UK’s Jaland Lowe suffers another injury. ‘A lot of possibilities’ for what’s next
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jaland Lowe re-injured his right shoulder in practice; medical staff will assess next step
- No timetable exists for return; MRI showed no worsening but final prognosis pending.
- Kentucky will rely on Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, others in Lowe’s absence.
Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe will not play for the Wildcats in their game against Eastern Illinois on Friday night.
His availability beyond that remains uncertain.
Lowe, who suffered a right shoulder injury in UK’s Blue-White Game on Oct. 17, re-injured the same shoulder during the team’s practice Thursday.
Marland Lowe, the player’s father, told the Herald-Leader on Friday afternoon that Kentucky’s point guard had not yet received a definitive determination on what’s coming next. Lowe’s father said the family was scheduled to meet again with medical personnel later in the day — before the Cats’ 7 p.m. game against Eastern Illinois in Rupp Arena — and would hopefully know more about his son’s outlook after those talks.
“There are a lot of possibilities, but, right now, we’re just waiting to hear what they say,” said Marland Lowe, who was in Lexington on Friday. “So we’ll know what the next move is.”
There have been reports and speculation on social media that Lowe could be done for the season. His father said that, as of Friday afternoon, no timetable had been established for Lowe’s return to the court.
“Not at all,” he said, when asked if his son had received a season-ending diagnosis. “He had an MRI, and nothing came back any worse than what it was before. So we just have to see what the doctors say.”
Wildcats head coach Mark Pope said on his pregame radio interview Friday night that they’re still “in the process of trying to figure out what the next step” will be, as far as Lowe’s recovery options. He did not offer a timeline on his potential return to the court.
Lowe was in Rupp Arena for pregame warmups Friday, though he did not participate in any basketball activities.
The initial injury sustained Oct. 17 kept Lowe out of Kentucky’s two exhibition games and sidelined him for the season opener against Nicholls last week.
Lowe returned to the court for game two against Valparaiso last Friday and played 30 minutes in the 96-88 loss at Louisville on Tuesday night. He came off the bench in both of those games, but the 6-foot-1 junior was expected to enter the starting lineup soon.
That Lowe injured the same shoulder less than four weeks after the initial incident — and with time off during that stretch — is a worrying sign for the Wildcats, who were relying on the Pittsburgh transfer to play a major role on a team with seemingly realistic national title expectations.
Lowe was a third-team All-SEC preseason selection, the only Kentucky player other than Otega Oweh — the SEC preseason player of the year — to receive all-conference honors. He has shown up on some prominent NBA draft boards and was expected to play the lion’s share of the minutes at point guard. He averaged 35.5 minutes per game at Pitt last season and missed just one game due to injury — a concussion — in two seasons with the Panthers.
As a sophomore, Lowe averaged 16.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 36 prospect nationally in the 2025 transfer portal, second only to Jayden Quaintance — who’s also currently sidelined with an injury — among players who signed with Kentucky, which ended up with the country’s No. 2 transfer class this year.
Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen has been UK’s starting point guard in Lowe’s absence. Aberdeen, a senior guard who played three seasons for the Gators, scored a career-high 26 points in the loss to Louisville, his third game with the Wildcats.
Sophomore guard Collin Chandler has joined Aberdeen and Oweh in Pope’s starting backcourt. Aberdeen (16.0 points per game), Chandler (13.7) and Oweh (13.3) were the Cats’ top three scorers through the first three games of the season.
Freshman guard Jasper Johnson — a five-star recruit in the 2025 class — will also likely see a larger role in Lowe’s absence. Johnson averaged 10.0 points over UK’s first two games but was scoreless in just six minutes on the court against Louisville.
Kentucky’s next opponent after Friday’s game will be No. 17 Michigan State in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. The Cats also have high-profile matchups with North Carolina (Dec. 2), Gonzaga (Dec. 5), Indiana (Dec. 13) and St. John’s (Dec. 20) in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM.
