Kentucky's Mark Pope tells hilarious story of Otega Oweh's shocking decision to return to college

The Kentucky Wildcats just caught a big break. One of their NBA Draft hopefuls, Otega Oweh, shockingly chose to withdraw from consideration and return to college instead.

Oweh is coming off posting All-SEC honors, and he averaged a whopping 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in 36 appearances for Mark Pope’s team.

That’s why, when he tried to get Coach Pope on the phone, he didn’t hesitate to pick up, even though he was literally on a plane and wasn’t even allowed to have his phone turned on.

Mark Pope reveals how he found out that Otega Oweh was returning

“First off, I was on a plane, and I don’t understand why or how, but the call actually came through. Otega called me and said coach let’s do this I’m coming back. I was looking around and thinking the pilot was about to throw me out of the plane right now, so I was like, Otega, I got to call you back later but just hold that thought. Fifteen minutes later, I called him back. He said he was coming back, and tears went down my face,“ Pope revealed.

Mark Pope

Needless to say, this goes to show just how important Oweh is to this team. It also shows the impressive level of commitment Coach Pope has poured into the program.

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The Wildcats have one of the best rosters in all of college basketball, and Oweh will be one of the leading candidates to win conference player of the year in his second season in Kentucky.