No Football for Otega Oweh But he Does Like Physical Play

Otega Oweh, right. (UK Athletics Photo)

Odafe Oweh is a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens who played for Penn State and was a first-round draft pick in 2021. However, his younger brother, Otega Oweh, went a different direction and is a junior basketball player at Kentucky.

“I did play football. My whole family played and then we all switched to basketball before he (Odafe) switched back to football,” Oweh, a New Jersey native, said. “So it was a basketball family for the longest time.”

The UK freshman admits his brothers would “rough him up” in football but noted they were both really good players. Middle brother Kaylen Oweh is a senior football player at Monmouth University.

“I was a running back but once you get to high school, that’s when everyone really starts taking football seriously and I just didn’t want to get hit any more because that is the position they really target,” Oweh said.

He still likes football and recently went to Cincinnati to watch his brother and the Ravens beat the Bengals.

“I don’t get to go to a lot of games so being there and in that element with him was great. And to get the win, too, just made it even better,” Oweh said.

Oweh played two years at Oklahoma and said his brother “came to a couple of games” to watch him play.

“That’s big for me too because he’s in season, and he has his own thing going on. He definitely comes to try and support me all he can and when he does, it’s always great,” Oweh said.

Oweh made 28 starts at Oklahoma last year and averaged 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 49.3 percent overall from the field. He played in 28 games with nine starts his freshman year and had four double-figure scoring games while averaging 4.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He was a four-star prospect in high school and consensus top 100 player.

Even though he didn’t like the contact in football, he describes himself as a “physical” basketball player.

“I like the physicalness. I’m definitely trying to be out there and just be as aggressive as I can. You know, just be a dog,” Oweh, who likes to pray before each game, said.

He also likes to play fast, one reason he was intrigued by Mark Pope’s offense.

“Coach Pope always preaches we’re trying to get up the floor. He likes when we pass and we run fast. So this has been great,” Oweh said. “ It just continues to instill confidence in us. A lot of times when you’re at other programs when you miss a couple shots, you kind of get down on yourself. But he’s encouraging you to keep on being confident, keep on shooting, trust in your work that you do because the head coach trusts you. I would say it’s definitely a change from most places, but that’s a great change.”

Kentucky’s media guide has John Wall listed as Oweh’s favorite UK player. He played at UK in the 2009-10 season. That was 15 years ago.

“He’s definitely top two or three for me among UK players,” Oweh said. “I wasn’t really watching him play games when I was little but would see him on highlights. I watched all of them because he was so good.”

Oweh believes he could produce athletic highlights like Wall did.

“I’m pretty athletic as well, so I think I could. I got some good highlights but I’m really trying to master that Dougie dance that he got going on. I’m working on that,” Oweh said.

The UK junior has never met Wall but did exchange social media messages with him.

“When I was at Peach Jam, he was there. I had a good game and he reached out to tell me that. Now it has kind of come full circle that I am playing at the school where he did,” Oweh said.