Bringing the ‘Meaning’ Back to Basketball

Something is happening in Lexington, Kentucky. Recent years has seen a basketball program known for its winning tradition, become stagnant. This season brings change. A re-energized fan base, fueled by a new head coach, and a collection of talented new players, hopeful to bring a championship back to Kentucky.

Otega Oweh says, “I just want to be a part of something like that, take my talents to the next level and just go somewhere I can showcase on one of the best platforms, which is Kentucky.

One of those players, the team’s leading scorer, is Otega Oweh.

“Just going out there and playing hard every single night, giving it all for Kentucky.
I’d say that’s something that I think about every day before I go and play,” Oweh says.

Born in New Jersey to first generation immigrants, Otega’s Nigerian roots and faith in God run deep.

Will Dawson: So tell me, what does your name mean?

Oweh: It means we give God the highest praise.

Dawson: What does that mean to you in your life and how you play basketball?

Oweh: I mean, for me, it just kind of means that I just give God praise in all situations, because the path that I'm in, it’s the unknown. You don't know what's really going to happen. We put in all this work, and you can still not make it. But regardless, God got me here for a reason. So he just gets all the praise.

It was his parents who instilled the values of hard work and faith.

“That's just kind of how I carry myself, like, regardless of what I'm going through day in, day out,” Oweh says.

Although Otega admits it did take a while to sink in.

“When I was younger, that's something I didn't quite understand because when you're young, you want things to happen a certain way,” he says. “When things don't happen, you want to start blaming somebody.”

Some boyhood mischief caused Otega to reevaluate his priorities.

“Just things off the court that I got in trouble for doing certain things where I had to take a break from basketball and when I had to take that break, that's when I really turned it around. And I want to say that's credit to my parents, but also credit to God, because I really could have gone a whole different path. I mean, like, I just always go back to that. Like I give God the highest praise and all situations,” he says.

Faith and sports have always been a tie that binds the Oweh family. Otega’s brother Odafe is a starting linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. His success and determination has inspired the twenty-three-year-old guard to rise to be his best.

“I've seen how he had to go through a lot just to get where he was. And that just shows how God works in mysterious ways, because, I mean, I'm just proud of what he's been able to do. And whenever I see him play on Sundays, Thursdays, Mondays, you know, it just pushes me to go even harder,” Otega says.

Otega says his game isn’t the only thing he works hard at. When it comes to his faith, he’s still learning, driven by a desire to grow.

Dawson: How often do you read your Bible?

Oweh: Every morning. Yeah. I try to read at least one verse, sometimes two every morning, cause, I mean, I'm no expert at all. Obviously, I still have a bunch of questions, so I don't want to overwhelm myself with just trying to read as much as I can in one day. I just try and read one verse every morning.

Dawson: When you pray, what do you pray for?

Oweh: Just for guidance, protection. For him to protect me and just give me the courage and the strength to go out there and do the things that I know I can and to just humble myself and to show the skills that he's blessed me with in front of everybody.

Now in his junior year, Otega is helping the Wildcats get back on track as one of the nation’s best college basketball teams. And he’s taking it one game at a time, diligently putting the work in for his team, his family, and his faith.

Otega says, “If being a Christian was easy, everyone would be a Christian. But there's always going to be trials, tribulations cause the people who get called to follow God, they go through it and it's a hard life. So, you know, I always got to be strong, always just got to be bold and know that when there's a task or a challenge, just because God calls you for it, it's not that you shouldn't look at it as like, why is it happening to you?Just try and embrace it and use God as your peace.

I just want to use my skills to show that I give God all the glory. So, I just do that every single day, God gets all the glory, because I wouldn't be here without him at all.”