Orlando Antigua says if Oscar Tshiebwe did return for another year he could still get better

Oscar Tshiebwe still has areas he can improve even though he's the leader for national player of the year honors. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Oscar Tshiebwe could be the national player of the year with the historic season he’s having at Kentucky. However, with Tshiebwe now finally eligible for name, image and likeness money, what if he decided to still return to UK for another year even if he is the national player of the year?

If he did that, Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua said the UK staff could “continue to help add to his game” even with the historic year he’s having.

“If we’re fortunate to get him back, there’s a lot. There’s a lot to add to him,” Antigua said Tuesday. “There’s a lot to his ball-handling, there’s a lot to his passing, and obviously can continue to extend his range to his shooting.

“But that’s something that we’ll be able to address if we’re fortunate enough to get him back in the future.”

Tshiebwe was a double-double performer at West Virginia before transferring to Kentucky midway of his sophomore year. This season he’s become a more prolific scorer — and outside shooter — along with a more dominating rebounder.

“Obviously, he’s gotten better as the year has progressed in terms of showing his range up to 15 to 17 feet,” Tshiebwe said. “We’ve challenged him  on making sure he’s in position defensively to sit and guard guys when we go into shortened clock situations and he has to switch out to a guard and he’s shown the capacity to do that.”

The coaches do not plan to stop challenging Tshiebwe, either, as UK gets nearer to postseason play.

“As coaches, we’re never satisfied. We want to keep adding to their game. We want to keep challenging them. When they give us what we’ve asked, we’ll ask for more because we think they’re capable of giving us more,” Antigua said.

Other players being mentioned prominently for player of the year are Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, and Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren and Drew Tamme. But Antigua made it clear he thinks Tshiebwe is the only choice.

“I think Oscar, in the season that he’s having, in terms of what he’s doing statistically, it’s something that hasn’t been done in 30, 40 years. Averaging almost 15 points and 15 rebounds and doing it night in and night out. When you look up and it’s a 20 (points) and 14 (rebounds) and it’s ho-hum, it’s impressive,” the Kentucky assistant said.