Will Oscar Tshiebwe play another season at Kentucky? The UK star talks about his decision.
This time last year, Oscar Tshiebwe had already made a decision on what was coming next.
A sensation in his first season as a Kentucky Wildcat, he didn’t take long to announce that he would be back for another run in Lexington, turning down the opportunity to enter the NBA Draft — where he was projected as an early second-round pick — and becoming the first consensus national player of the year to return to college basketball in more than a decade.
Tshiebwe has become such a familiar face in the sport that he was asked questions at the NBA combine in Chicago this week about going through this process for a second consecutive year. At one point during a combine media session, Tshiebwe smiled and politely corrected an NBA reporter that came with that line of questioning, noting that this was, in fact, his first time taking part in the event.
And it’s been a good time, at that.
Off the court, Tshiebwe said he’s enjoyed getting to meet with personnel from NBA franchises and looks forward to team workouts in the coming days. He also got to spend time catching up with former UK teammates Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston earlier in the week here in Chicago, where Tshiebwe is the only Wildcat that opted in to the five-on-five games being played in front of league scouts.
And once the games began, Tshiebwe was right back to doing what he does best.
In his first combine game Wednesday afternoon, the Kentucky star logged 10 points and 16 rebounds in less than 18 minutes of play, recording a plus-26 rating in his team’s 107-88 victory. Among his opponents were UConn’s Adama Sanogo and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, two of the best bigs in college basketball last season, by any measure. Sanogo grabbed 10 rebounds. Timme had three. And Tshiebwe did his thing.
“The feedback has been great,” he said of the draft process so far. “They keep telling me good things, and things that I need to keep working on. They know what I can do best, like you saw today. But they tell me a lot of different things to keep working on.”
Everyone in the gym already knew what Tshiebwe could do on the boards. He led the nation in rebounding each of the past two years, and — even though his numbers were down this past season — he was still a consensus second-team All-American and a marvel on the glass.
But his encore campaign at UK didn’t quite go as expected. The Cats were seemingly on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament altogether fairly late in the season, and Tshiebwe himself was maligned for his defensive approach amid Kentucky’s struggles.
His draft stock also took a hit. Before he announced he was staying in school last year, there was buzz that he might be able to work his way into the first round of the 2022 draft. When the national websites updated their 2023 mock drafts following Tuesday night’s order-setting lottery, Tshiebwe’s name was largely absent.
The Athletic and Yahoo Sports both posted full mock drafts. His name was on neither list. ESPN’s updated board ranking the top 100 prospects for the 2023 draft places Tshiebwe at No. 64 overall. And this year’s draft has only 58 picks. So, there’s likely still some work to be done.
And that’s part of the reason Tshiebwe opted to participate in this week’s five-on-five games — a process that many other combine invitees decided to skip.
He said he’s been working on his pick-and-roll defense, his passing ability, and his long-range shooting, and he wanted NBA teams to see what he could do in those areas while sharing the court with some of the best big men in college basketball.
“The process has been good,” Tshiebwe said. “I’ve been working — trying to extend my game to a different level. Everything’s going great.”
So far, Tshiebwe said he has had meetings with personnel from the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings, and he’s planning to sit down with his agent once the combine is completed to schedule workouts with NBA teams. All the while, the clock is ticking. Tshiebwe has until May 31 to make a final decision on whether to keep his name in the draft.
“I don’t want to say too much,” he said of his immediate plans. “Because I gotta finish this process, and I gotta see where God got me going.”
Oscar Tshiebwe’s decision
A return to Kentucky — for a third and final season with the Cats — remains on the table.
“Right now, it’s still (a possibility),” Tshiebwe said. “I just want to continue and see. I’m praying everything can go well. I’m praying that a team can get me.”
In an interview with the Herald-Leader, Tshiebwe made it clear that his ultimate goal is to remain in this year’s draft and get started with his professional basketball career. But he’ll have an interesting decision to make.
As of now, there’s no guarantee that he will be selected at all, and Tshiebwe wasn’t clear on exactly what he’ll need to hear from league decision-makers to take that final step of keeping his name in the draft.
A return to Kentucky, however, would bring a measure of financial security of a more guaranteed nature. While official numbers aren’t public, the Herald-Leader has been told that Tshiebwe earned about $4 million through name, image and likeness opportunities this past season, a total that he could likely replicate with a return to UK and one that he’d be hard-pressed to beat as a pro next season.
“The NIL is good,” he said. “It helped a lot of us take care of our families, and I really appreciate that. But I’m not really focusing on that. I’m just going to stay strong and focus on what I’m doing right now.
“But this is my dream. My dream is to play in the NBA.”
Those questions about whether he can stick in the league persist.
Tshiebwe is an unparalleled rebounder, but he’s viewed as somewhat one-dimensional as an offensive player, and his overall defense and mobility raise concern among NBA teams. At the combine this week, he measured at just 6-7.25 without shoes, and his time in the lane agility drill was among the slowest of any player in attendance.
But he said the feedback he’s received so far leads him to believe that NBA teams think his singular rebounding ability could be an asset, especially if he’s put in the right lineup, surrounded by shooters.
Tshiebwe specifically pointed to Golden State’s Kevon Looney as a player whose path to success he could follow, noting that the 6-9 forward’s play on the boards helped lead the Warriors to a Game 7 victory over the Kings in a playoff series this postseason. (Looney had 21 rebounds in that Game 7.) But he also doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed, explaining that he’s continued to work on his outside shooting — Tshiebwe shot 48.0 percent in the combine’s three-point drill — and thinks that could be an asset moving forward.
As this process has progressed, Kentucky Coach John Calipari has remained in close contact.
Calipari, who made it clear earlier this month that he would love to coach Tshiebwe for a third season, has been working his contacts in the NBA to gauge the 23-year-old’s draft stock, then passing that info along to his star player.
“We talk all the time. And they know everything (I’m doing),” Tshiebwe said of the UK coaches. “And he’s honest with me.”
Calipari’s message: If Tshiebwe gets a “great opportunity,” he should leave. If not, he’ll return to Kentucky, and the coaching staff will work up a plan for the 2023-24 season to help him progress in the areas the NBA wants to see him improve.
Right now, the Cats have just two true frontcourt players on the 2023-24 roster: incoming freshman Aaron Bradshaw, a 7-footer who’s versatile enough to play at the “4” spot next season; and Ugonna Onyenso, a promising shot-blocker who played sparingly as a freshman.
The only other confirmed Cats for next season are freshman guards DJ Wagner, Robert Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, freshman wing Justin Edwards and sophomore wing Adou Thiero.
Whatever happens, Tshiebwe thinks Kentucky would be fine without him.
“Coach knows what he’s doing,” he said. “Coach knows how he’s building his team.”
Calipari is also continuing to explore the transfer portal for possible additions.
The deadline to enter the portal was May 11, but that date only applies to undergraduates. Players who have already graduated from college — like Tshiebwe did earlier this month — could still choose to transfer at any point before next season begins, and that loophole has led to speculation that even if Tshiebwe does back out of the draft, he might look for a change of scenery for what would be his final season of college basketball.
He moved to put a stop to those rumors in his interview with the Herald-Leader this week.
“That is not an option,” Tshiebwe said. “I will never transfer. Kentucky’s my home. If there’s a chance to go professional, I’ll go pro. If there’s a chance to not go professional, I will go back to Kentucky. I’ve never even thought about going (another) place. Kentucky is my home. It’s a dream place. I can’t leave my home. That’s my place, forever.”
If his college career is over, Tshiebwe will go down as one of the most-celebrated Wildcats of all time. If he chooses to return, he’ll get one last chance to make a deep NCAA Tournament run and continue his attack on the program’s record books.
By May 31, everyone will have a final answer.
“It has meant a lot. I’ve had a great, great time — probably the best time in my life — at Kentucky,” he said. “The people have been great to me. I’ve been good with the fans. I’m just so appreciative for everything the people have done for us. And everything I have accomplished for Kentucky — I’m very grateful for that.
“And I will continue to be a part of the Big Blue Nation forever.”
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