect between Oweh’s role and his play
Instead of anchoring Kentucky with physicality and downhill aggression, Oweh has looked like a player trying to impress NBA scouts rather than a guy trying to win college basketball games. The junkyard dog mentality that made him a star at Oklahoma and early on at Kentucky has disappeared.
While Pope didn’t name him directly, his postgame message felt pointed:
“Your identity is about a collective group, not an individual person.”
Right now, Kentucky’s identity looks fractured — and the Wildcats’ top player is contributing to that fracture.
Kentucky doesn’t need a hero — it needs a heartbeat
The Wildcats don’t need Oweh to score 25 a night. They don’t need him to hit every shot.
They need him to set the tone.
To compete.
To bring force and fire when things go sideways.
Effort is the one thing a star should never be searching for. And until Oweh finds his again, Kentucky will keep drifting right with him.
Because when the preseason SEC Player of the Year admits effort is the issue, it tells you everything you need to know about where Kentucky stands right now.
