John Calipari says Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe will enter 2023 NBA Draft

Oscar Tshiebwe will be entering his name in the 2023 NBA Draft, according to Kentucky head coach John Calipari.

Calipari let it slip that his star rebounder and former national player of the year could be leaving Lexington after the semester to pursue his professional dreams.

“I’m still trying to figure out what my team looks like,” Calipari said during a media appearance at the Final Four. “Cason [Wallace], Jacob [Toppin] are definitely in the draft and staying. Oscar [Tshiebwe] will be putting his name in the draft — maybe staying.”

Tshiebwe averaged 16.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game on 56 percent shooting this past season for Kentucky.

Calipari will always tell his players to go pursue their dreams if they want to leave — and he likely told Tshiebwe the same thing. The only problem is that NBA scouts are not high on Tshiebwe. They believe his game can be one-dimensional at times and despite his elite rebounding skills, can’t score the ball farther than 15 feet from the basket.

If Tshiebwe does decide to stay in the draft, he will likely go in the late second round or be undrafted. He would finish his two-year Kentucky career with numerous All-American and SEC accolades and will be remembered as the greatest rebounder in Kentucky basketball history. He played 66 games in Kentucky blue, scoring 1,117 points and hauling in 953 rebounds.

Tshiebwe has until May 31 to decide whether to keep his name in the draft or to return to college for his final season of eligibility.

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, which is also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.