Jeff BorzelloJan 12, 2026, 07:07 PM ET
CloseJeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.
Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, Wildcats coach Mark Pope said Monday on his weekly radio show.
Pope said Lowe has dislocated his shoulder three times, injuring it in games and practice this season. Lowe’s rehab after surgery will take around six months, Pope said.
Because Lowe has played only nine games, he could qualify for a medical redshirt.
Lowe has been bothered by the shoulder injury all season, missing seven games and leaving Saturday’s win over Mississippi State after just three minutes after aggravating it.
Expected to be one of the Wildcats’ key players after transferring from Pittsburgh, Lowe started only two games and played in nine this season. He showed flashes of what Kentucky could look like with him in the lineup, scoring 21 points in a loss at Alabama and going for 13 points off the bench in back-to-back wins over Indiana and St. John’s.
But Lowe was never at full strength, waiting until last week against Missouri to draw his first start of the season.
He ends his junior season averaging 8.0 points and 2.4 assists in 18.6 minutes after putting up 16.8 points and 5.5 assists last season at Pitt.
Kentucky has struggled without Lowe, the team’s only true point guard. With him sidelined for most of the game against Mississippi State, Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen handled much of the playmaking duties in the backcourt, while freshman Jasper Johnson also played double-digit minutes.
The Wildcats (10-6, 1-2 SEC) have two road games this week, at LSU on Wednesday and at Tennessee on Saturday.