Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe named Naismith Men's College Player of the Year

Kentucky Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe was named the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year on Sunday, taking home the sport’s top individual honor for the second time in program history.

Tshiebwe, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior, averaged 17.4 points, 15.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.8 steals per contest this season, all while shooting 60.2 percent from the field. He helped lead Kentucky to a 28-6 overall record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Tshiebwe is the first player since the 1979-80 season to average at least 15.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game, per the Naismith Trophy release, and he finished the year with 16 consecutive double-doubles. That 16-game streak helped Tshiebwe set a single-season Kentucky record with 28 total double-doubles. He’s just the third player in Kentucky history to reach at least 500 rebounds in a season (515).

Tshiebwe earned the highest individual honor just days after being named AP men’s basketball Player of the Year. He is the first Kentucky Wildcats player to take home the Naismith Award since Anthony Davis did so in 2012, and just the third in SEC history, joining Davis (2012) and Pete Maravich (1970).

Fresh off winning the SEC Player of the Year award, Tshiebwe could garner interest in the 2022 NBA Draft after a tremendous breakout campaign for Kentucky — but he has yet to decide whether he will return to college. In the latest ESPN Mock Draft, Tshiebwe is projected to go to the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, falling all the way to No. 44 overall. Tshiebwe addressed his future — albeit briefly — after the Kentucky Wildcats were upset in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament by the No. 15-seeded Saint Peter’s Peacocks.

Though the Wildcats fell in a shocking first-round NCAA Tournament upset by an 85-79 final, Tshiebwe was by far and away the Wildcats’ most consistent player on both ends. He poured in 30 points on 11-of-16 from the field, including an 8-of-12 effort from the free-throw line, while grabbing 16 rebounds (six offensive boards), along with two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Tshiebwe, who prepped at Kennedy Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He first committed to West Virginia, and he played for two seasons under Bob Huggins, with his most impactful performance coming in his freshman year. In the 2019-20 season, Tshiebwe played 23.3 minutes per contest, scoring 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest. He then transferred to Kentucky and sat out one season before making his debut in 2021.