Vicky Graff Photo
Kentucky basketball fans could use some good news and maybe it got delivered by two-time All-American Oscar Tshiebwe.
He put his name in the NBA Draft and performed well at last week’s NBA Combine. It now seems his chances of returning to UK are slim at best.
However, Tshiebwe told Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader it is not time to panic.
“I believe Kentucky’s going to be great, even without me,” Tshiebwe said.
Sounds optimistic and should sound good to UK fans. Problem is Kentucky currently has only seven scholarship players on the 2023-24 roster and the only two bigs are signee Aaron Bradshaw, a top five player in his recruiting class, and Ugonna Onyenso, who barely played at UK as a freshman.
Onyenso played 110 minutes all of last year, mainly early in the season, but he did get to practice daily against Tshiebwe. He’s considered an elite shot blocker but not a skilled offensive player yet.
“His game has changed,” Tshiebwe told Roberts. “Ugonna is going to be big-time for Kentucky next year. He had to learn, he had to know that this game is not like high school.
“You think you’re going to come in and get so much playing time in college — you have to build up your confidence. You have to build up your body. Be strong. And be strong mentally, too. I can see, next year, Ugonna step up and help out a lot at Kentucky.”
The 7-foot Bradshaw has not played with Tshiebwe but he’s seen him on film and Tshiebwe likes the way he can hit a 3-point shot.
“He’s going to help the team in a lot of different ways. He’s a shot-blocker. He shoots the ball really good,” Tshiebwe told Roberts about Bradshaw.
He thinks if he can help teach them both how to rebound better that they will help Kentucky be “great” next season.
5 Responses
That last paragraph puzzles me. Is Oscar coming back to be on the team and mentor Ugo and Bradshaw? Is that how he is going to teach them to rebound better? Are they all working out together this summer? Oscar planning to be a grad assistant? Just how is he going to teach them?
John I assumed he was talking about working with them this summer maybe
Sounds like Oscar is not returning.
I don’t think so either
IMO, Oscar is right. Not saying U.K. does not need another front court player, preferably someone who is a versatile front court player that can readily handle the 4 spot, possibly swing to the 3 at times. However, I feel U.K. is in good shape with the 2 young 7’ guys. Between they will handle the 5 position and cover a good portion of the 4 position.