It’s sad to say goodbye to a superstar, a player who always had the ball in his hands when the clock ticked away, created countless memories and who’s name will always carry weight in any given conversation.

That superstar is Kentucky’s Otega Oweh, with his dream to play professional basketball coming true on the night of Wednesday, June 24. 

Selected with the No. 41 overall pick, the Miami Heat originally had rights to Oweh but would quickly move him to the Oklahoma City Thunder via trade.

The New Jersey native was a standout player in the NBA Combine in May, leaving behind an impressive body of work at Kentucky with 1,255 career points as a Wildcat. Oweh will more than likely be a two-player under league contract, but members of the Big Blue Nation know very well that he’s the type of personality to fight his way to the top.

Joining former Wildcats Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace, Oweh will now be the third member of the team to go from the bluegrass to the bright lights of the NBA.

The 6-foot-5 guard is now Mark Pope’s fourth draft pick ever, joining teammates Koby Brea (No. 41, Suns, 2025), Amari Williams (No. 46, Celtics, 2025) and Jayden Quaintance (No. 20, Spurs, 2026). 

The Kentucky basketball team started practicing earlier this month, and one of the biggest surprise performers thus far has been James Madison transfer Justin McBride. One reason for that is the offseason work he has put in before arriving in Lexington.

McBride, who previously played for Oklahoma State, Nevada, and most recently, James Madison, is listed at 6’8 and 250 pounds on Kentucky’s roster list. Those listed numbers are bigger than any of his previous stops, but he is currently in the best shape of his career.

According to one source, McBride has lost 10-12 pounds of fat from his top playing weight at James Madison. That has allowed him to be more mobile in practice, a pleasant surprise to what the staff was expecting of him coming in.

Mark Pope had a comparison for McBride in a ‘Mark Pope vs. the Shot Clock’ segment on UK Sports Network.

“Julius Randle vibes, seriously,” Pope said.

Randle was the SEC Rookie of the Year and an All-American in his one season at Kentucky, so high praise for McBride. However, Pope is not comparing McBride to Randle in terms of talent, but in terms of style.

McBride grades excellent as a catch-and-shoot guy in analytics, shooting 40% from deep last season, an ability that Randle has shown in the NBA. Also similar to Randle, he can use his size to get to his spots in the paint and muscle his way for a rebound.

Having a bully-ball kind of player, who is also efficient from three-point range, is a welcome addition for a Kentucky program that has struggled with physicality in recent seasons.

Mark Pope vs. the Shot Clock ⏱️

Meet your 2026 @KentuckyMBB team in 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/NLexvGpySl— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) June 23, 2026

Also posted on A Sea of Blue.

It’s every kids dream to play professionally one day, let alone be able to play for the University of Kentucky on the way to the next level. 

Although Jayden Quaintance’s time with the Wildcats ended anticlimactically, his NBA dreams have officially come true at just 18 years old. 

The Cleveland, Ohio native began his collegiate career with the Arizona State Sun Devils, starting in all 24 games he played in. Before his unfortunate knee injury, Quaintance was good for nearly a nightly double-double, averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game to go along with 2.6 blocks a night. 

He would transfer to Kentucky ahead of his sophomore season, making his first appearance on Dec. 20 against St. John’s. Finishing the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, many members of the Big Blue Nation were confident that their superstar had finally debuted. 

Only appearing in three more games for the 2025-26 season, it was quite clear that his eyes were set on playing at the next level, not taking any chances of another injury. 

Selecting Quaintance with the No. 20 overall pick, the Spurs have now added on to their elite front court and will likely utilize him as a two-way player. They drafted UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. just six picks later, proving that they plan to utilize some form of paint beast to go alongside superstar Victor Wembanyama.

Quaintance is Mark Pope’s first first-round pick in the NBA Draft ever, following Koby Brea and Amari Williams from Pope’s first season in the bluegrass, who both went early in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.