In late May, Kentucky basketball standout Otega Oweh decided to forgo the NBA draft and return for his final season, much to the delight of coach Marc Pope, who cried when he got the news.
Not only is Oweh returning to Lexington, but he is also getting paid for it. Oweh, much like the NCAA, is coming to terms with the landmark House ruling allowing universities to directly pay college athletes for their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
Among the particulars of the ruling are colleges sharing revenue with athletes, providing back pay to former athletes, eliminating scholarship limits, and establishing NIL oversight.
When asked about it, Oweh couldn’t care less, per Daniel Hager of On3Sports.com. All that matters to him is that he is getting paid to play college basketball.
“They’re paying us,” Oweh responded with a laugh. “That’s it. That’s a great thing for sure, but I don’t really be keeping up with the settlement stuff like that. As long as we’re getting paid, that’s good for me. Anything extra, that’s cool.”
In all, Oweh said that NIL hasn’t drastically changed anything in the locker room.
Oweh is coming off a season in which he averaged 16.2 points per game. Kentucky finished with a record of 24-12, including a 10-8 conference record.
They made it to the Sweet 16 before losing 78-65 to Tennessee. As for Oweh, he has a projected NIL value of $385,000.
As a result, this allowed him to put a hold on the NBA.
Otega Oweh’s NIL deals with Kentucky
Although there are no specific details of NIL deals, the concept played a significant role in Oweh’s stay in Kentucky.
Recently, he rejected a $25 million NIL deal to play for the University of Louisville. To maximize his potential, Oweh formally established an Opendorse profile, an online platform that enables athletes to negotiate NIL and sponsorship deals.
Oweh is a product of an era in which there is a greater incentive for players to stay in college for all four years due to NIL.
The post Kentucky’s Otega Oweh shrugs off new House settlement ruling appeared first on ClutchPoints.
