Otega Oweh (Vicky Graff Photo)
On Sunday, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury that will require surgery and force him to maybe miss three months this season.
Otega Oweh, Kentucky’s leading scorer for coach Mark Pope last season, confirmed on Tuesday during an interview with Jeff Goodman on The Field of 68 that he also had a turf toe injury that forced him to miss some summer workouts.
“I’ve been out for like four weeks. I’m like two weeks in for me to get back onto the court. It was a good rehab process,” Oweh told Goodman.
The senior guard did tell Goodman if UK had a game that night, he would play.
“They’re still trying to stop me from doing the little stuff I’m doing right now,” Oweh admitted.
Oweh actually saw the same foot specialist — Dr. Robert Anderson — as Burrow did for his turf toe injury.
Oweh is the favorite by many to be SEC Player of the Year and Pope considers it a “gift” to mentor him and others.
“He’s going to face new and different challenges this year. He’s coming in as a marked man with a ton of leadership responsibility on his shoulders. To get to witness him grow through this next step in his evolution is a gift. That’s the best part,” Pope said during the summer. “He’s going to help us win a ton of games, and he’s going to play great basketball, and he’s going to be put in an even better position to be a pro.”
2 Responses
Oweh doesn't need to care about the accolades. He just needs to dominate on defense and improve on offense. If he would work on his passing and his jump shot he will be a much more polished player this year. The thing is we are so deep. Like 13-14 deep. He doesn't need to try and average 20 ppg. Just getting his team mates involved and keeping everyone happy is going to be Owehs biggest job. He is the leader of the team. He needs to lead by example. If he is sharing the basketball then his teammates will share the basketball. If he gets better at finding his teammates he will have a all American type season. It's when we start playing for ourselves and not each other is when we struggled last year. Also Oweh can go 100% on defense. He doesn't need to save his energy at all. We have guys that can come in and score. Johnson Williams Chandler Noah Aberdeen. Can all score the basketball. If Oweh would drive in and throw a lob to Garrison or JQ then he wouldnt have 3 guys hanging from his arms when driving to the basket. I just hope the coaching staff breaks this down to him. Other times we did need him to take over the game. Like against Oklahoma and against Texas. I do think Oweh has a big game this year and scores close to 40 point maybe 35-38. He's also 475 points away from the 1,000 point club. All of my favorite players of all time are in the 1,000 point club. I think hitting that Mark shows you came to Kentucky to contribute and make things happen. I do think we have 4-5 guys on this team that will also make the 1,000 point club. Chandler, Noah, Garrison and possibly Lowe if he comes back for his senior year. I can also see possibly Moreno and Jelavic could both be in the club if they stay 2-3 years. I think more players come back off this team than any other program in college basketball. I do think we will have a couple guys transfer but that will depend on what kind of role they have this year. I would redshirt Potter and possibly Hawthorne. I think Hawthorne can contribute a little more right now. I think Potter needs a year to catch up.
Just the name "Otega Oweh" means a winner! He was awesome last year and had to shoulder a lot of responsibility. He will have lots of help this year. And if he is not SEC player of the year and/or National Player of the year, well, something is wrong in college basketball. I'm sure he knows how much he is loved by BBN and will forevermore be family. Good luck and stay healthy. I can envision #9! I/we are so ready for another natty! GO CATS!