Oscar Tshiebwe could become only the third player at Kentucky to average 10 or more rebounds per game for coach John Calipari. (Jeff Houchin Photo)
Oscar Tshiebwe boldly predicted before the season started that he could average 20 rebounds per game. No player has even averaged 15 rebounds per game since Alcorn’s Larry Smith averaged 18.1 rebounds per game during the 1979-80 season and while Tshiebwe may not average 20, he could get 15 per game.
Tshiebwe is a rebounding machine. He led the country in offensive rebounding percentage as a freshman at West Virginia in 2019-20 before transferring to Kentucky. He had seven double-doubles in UK’s first eight this year and is averaging 14.4 rebounds per game, the top mark in the nation, along with 16.3 points per game – both team highs. He also leads the team in steals with 13 and blocked shots with 17 going into today’s game against North Carolina.
Kentucky coach John Calipari has had some elite players at Kentucky but only two players — Anthony Davis and Julius Randle — averaged more than 10 rebounds per game. Tshiebwe had 56 rebounds in Kentucky’s first three games, more than any other UK player has ever had.
Two-time All-American Bob Burrow set the UK rebounding record during the 1954-55 season when he pulled 459 rebounds in 26 games — an average of 17.7 rebounds per game. He got 34 against Temple to tie Bill Spivey for UK’s single-game rebounding record.
“The energy I have is a gift from God,” Tshiebwe said. “I don’t care about scoring. I want to bring something special. I want my name one day to be remembered like Anthony Davis.”
He cited his season-opening 20-rebound performance against Duke and likely future NBA player Mark Williams as proof of what he could do. It seems inevitable that Tshiebwe will break the Rupp Arena record for rebounds in one game. He’s already tied the UK mark (20) and is one shy of the record set by LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal in 1990.
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Oscar is a man playing among boys.