4-Point Play: Oscar Tshiebwe returns to Lexington
An all-time fan favorite is returning to his Old Kentucky Home in a couple of weeks, and young members of Big Blue Nation are invited to meet and play alongside the Wildcat legend in Lexington.
Who? None other than the Unanimous National Player of the Year himself, Oscar Tshiebwe.
The second annual Oscar Tshiebwe Youth Basketball ProCamp is returning to Sports Center – Lexington on August 24 from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Last year’s camp was an overwhelming success — a sell-out with 320 campers in attendance, a line out the door with every seat in the house filled to see and learn from Tshiebwe. Expect the same this go-round.
How to attend the former Wildcat star’s camp
Tshiebwe and his camp coaches — last year it was the entire Kentucky men’s basketball roster — will offer tips and hands-on instruction, including lectures, fundamental basketball skills stations, contests, and games in a high-energy, fun, and positive environment. Participants will be placed in small groups by age to ensure that each child gets maximum instruction featuring a 10:1 maximum participant-to-coach ratio.
And the former Wildcat isn’t showing up to collect a check, he’s there to interact with campers and teach them how he became the most dominant player in college basketball.
“To be here with all these people, it makes me so happy. I’m really happy to be back,” Tshiebwe told reporters at last year’s camp. “It means a lot to me to be here. I walk in here and there are like 300 kids, and that makes me so happy. I wanted them to see an example of how to help other people, especially the young ones.”
The camp is open to athletes of all skill levels, whether they are new to the game or have been playing for years. Individual and team awards will be given in each age group with campers also receiving the following:
- a souvenir autograph from Oscar (item provided – outside items not permitted)
- a team photo with Oscar
- a limited-edition Oscar Tshiebwe Basketball Camp t-shirt
Register for the Oscar Tshiebwe Youth Basketball ProCamp now.
Former Cats battle potential future Cats at Nike Skills Academy
It’s a clash of past vs. future Cats in Oregon this week for the Nike Basketball Academy in Portland, a camp featuring the top high school and college hoopers in America. The young and old are meeting up from August 5-8 in the high-profile camp, talent ranging from Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson to Tyran Stokes in the 2026 recruiting class.
Among the familiar faces in attendance? Zvonimir Ivisic and Aaron Bradshaw, the former transferring to Arkansas and the latter to Ohio State this offseason. Other former UK targets Tre Johnson (Texas) and Jalil Bethea (Miami) also make up incoming freshmen. The real names of interest, though, come at the high school level, top Kentucky targets making up the bulk of attendees.
- Nate Ament (2025)
- Brayden Burries (2025)
- Chris Cenac Jr. (2025)
- Jasper Johnson (2025)
- Caleb Wilson (2025)
- Tounde Yessoufou (2025)
- Tajh Ariza (2026)
- Jason Crowe Jr. (2026)
- Brandon McCoy Jr. (2026)
- Tyran Stokes (2026)
And it’s not just boys and men in attendance with Kentucky ties. Georgia Amoore, star of the UK women’s basketball team, is also suiting up in Portland — one of ten college players invited to participate.
Julius Halaifonua commits to Georgetown
Remember Julius Halaifonua, the 7-foot, 290-pound center out of New Zealand with some Kentucky interest this summer? He considered a reclassification and move to Lexington while Cal, Xavier, Ohio State and North Carolina also expressed interest.
Instead, he decided to land on Georgetown, committing to Ed Cooley and the Hoyas on Monday.
“After a long relationship with Georgetown and a great visit these past few days, I’ve decided that it’s the fit for me and I have Committed to Georgetown University,” the four-star center told Travis Branham of 247Sports.
Kentucky removed itself from the race in July, sources tell KSR. Now, he’s found a home at Georgetown.
Mark Stoops gets mad at SEC Shorts for basketball sketch
Remember that viral clip released a few years back by SEC Shorts, a sketch comedy bit featuring fake Kentucky basketball players raising donations amid football’s historic success in 2018? It joked that the basketball team featured “ignored and forgotten heroes” as “students fill Kroger Field for every football home game.”
Fast forward several years and Josh Snead of SEC Shorts is sharing a fascinating backstory from that clip, Mark Stoops apparently making it clear he wasn’t cool with the strays the basketball program was taking — no matter how good things were on the football field at the time.
“We made another video for ESPN where — Kentucky was having this great year, I can’t remember. 2018?” Snead told Connor O’Gara of Saturday Down South in a recent podcast. “We were making all of these positive Kentucky football videos, which was very hard for us because we didn’t even have Kentucky gear at the time, I don’t think. We had to go buy stuff. It was very exciting, because their fans are through the roof because they’re about to win 10 games for the first time. It’s never happened, and they’re super excited. We’re happy to make these videos and we make one that says Kentucky is a football school. …
“ESPN cleared it and they were fine with it, but Mark Stoops saw it and was like, ‘How could you do this to us?’ Apparently the football and basketball departments didn’t get along great at the time, so he wasn’t super pumped about it. But I’m sure it’s fine now, Cal is gone and Stoops is doing great. I’m sure it’s fine now.”
The more you know.
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