LEXINGTON, Ky. — One of the most decorated Kentucky basketball players in recent memory might be leaving the Wildcats’ program after two seasons in Lexington. But he has left the door open for a return to Lexington.
Oscar Tshiebwe announced Friday afternoon that he plans to enter the 2023 NBA draft, though he still has one season of NCAA eligibility remaining and has not ruled out a return to college basketball.
“At this time I feel as though it is best for me to declare for the NBA Draft while maintaining my college eligibility,” Tshiebwe said in an Instagram post. “As I continue down this path I pray that I can continue to have the amazing love and support of BBN as you will always be in my heart and prayers. Only God knows what my future holds, but until then it’s time to get to work!”
Tshiebwe will have until 11:59 p.m. on May 31 to remove his name from the NBA draft pool and retain his one remaining season of college eligibility. The NBA combine is scheduled for May 15-21 in Chicago, and Tshiebwe could receive an invitation to that event.
The 6-foot-9 post player from the Democratic Republic of the Congo came to UK in the middle of the 2020-21 season after playing one and a half seasons at West Virginia. The former McDonald’s All-American had an impressive freshman campaign for the Mountaineers before struggling to meet heightened expectations in his second year and ultimately deciding to look for a new college basketball home.
He found one at Kentucky, and — after sitting out the second half of the 2020-21 campaign as a transfer — Tshiebwe became one of the sport’s biggest stars over the course of his first run with the Wildcats.
During the 2021-22 season, Tshiebwe averaged 17.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game, leading Kentucky to a 25-6 record in the regular season and a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats were upset by 15-seeded Saint Peter’s, though Tshiebwe tallied 30 points and 16 rebounds in that loss.
After the season, he was named the unanimous national player of the year, becoming the first Wildcat to earn the top honor from all six of the NCAA-recognized awards outlets: The Sporting News, Associated Press, USBWA, NABC, Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award.
Tshiebwe was widely projected as an early second-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft, but he chose to pass on the pros and come back to Kentucky for another season with the stated goal of winning the program’s ninth national championship.
About a month before the start of the 2022-23 season, Tshiebwe underwent a knee procedure that forced him to miss the final few weeks of preseason practice, as well as both of the team’s exhibition games and the Wildcats’ first two regular-season games.
He ended up averaging 16.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game — leading the nation in the latter stat for the second year in a row — but Kentucky struggled, relative to the national title hopes, and ended up as a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Tshiebwe had 25 points and 18 rebounds in UK’s season-ending loss to Kansas State in the second round of March Madness. The Cats ended up with a 1-2 record in his three tournament games with the team, but he averaged 21.0 points and 19.7 rebounds in those games, setting a program record for most boards in the NCAA Tournament with 25 in a win over Providence.
Following the Kansas State loss two days later, Tshiebwe was reflective on his UK basketball career.
“I’m probably going to say sorry to the BBN nation,” he said. “Because I came here, and my dream was to do something great. Two years in a row, it did not happen. But I’m very happy to be part of Kentucky.”
In two seasons as a UK player, Tshiebwe recorded 1,117 points and 953 rebounds, good enough for 48th and sixth, respectively, on the program’s records list. Only Dan Issel, Frank Ramsey, Cliff Hagan, Johnny Cox and Cotton Nash have grabbed more rebounds over the course of a Kentucky basketball career than Tshiebwe, and all five of those former Wildcats played for three seasons. Issel is UK’s all-time leader in the statistic with 1,078 career rebounds.
Counting his time at West Virginia, the 23-year-old recorded 1,550 points and 1,318 rebounds in three and a half seasons as a college basketball player.
Tshiebwe is not widely projected as an NBA pick this year, with questions about his defensive ability and overall fit at the next level becoming more prominent over the past few months.
ESPN has Tshiebwe as the No. 74 overall player on its list of the top 100 prospects for the 2023 NBA draft, which will include only 58 picks. He still has one more season of college eligibility due to the NCAA’s decision to grant all student-athletes who played during the COVID-19-impacted 2020-21 school year an extra season.
In February, he became the first Wildcat in more than a decade to join the program’s celebrated 1,000-point club, which had few new members during coach John Calipari’s tenure, a time when most of the Cats’ top scorers have been one-and-done players.
On his final radio show of the season — the night following the loss to Kansas State — Calipari said he texted each of his players after that loss. The UK coach then said that Tshiebwe texted him right back to say how much he appreciated their relationship and expressed his thanks for what Calipari was able to do for him over the past two and a half years.
“Kentucky — it broke him out,” Calipari said. “Not me, but our program, our fans, and then how he played. We believed in him. And he’s a wonderful kid. I’m going to be for him. I told him I’m with him till the wheels fall off.”
