Despite shining during the NBA Draft process — including a standout performance at the G League Elite Camp alongside other future pros — Jaland Lowe is not ready to make the jump to the next level. Instead, he will be suiting up as a Kentucky Wildcat in Lexington.
Currently testing the draft waters, Lowe decided to pull his name out ahead of the withdrawal deadline on May 28. The Pittsburgh transfer made the announcement on Thursday.
“Can’t miss out on this opportunity,” he wrote. “See yall soon BBN.”
Lowe averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest as a sophomore at Pittsburgh en route to Third Team All-ACC honors. He started in all 31 games, scoring 20 or more points on 10 occasions while reaching double figures 26 times, but shot just 37.6 percent from the field and 26.6 percent from three.
Now officially back, Mark Pope wants him to use a better situation in Lexington in terms of surrounding talent to improve efficiency while maintaining production. That’s how he takes the jump to the NBA he’s capable of making.
“Jaland Lowe was elite in terms of the raw stats — points, assists, everything else he did. It was really good, but he wasn’t a super efficient player last year. Part of that is because he had to do a lot — and that’s not to take away from Pitt because Pitt is a great program, they do a great job,” Pope told KSR this week. “It was just the situation he was in. He was in the 90th percentile in the country — the top 10 percent — of taking the highest percentage of shots that are in the bottom 20 percent of shot quality.
“That’s a long, analytical way of saying he made the game so hard or the game that was delivered to him was so hard, however it happened, he was taking some of and making the hardest plays over and over and over again. That’s not incredibly dissimilar, in some ways, from Lamont Butler.”
The Lamont Butler experience was a fun one for Kentucky. Now we get to see what the Jaland Lowe experience is like in Lexington.
Up next: Otega Oweh, who has until May 28 to pull his name out of the draft. One step closer to a complete roster in 2025-26.
