“Breaks my heart”, “So happy for you”: College hoops fans react as Kentucky’s Jaland Lowe makes NBA draft decision

Despite performing well at the G League Elite Camp alongside other draft prospects, Jaland Lowe decided to withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft process. The guard has instead transferred to the Kentucky Wildcats for his junior year.

Lowe tested the draft waters, and was one of the best-performing prospects at the combine. However, to the surprise of many, he withdrew his name ahead of the deadline next Wednesday and committed to another program. Lowe made the announcement via his Instagram on Thursday.

“Can’t miss out on this opportunity. See yall soon BBN,” Lowe captioned.

The news shocked a lot of fans, and they made their feelings known in the comments section.

“Breaks my heart,” one wrote.

“Go and get it 15 💙,” another wrote.

“Let’s get to work🤝🏽,” one commented.

College hoops fans react as Kentucky’s Jaland Lowe makes NBA draft decision. Credit: IG/@j15lowe

Kentucky fans expressed joy with the move and hyped the guard.

“So happy for you Jaland! Can’t wait to speak soon!!!,” one said.

“Can't wait for the season to start. Looking forward to watching you and the other players compete for a championship. Go Cats!,” another said.

“Welcome JLowe. You are now everyone’s Super Bowl. Play like it,” one wrote.

Lowe spent his freshman and sophomore years at Pittsburgh. His production went from 9.6 points. 3.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game in his first year to 16.8 ppg, 5.5 apg, 4.2 rpg and 1.8 spg last season.

Kentucky HC Mark Pope wants Jaland Lowe to be more efficient

Kentucky coach Mark Pope knows the level of talent his program has signed from the portal, but he still had some advice for Jaland Lowe about his efficiency.

“Jaland Lowe was elite in terms of the raw stats — points, assists, everything else he did," Pope said, via KSR. "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.

“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."

Lowe reached double figures 26 times last season, including 20 or more points in 10 games.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez