Most fans assumed that because guard **[Otega Oweh](https://247sports.com/Player/Otega-Oweh-46101527)** had pre-recorded a video announcing his return to Kentucky a month or so in advance and the fact that he wasn't included on most of the major mock drafts, that it was an easy decision to pull out of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Not so fast, says Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, who says it may have been a lot closer than most realize.
"Otega Oweh had an interesting process because if we were talking a month ago, I would have told you he's going to go through this process and wind up back in Lexington and that's what happened," Norlander said. "But, really, along the way, he wound up getting even more encouraging feedback, probably what he was hoping to get but not assured of and it wound up being a pretty difficult decision overall."
Oweh, who worked out for a number of NBA teams and also had a solid showing at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, withdrew from the 2025 NBA Draft just hours ahead of the 11:59 PM ET deadline on Wednesday. He was widely considered a fringe second round pick.
Norlander says that in this instance, NIL did what it was designed, in part, to do and that's keep the best college players who aren't quite ready for the NBA in college.
"I'm told Oweh will be paid quite handsomely, as you might expect, he was Kentucky's best player. That is one of the wealthier programs in college basketball," Norlander said. "He has a huge NIL bag waiting for him."
By Oweh returning, Norlander says he thinks this cements Mark Pope and the Wildcats, who signed a top-5 transfer portal class for the second straight offseason, as a preseason top 10 team and one of the top teams in another loaded SEC.
"By returning, I think Kentucky now has a top 10 case heading into next season and is an SEC contender in the conversation with the likes of Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas," Norlander said. "Oweh is the head of the snake, most important player on that team, add him to a loaded roster, that was big."
Oweh led the Wildcats in minutes played, starts, points scored, free throws made and attempted, and steals last season.
The Second Team All-SEC selection averaged a team-high 16.2 points to go along with 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals while starting all 36 games for the Wildcats this season.
Oweh, a transfer from Oklahoma, scored in double figures in 33 of 36 games with 13 games of 20 points or more, including a career-high 28 points and the game-winner against the Sooners in Norman. He also scored 27 points and beat his former team at the buzzer in the SEC Tournament.
In a 76-57 win over Troy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Oweh became the first UK player since Walter McCarty in 1996 with 20+ points, 8+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
Among Kentucky transfers, only Antonio Reeves (667 points in 2023-24) and national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe (590 points in 2021-22) scored more points in a season than Oweh's 584 points this season.
Upon leaving Oklahoma last offseason, Oweh was ranked as the No. 31 overall transfer in the portal by 247Sports. In 247Sports' final re-rank of the 2024 portal class, Oweh finished No. 7 overall.