Otega Oweh, Jaland Lowe named preseason candidates for Naismith Men’s Player of the Year
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Otega Oweh and Jaland Lowe named preseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year (Photo via UK Athletics)
Otega Oweh and Jaland Lowe named preseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year (Photo via UK Athletics)
Naismith Men’s Co-Player of the Year Award winners Otega Oweh and Jaland Lowe? Big Blue Nation loves the sound of that — we’re always down for making history in Lexington. It’s never been done before, but why not now with both Kentucky Wildcats being named preseason candidates for the prestigious honor?
The Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy preseason watch list for the 2025-26 Naismith Trophy Player of the Year was announced on Monday, Oweh and Lowe included in the list of 50 players entering the year.
The list of accolades is long for both players, Oweh being tapped to the NABC Division I Player of the Year Award Watch List to go with being named Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year by both the media and the league’s coaches. He also earned preseason All-America distinction by CBS, Blue Ribbon, The Field of 68 and ESPN’s Jay Bilas along with joining the Preseason Watch List for the Jerry West Award, which recognizes the top shooting guard in college basketball. As for Lowe, he is a preseason All-SEC selection and a preseason honoree for the Bob Cousy Award, which honors the nation’s top point guard.
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Oweh led the Wildcats in scoring last season at 16.2 points per game with 33 double-digit finishes — including 26 straight to start the season. He 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) en route to second-team All-SEC honors.
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As for Lowe, he was named to the NABC Second Team All-District and was a third-team All-ACC performer as a sophomore at Pitt after leading the team with 16.8 points per game while adding 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
What’s next for the Wildcat duo? History as the first-ever Naismith Men’s Co-Players of the Year.
In all seriousness, it’s a big-time honor only 11 other schools can claim outside of Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. Well-deserved for the backcourt standouts.
2026 Naismith Trophy Player of the Year – Preseason Watch List
Darius Acuff Jr. Freshman Guard Arkansas
Nate Ament Freshman Forward Tennessee
Robbie Avila Senior Center St. Louis
Solo Ball Junior Guard UConn
Nate Bittle Senior Center Oregon
John Blackwell Junior Guard Wisconsin
Cameron Boozer Freshman Forward Duke
Mikel Brown Jr. Freshman Guard Louisville
Markus Burton Junior Guard Notre Dame
Alex Condon Junior Forward/Center Florida
Ryan Conwell Senior Guard Louisville
Donovan Dent Senior Guard UCLA
Tucker DeVries Senior Forward Indiana
Josh Dix Senior Guard Creighton
A.J. Dybantsa Freshman Forward BYU
Zuby Ejiofor Senior Forward St. John’s
Isaiah Evans Sophomore Guard/Forward Duke
Boogie Fland Sophomore Guard Florida
Ja’Kobi Gillespie Senior Guard Tennessee
P.J. Haggerty Junior Guard Kansas State
Thomas Haugh Junior Forward Florida
Bryce Hopkins Graduate Student Forward/Guard St. John’s
Josh Hubbard Junior Guard Mississippi State
Graham Ike Graduate Student Forward Gonzaga
Tomislav Ivišić Junior Center Illinois
Ian Jackson Sophomore Guard St. John’s
Alex Karaban Senior Forward UConn
Trey Kaufman-Renn Senior Forward Purdue
Xaivian Lee Senior Guard Florida
Yaxel Lendeborg Graduate Student Forward Michigan
Tamin Lipsey Senior Guard Iowa State
Jaland Lowe Junior Guard Kentucky
Nick Martinelli Senior Forward Northwestern
Otega Oweh Senior Guard Kentucky
Koa Peat Freshman Forward Arizona
Darryn Peterson Freshman Guard Kansas
Tahaad Pettiford Sophomore Guard Auburn
Labaron Philon Jr. Sophomore Guard Alabama
Richie Saunders Senior Forward BYU
Emanuel Sharp Senior Guard Houston
Jackson Shelstad Junior Guard Oregon
Braden Smith Senior Guard Purdue
Bennett Stirtz Senior Guard Iowa
Andrej Stojaković Junior Guard Illinois
Bruce Thornton Senior Guard Ohio State
JT Toppin Junior Forward Texas Tech
Joseph Tugler Junior Forward Houston
Milos Uzan Senior Guard Houston
Darrion Williams Senior Forward NC State
Caleb Wilson Freshman Forward North Carolina
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