LEXINGTON, Ky. — Oscar Tshiebwe announced Wednesday that he will not enter this year’s NBA draft. He will play for Kentucky next season.
The decision came after prayer with his family, he said during an interview on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
“I always wanted to be a lottery pick,” Tshiebwe said. In acknowledging that was not likely this year, he said he believed God was not done with his development as a college player.
When asked if he would have entered this year’s NBA draft had he been confident of being a lottery pick, Tshiebwe said, “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
Tshiebwe said he hoped to make one or two 3-point shots per game, improve his driving ability and ball-handling next season.
Tshiebwe will become the first National Player of the Year — as selected by The Associated Press or The Atlanta Tipoff Club — to remain a college player since Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina won the awards in 2008. Incidentally, Hansbrough led UNC to the national championship the following season.
Jay Bilas, an ESPN analyst for college basketball and the NBA draft, said Tshiebwe might have been a second-round pick or an undrafted free agent this year.
“He had an unbelievable year and a great (college) career,” Bilas said before adding, “the NBA analysts are looking at whether he fits the NBA model. And the NBA has gone to being more of a spread game. ... Being able to stretch defenses is more important in the NBA than ever. Even for a big guy. Being able to step out and knock down an NBA three for a big guy is more important than it’s ever been.
“And that’s not a strength right now for Oscar. He’s stretched his range out to about 17 feet where he’s reliable there. But he’s not a three-point shooter.”
With Tshiebwe announcing he will play for Kentucky next season, Bilas said the focus in games should be on what made him the consensus player of the year in 2021-22. He should not try to be an unabashed 3-point shooter.
“Why would you take a bunch of threes if you’re not going to make them right now?” Bilas said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Tshiebwe can use individual workouts to improve his range, Bilas said.
The ESPN analyst suggested that age would have worked against Tshiebwe being drafted. Tshiebwe will turn 23 on Nov. 27. He cited former UK All-American Anthony Davis in making his point.
“Anthony Davis was not a prolific three-point shooter, but that’s different because he was younger,” Bilas said. “That’s part of the evaluation process because they’re looking at what a player’s ceiling is. And a lot of times for older players, NBA scouts and evaluators will say, well, he’s shown us who he is, and there’s a ceiling there. And they’re looking for players whose ceilings are higher.”
Davis was 19 when he was the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
As of Tuesday, NBAdraftroom.com continued to rate Tshiebwe as the seventh best center available in this year’s NBA draft.
“He’s a powerful player who combines brute strength and great length with good balance and agility,” the website posted. “He’s got physical skills, but has struggled to put it all together on the court and is not looking likely to be drafted anytime soon.”
In its assessment, the website said that shot blocking and defending around the basket were Tshiebwe’s “calling cards” as a player. The website attributed this to the player’s 7-foot-4 wingspan.
But the website did not include Tshiebwe in its list of the top 126 draft prospects this year.
“At this point he’s a limited offensive player who scores mostly on putbacks and dunks,” it posted. “He doesn’t project as much of a floor spacer at any point in his career.”
Bilas said that considering Tshiebwe outside the top 126 prospects had “no credibility at all.”
“He’s going to play in the NBA and I think for a long time because he can run, he can rebound and he can move his feet.
“But his rebounding is next level. And that translates pretty well from college to pro. So, I think not only will he find a place in the NBA, he’ll do well there.”
In three college seasons, Tshiebwe has scored 1,023 points and grabbed 880 rebounds.
Tshiebwe led Kentucky in scoring with an average of 17.4 points per game this past season. He led the nation in rebounding at 15.1 rpg and had the second most double-doubles among Division I players.
He was named SEC Player of the Year and the first Kentucky player to win every national player of the year award.
Tshiebwe had double-doubles in each of UK’s final 16 games. He had 28 double-doubles overall.
Besides scoring and rebounding, Tshiebwe also led Kentucky in steals (60), blocks (55) and field-goal percentage (60.6%).
Since 1978-79, only Davis had led a UK team in those five categories in a season.
Tshiebwe was the first Division I player to average at least 15 points and 15 rebounds since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith each did during the 1979-80 season. He was the first major-conference player to average at least 16.0 points and at least 15.0 rebounds for a season since Bill Walton at UCLA in 1972-73 and the first UK player to do it since Bob Burrow averaged 19.1 points and 17.7 rebounds per game in 1954-55.
Late in the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari said, “I would say there may be a couple players that are having more of an impact on games than him. But I’d have to see them.”
During preseason, Tshiebwe said he wanted to average 20 rebounds per game.
“We all laughed,” teammate Davion Mintz said about a month into the season. “Like, c’mon man. Twenty rebounds?”
The laughter subsided quickly.
“Now, it’s normal,” Mintz added. “We’re expecting him to get 20.”
Wednesday’s announcement of Tshiebwe playing for Kentucky next season figures to revive expectation of a 20.0 rebound average.
